Responsibility in a food company: the case of Pomì

Nowadays more and more companies communicate their social and environmental efforts also for marketing purposes, in particular to strength their image, essential to influence consumers’ choices. Companies use some tools to communicate their values and their responsible conduct. First of all the so-called code of ethics, which does not reflect a legal perspective but the idea of corporate responsibility towards the stakeholders (duties towards customers, employees, suppliers, tax authorities, competitors, political representatives, the surrounding community…). According to Lee et al. (2014), in a study focused on the Korean services industry, they found that the code of ethics influence corporate philantrhropy and organizational engagement. Other tools are represented by certifications, such as ISO 14001, SA 8000, OHSAS 18001. The interest for sustainability as a paradigm for marketers has been developed during the 70s, initially in reference to the environmental dimension, later considering also the social one (Kumar et al., 2012). According to Porter and van Der Linde (2002) sustainability represents an opportunity for companies and not simply a source of costs. Some studies have shown that communication of sustainability is relevant to increse a company’s reputation (Bronn e Vrioni, 2011; Mark-Herbert and Von Schantz, 2007) and a responsible commitment can be positive also from the point of view of financial indicators (Miles and Covin, 2001). From this perspective, however, it is important to consider the tendency of some large companies to conceal their negative behaviour through a non transparent communication: this is the phenomenon of greenwashing (Delmas and Cuerel Burbano, 2011; Grant, 2009). A recent study carried out by Wang and Sarkis (2017) highlights the positive effects deriving from the achievement of CSR objectives, for example a superior financial performance; this is also confirmed by Miles and Covin (2000), who underline through a literature review how most of research shows the positive consequences on financial indicators. Another tool is represented by Social Footprint (Kaldellis et al., 2016; McElroy et al., 2007). This certification can be defined as “a measurement of the social impact of a product, through the analysis of the organization, people and industry…it concerns the social valuation of the Supply Chain of Products and Services” (http://www.bureauveritas.it): through this certification the objective is to make consumers more aware about their purchases (http://www.socialfootprint.it).