IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/bstrat/v27y2018i8p1653-1665.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A move beyond sustainability certification: The evolution of the chocolate industry's sustainable sourcing practices

Author

Listed:
  • Tannis Thorlakson

Abstract

Companies' sustainable sourcing practices play an increasing role in addressing the social and environmental challenges in agricultural supply chains. Yet the approaches companies take to regulate their supply chains continue to evolve. I use the chocolate industry as a critical case to explore how and why companies have changed their approaches to sustainable cocoa sourcing over the last 20 years. Drawing on an analysis of 205 company documents, 95 newspaper articles and over 50 in‐depth interviews, I trace the evolution of chocolate manufacturers' sustainable sourcing practices from a focus on industry initiatives to a commitment to sustainability certification and now to companies increasingly moving toward own‐supply chain programs. These shifts can in part be explained by the evolving salience of different stakeholder groups over time. This study highlights the dynamic nature of sustainable sourcing practice adoption and suggests companies are building upon previous strategies to incorporate more stakeholder voices over time.

Suggested Citation

  • Tannis Thorlakson, 2018. "A move beyond sustainability certification: The evolution of the chocolate industry's sustainable sourcing practices," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(8), pages 1653-1665, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:bstrat:v:27:y:2018:i:8:p:1653-1665
    DOI: 10.1002/bse.2230
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.2230
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/bse.2230?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Bertrand William & de Buhr Elke, 2015. "Trade, Development and Child Labor: Regulation and Law in the Case of Child Labor in the Cocoa Industry," The Law and Development Review, De Gruyter, vol. 8(2), pages 503-521, December.
    2. Blackman, Allen & Goff, Leonard & Rivera Planter, Marisol, 2018. "Does eco-certification stem tropical deforestation? Forest Stewardship Council certification in Mexico," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 306-333.
    3. David P. Baron, 2001. "Private Politics, Corporate Social Responsibility, and Integrated Strategy," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 10(1), pages 7-45, March.
    4. COSSART, Sandra & CHAPLIER, Jérôme & BEAU DE LOMENIE, Tiphaine, 2017. "The French Law on Duty of Care: A Historic Step Towards Making Globalization Work for All," Business and Human Rights Journal, Cambridge University Press, vol. 2(2), pages 317-323, July.
    5. de Vries, Frans P. & Nentjes, Andries & Odam, Neil, 2012. "Voluntary Environmental Agreements: Lessons on Effectiveness, Efficiency and Spillover Potential," International Review of Environmental and Resource Economics, now publishers, vol. 6(2), pages 119-152, March.
    6. Bartley Tim, 2010. "Transnational Private Regulation in Practice: The Limits of Forest and Labor Standards Certification in Indonesia," Business and Politics, De Gruyter, vol. 12(3), pages 1-36, October.
    7. Valerie Nelson & David Phillips, 2018. "Sector, Landscape or Rural Transformations? Exploring the Limits and Potential of Agricultural Sustainability Initiatives through a Cocoa Case Study," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(2), pages 252-262, February.
    8. Walter J.V. Vermeulen, 2015. "Self‐Governance for Sustainable Global Supply Chains: Can it Deliver the Impacts Needed?," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(2), pages 73-85, February.
    9. Kathleen Segerson, 2013. "Voluntary Approaches to Environmental Protection and Resource Management," Annual Review of Resource Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 5(1), pages 161-180, June.
    10. William Young & Kumju Hwang & Seonaidh McDonald & Caroline J. Oates, 2010. "Sustainable consumption: green consumer behaviour when purchasing products," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 18(1), pages 20-31.
    11. Lars H. Gulbrandsen & Graeme Auld, 2016. "Contested Accountability Logics in Evolving Nonstate Certification for Fisheries Sustainability," Global Environmental Politics, MIT Press, vol. 16(2), pages 42-60, May.
    12. Schouten, Greetje & Bitzer, Verena, 2015. "The emergence of Southern standards in agricultural value chains: A new trend in sustainability governance?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 175-184.
    13. Adam Lindgreen & Valérie Swaen & Wesley Johnston, 2009. "Corporate Social Responsibility: An Empirical Investigation of U.S. Organizations," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 85(2), pages 303-323, April.
    14. Giannakis, Mihalis & Papadopoulos, Thanos, 2016. "Supply chain sustainability: A risk management approach," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 171(P4), pages 455-470.
    15. Martin Mueller & Virginia dos Santos & Stefan Seuring, 2009. "The Contribution of Environmental and Social Standards Towards Ensuring Legitimacy in Supply Chain Governance," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 89(4), pages 509-523, November.
    16. Aneani, F. & Ofori-Frimpong, K., 2013. "An Analysis of Yield Gap and Some Factors of Cocoa (Theobroma cacao) Yields in Ghana," Sustainable Agriculture Research, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 2(4).
