Kroger and Corporate Social Responsibility

Kroger Co. As Snider, Hill and Martin (2013) note, corporate social responsibility (CSR) is what truly connects companies to the “larger society” (p. 175).

CSR is one of the most important aspects of a company’s brand and image in today’s 21st century marketplace: consumers want to know what the companies they patronize are doing to make the world a better place—and companies have to respond with policies and practices that support and reflect the values and ideals of the communities they serve in order to stay competitive.

This paper will discuss the Kroger Company’s CSR statement along with its mission and vision statements to show what it is doing to connect with its communities in the U.S. The Kroger Co’s CSR statement focuses on sustainability through achieving zero waste and zero hunger: “We’re on a mission to end hunger in the communities we call home and eliminate waste across our company by 2025” (Kroger Zero Waste, 2018).

What this means is that by eliminating waste from end to end, the company aims to reduce its carbon footprint and preserve the environment for the next generation of consumers. It also aims to reduce hunger in the world. The companny’s CSR policy coincides with its all-inclusive vision statement: “Join us in imagining a world with Zero Hunger and Zero Waste as we transform communities and improve health for millions of Americans” (Kroger Zero Waste, 2018).

Its vision statement means that the company seeks to rally its community of consumers and stakeholders to support it in its quest to eliminate hunger in the U.S. and promote health across the country. Kroger’s mission statement is: “Our mission is to be a leader in the distribution and merchandising of food, pharmacy, health and personal care items, seasonal merchandise, and related products and services” (Kroger Corp. News, 2018).

This means that Kroger aims to excel in all the areas that touch upon its CSR and vision statement foci—namely health and hunger. The company is well-positioned as a Fortune 100 company to make good on its mission, vision and CSR objectives, if it so chooses to follow through on them. According to PRNewswire (2017), Kroger’s focus on sustainability is not new, but it is continuously developing new ways to achieve that goal.

For example, its Sustainability Lives Here campaign aims to “highlight easy, earth-friendly and sustainable living practices” that local consumers in its various communities can adopt to better create a green and sustainability environment (PRNewswire, 2017).

Kroger promotes Fair Trade, Rainforest Alliance, Forest Stewardship Council and other eco-friendly organizations by offering coupons for products produced under these labels; the company has supported dozens of fishery improvement projects in the past; in 2016, it donated over 60 million pounds of fresh produce and protein to its Perishable Donations Program; plus it diverted 78% of waste away from landfills thus helping to reach conservation goals (PRNewswire, 2017).

Kroger’s new Zero Hunger, Zero Waste initiative aims to eliminate hunger and waste in its company by 2025 by pursuing the following steps: · Opening a $10 million innovation fund for this purpose · Donate 3 billion balanced meals by 2025 · Advocate for public policy solutions that will address hunger in the U.S.

and empower communities to divert food waste from landfills · Achieve zero waste in all its stores by 2025 · Work with Feeding American and the World Wildlife Fund These steps will impact the organization both internally and externally by obliging the company’s internal organization to be more mindful of eliminating waste and adopting green and sustainable strategies that will allow it to reach its goals.

Externally, the company will be working with partners and suppliers to locate people and populations in need who can benefit from Kroger donations to reduce hunger. A new CSR endeavor that Kroger could adopt in the future that would be based on its mission and vision could be to partner with green energy providers like Tesla to deliver groceries to consumers using electric vehicles (EVs) that do not rely on fossil fuels for power and do not pollute the atmosphere with exhaust.

Tesla is one company dedicated to sustainability like Kroger (Hunt, 2017), and these two could develop a joint-venture that aims to help the company achieve this objective. In conclusion, Kroger is a company whose CSR policy is based on eliminating hunger throughout communities in the U.S. and waste throughout its stores by diverting food waste from landfills and donating it to the public before it perishes.

This concept helps to kill two birds with one stay: it reduces the company’s carbon footprint and makes inroads towards reducing hunger among vulnerable.