2. Application of CSR in the agri-food sector

2.1 What role does CSR play in the strategy of food companies?

Despite all the talk about the benefits of CSR and the tools available to implement it, CSR is still little taken into account in SME strategies. Nevertheless, according to an INSEE study, the agri-food sector is in the middle of the pack in terms of practices and knowledge, and the Observatoire de la responsabilité sociétale des entreprises believes that four factors should encourage agri-food SMEs to become more involved:

• new expectations on the part of customers: large companies and local authorities or public services;

• the weight of public opinion: the relationship between opinion and value is very closely linked, as the intrinsic quality...