    17. Gary Gereffi & Joonkoo Lee, 2016. "Economic and Social Upgrading in Global Value Chains and Industrial Clusters: Why Governance Matters," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 133(1), pages 25-38, January.
    18. Bartley, Tim, 2010. "Transnational Private Regulation in Practice: The Limits of Forest and Labor Standards Certification in Indonesia," Business and Politics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 12(3), pages 1-34, October.
    19. Luc Fransen & Brian Burgoon & Genevieve LeBaron & Andreas Rühmkorf, 2017. "Steering CSR Through Home State Regulation: A Comparison of the Impact of the UK Bribery Act and Modern Slavery Act on Global Supply Chain Governance," Global Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 8(s3), pages 15-28, May.
    20. Joop de Boer, 2003. "Sustainability labelling schemes: the logic of their claims and their functions for stakeholders," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 12(4), pages 254-264, July.
    21. Kurt B. Waldman & John M. Kerr, 2014. "Limitations of Certification and Supply Chain Standards for Environmental Protection in Commodity Crop Production," Annual Review of Resource Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 6(1), pages 429-449, October.
    22. Raynolds, Laura T., 2009. "Mainstreaming Fair Trade Coffee: From Partnership to Traceability," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 37(6), pages 1083-1093, June.
    23. Grunert, Klaus G. & Hieke, Sophie & Wills, Josephine, 2014. "Sustainability labels on food products: Consumer motivation, understanding and use," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 177-189.
    24. A. Lindgreen & V. Swaen & W. Johnston, 2009. "Corporate social responsibility : an empirical investigation of U.S. organizations," Post-Print hal-00575825, HAL.
    25. Stefan Seuring & Martin Müller, 2008. "Core issues in sustainable supply chain management – a Delphi study," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 17(8), pages 455-466, December.
    26. Fulponi, Linda, 2006. "Private voluntary standards in the food system: The perspective of major food retailers in OECD countries," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 31(1), pages 1-13, February.
    27. David P. Baron & Daniel Diermeier, 2007. "Strategic Activism and Nonmarket Strategy," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 16(3), pages 599-634, September.
    28. repec:bla:glopol:v:8:y:2017:i::p:15-28 is not listed on IDEAS
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Gallemore, Caleb & Jespersen, Kristjan & Olmsted, Paige, 2022. "Harnessing relational values for global value chain sustainability: Reframing the roundtable on sustainable palm oil's offset mechanism to support smallholders," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 193(C).
    2. Maile, Felix, 2020. "Cooperation or confrontation? Public and private governance and smallholders' incomes in the cocoa sector in Ghana and in Côte d'Ivoire," ÖFSE-Forum, Austrian Foundation for Development Research (ÖFSE), volume 74, number 74.
    3. Tennhardt, Lina & Lazzarini, Gianna & Weisshaidinger, Rainer & Schader, Christian, 2022. "Do environmentally-friendly cocoa farms yield social and economic co-benefits?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 197(C).
    4. Anne Mook & Christine Overdevest, 2021. "What drives market construction for fair trade, organic, and GlobalGAP certification in the global citrus value chain? Evidence at the importer level in the Netherlands and the United States," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(7), pages 2996-3008, November.
    5. Oberlack, Christoph & Blare, Trent & Zambrino, Luca & Bruelisauer, Samuel & Solar, Jimena & Villar, Gesabel & Thomas, Evert & Ramírez, Marleni, 2023. "With and beyond sustainability certification: Exploring inclusive business and solidarity economy strategies in Peru and Switzerland," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 165(C).
    6. Simon L. Bager & Eric F. Lambin, 2020. "Sustainability strategies by companies in the global coffee sector," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(8), pages 3555-3570, December.
    7. Boysen, Ole & Ferrari, Emanuele & Nechifor, Victor & Tillie, Pascal, 2023. "Earn a living? What the Côte d’Ivoire–Ghana cocoa living income differential might deliver on its promise," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 114(C).
    8. Tröster, Bernhard, 2020. "Blockchain technologies for commodity value chains: The solution for more sustainability?," Briefing Papers 27, Austrian Foundation for Development Research (ÖFSE).
    9. Minelle E. Silva & Breno Nunes, 2022. "Institutional logic for sustainable purchasing and supply management: Concepts, illustrations, and implications for business strategy," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(3), pages 1138-1151, March.
    10. Xingchen Lv & Weijun Lin & Jun Meng & Linan Mo, 2024. "Spillover Effect of Network Public Opinion on Market Prices of Small-Scale Agricultural Products," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-17, February.
    11. Carlos F. B. V. Alho & Amanda F. Silva & Chantal M. J. Hendriks & Jetse J. Stoorvogel & Peter J. M. Oosterveer & Eric M. A. Smaling, 2021. "Analysis of banana and cocoa export commodities in food system transformation, with special reference to certification schemes as drivers of change," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 13(6), pages 1555-1575, December.
