Awarness, perception and practices of corporate social responsibility among food firms in Turkey

In this study, to determine Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) awareness, perception and practices among the food and beverage firms in Turkey, web pages information about CSR of the members of 16 different food and beverage firms associations which are members of Turkish Food Association Federation (TGDF) for the period of August-September 2015 is examined using content analysis methodology. Content analysis had been done by examining the activities defined as CSR within at least one of the categories of social responsibility, institutional information and activities on web pages and if exists, the information in sustainability reports and the certificates owned by firms regarding GRI/ISO 26000 (Social Responsibility Certificate) criteria. Among 16 member associations of TGDF, accessed web pages of 322 firms were examined and it is seen that only 61 firms or approximately 19% of firms have activities that could be called as CSR. It is determined that only 12 firms published sustainability reports. The matching rates of governance, human rights, working conditions, environment, fair business, consumer problems and participation of social-local development criteria of GRI/ISO 26000 are 13.4%, 9.3%, 19.6%, 24.2%, 3.1%, 61.2% and 20.5% respectively. Except a few firms acting in global markets, generally domestic firms do not have any CSR activities on the basis of sustainability criteria. Some firms do not have CSR reports or sustainability reports although they have CSR activities which are comparable with the global firms and the criteria of GRI/ISO 26000. The share of firms which state their CSR activities in total is about 19%. The stated activities have big differences in terms of international initiatives criteria (GRI/ISO 26000, Oxfam etc.). Mostly global, only 12 firms report their CSR activities. The relatively high responsiveness area of the firms among sustainability criteria is meeting the expectations of consumers. These results can be evidence that the awareness level of CSR among the food and beverage firms in Turkey is very low, CSR activities are not well understood and not being used in an holistic approach with the relationship management with stakeholders in terms of firms' public relation strategies. Keywords: CSR Awareness among Food Firms, CRS Practices in Turkey, Food Firms' Perception of CSR in Turkey