The third annual “Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in the Agrocomplex” conference was held in ‘t Spant theatre in Bussum at the end of June. The conference’s aims were to help break down the barriers between the links in the chain, to share know-how, experience and ideas and to encourage corporate social responsibility.

Nearly 200 participants discussed CSR in a series of workshops. The conference was an initiative of the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality, the VAI agro-industry association and the LTO Nederland farming and horticulture organisation.

A jury headed by Pieter Winsemius presented the CSR award for 2004 to Themato C.V. This company grows plum tomatoes in a closed greenhouse in order to minimise the environmental impact and drastically cut energy consumption. Agriculture minister Cees Veerman handed over the award and certificate to the three partners.

Profit
Corporate social responsibility means companies take more account of the impact of their activities on people, planet and profit than they are required to do so by law. Key characteristics are voluntariness, transparency and dialogue with stakeholders. CSR involves a continuous succession of decisions. Not only for today but also for tomorrow and thereafter.

Companies are increasingly realising that CSR can be profitable. But there are still too many obstacles between the dream and the reality. What steps do you have to take, what tools can you use to make CSR a success factor? And how can a socially responsible company successfully market its products?

Nominations
Of the 35 entries for the jury’s award and the public award, an expert jury selected five candidates: a plant nursery, a turkey farm, an organic and “fair trade” fruit and vegetable trader, a plum tomato grower and a zoo. The jury’s favourite was the plum tomato grower, while the participants (the “public”) voted for the trading firm. The reasons for the jury’s choice are unfortunately not known. The selection criteria, however, are:

• Greater consideration for “profit” (effects in the chain), “people” (impact on, for example, working conditions) and “planet” (environmental impact);
• Communication and cooperation with external stakeholders;
• Communication and support within the organisation itself;
• Innovative character and exemplary function.

Profit
The “planet” (environmental impact) component dominated the descriptions of the nominees and their CSR activities, closely followed by “profit” (cost savings through, for example, lower energy consumption and fewer pesticides). The relationship between these two aspects of CSR is often clearer than the benefits for the “people” component. The “people” aspects and the role of internal and external communication were barely touched upon in the presentations given by the nominees.

The five nominees’ presentations showed that the pioneers took up CSR out of conviction. Conviction that it would do them no harm, as hinted at in the conference’s theme, “Working together for profit”.

Continuity
Incomes in the primary sector are under pressure and the price war between the supermarket chains is taking its toll in the industry and among wholesalers and retailers. Understandably, “profit” is an important consideration because sustainability also means continuity. Ultimately, the success of CSR lies with consumers. Are they willing to dig deeper into their pockets for food that is socially responsibly? In other words, is there a market for socially responsible consumption? This theme was discussed and studied in depth during several of the workshops. There are enough ideas, but whether they will have the desired effect is still open to question.