    12. Francisco Benitez‐Altuna & Valentina C. Materia & Jos Bijman & Daniel Gaitán‐Cremaschi & Jacques Trienekens, 2024. "Farmer–buyer relationships and sustainable agricultural practices in the food supply chain: The case of vegetables in Chile," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 40(1), pages 3-30, January.
    13. Janina Grabs & Sophia Louise Carodenuto, 2021. "Traders as sustainability governance actors in global food supply chains: A research agenda," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(2), pages 1314-1332, February.
    14. Mei‐Fang Chen, 2020. "The impacts of perceived moral obligation and sustainability self‐identity on sustainability development: A theory of planned behavior purchase intention model of sustainability‐labeled coffee and the," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(6), pages 2404-2417, September.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Bree Devin & Carol Richards, 2018. "Food Waste, Power, and Corporate Social Responsibility in the Australian Food Supply Chain," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 150(1), pages 199-210, June.
    2. Wenlong He & Wei Yang & Seong-jin Choi, 2018. "The Interplay Between Private and Public Regulations: Evidence from ISO 14001 Adoption Among Chinese Firms," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 152(2), pages 477-497, October.
    3. Marco Lerro & Riccardo Vecchio & Francesco Caracciolo & Stefano Pascucci & Luigi Cembalo, 2018. "Consumers' heterogeneous preferences for corporate social responsibility in the food industry," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 25(6), pages 1050-1061, November.
    4. Tim Bartley, 2014. "Transnational governance and the re‐centered state: Sustainability or legality?," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 8(1), pages 93-109, March.
    5. Hannes Hofmann & Martin C. Schleper & Constantin Blome, 2018. "Conflict Minerals and Supply Chain Due Diligence: An Exploratory Study of Multi-tier Supply Chains," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 147(1), pages 115-141, January.
    6. Stefan Renckens & Graeme Auld, 2022. "Time to certify: Explaining varying efficiency of private regulatory audits," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 16(2), pages 500-518, April.
    7. Büthe Tim, 2010. "Global Private Politics: A Research Agenda," Business and Politics, De Gruyter, vol. 12(3), pages 1-26, October.
    8. Alexander, Rachel, 2020. "Emerging roles of lead buyer governance for sustainability across global production networks," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 100908, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    9. Aseem Kaul & Jiao Luo, 2018. "An economic case for CSR: The comparative efficiency of for‐profit firms in meeting consumer demand for social goods," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(6), pages 1650-1677, June.
    10. Heyes, Anthony & Lyon, Thomas P. & Martin, Steve, 2018. "Salience games: Private politics when public attention is limited," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 396-410.
    11. Dzintra Atstāja & Kevin Wilclif Mukem, 2024. "Sustainable Supply Chain Management in the Oil and Gas Industry in Developing Countries as a Part of the Quadruple Helix Concept: A Systematic Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(5), pages 1-18, February.
    12. Werner Hediger, 2013. "From Multifunctionality and Sustainability of Agriculture to the Social Responsibility of the Agri-food System," Journal of Socio-Economics in Agriculture (Until 2015: Yearbook of Socioeconomics in Agriculture), Swiss Society for Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology, vol. 6(1), pages 59-80.
    13. Yokessa, Maïmouna & Marette, Stéphan, 2019. "A Review of Eco-labels and their Economic Impact," International Review of Environmental and Resource Economics, now publishers, vol. 13(1-2), pages 119-163, April.
    14. Helmerich, Nicole & Raj-Reichert, Gale & Zajak, Sabrina, 2021. "Exercising associational and networked power through the use of digital technology by workers in global value chains," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 25(2), pages 142-166.
    15. Tomina Saveanu & Daniel Badulescu & Sorana Saveanu & Maria-Madela Abrudan & Alina Badulescu, 2021. "The Role of Owner-Managers in Shaping CSR Activity of Romanian SMEs," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(20), pages 1-19, October.
    16. Graafland, J.J. & Kaptein, M. & Mazereeuw V/d Duijn Schouten, C., 2010. "Motives of Socially Responsible Business Conduct," Other publications TiSEM 3053983b-5552-408c-86a4-b, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    17. Christian Schwens & Marcus Wagner, 2019. "The role of firm-internal corporate environmental standards for organizational performance," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 89(7), pages 823-843, September.
    18. Jing Shao, 2019. "Sustainable consumption in China: New trends and research interests," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(8), pages 1507-1517, December.
    19. Julien Daubanes & Jean-Charles Rochet, 2019. "The Rise of NGO Activism," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 11(4), pages 183-212, November.
    20. Mukherjee, Vivekananda & Ramani, Shyama V., 2011. "Voluntary agreements and community development as CSR in innovation strategies," MERIT Working Papers 2011-016, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:bstrat:v:27:y:2018:i:8:p:1653-1665. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1002/(ISSN)1099-0836 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.