Brevrage industry

Beverage Industry Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is considered one of the most important considerations by the firms in this competitive arena. So is the case with a beverage company where several issues related to the CSR confront them. The paper attempts to explore some of them that fall in the area of environment, human rights, labor relations and ethical business practices in stark contrast to corrupt business practices.
The United Nations Global Compact is quite vocal in asking companies to align their operations in line with the principles in the areas of environment, labor, human rights, and anti-corruption practices. It is the largest ever platform for the companies to spearhead and implement responsible corporate policies and practices. The beverage industry too needs to manage and govern their businesses across the world without diverting their focus from important CSR issues as they are likely to play a decisive role in the growth of their businesses.
Water, Energy Conservation and Material Recycling – A Major Environmental Issue
Currently, no industry or the companies can ever ignore environmental factors while formulating their business strategies. All beverage industries consume huge water in their processes and its judicious use is of paramount importance to sustain future operations and as an effective sustainability strategy. Water resources must be preserved and for that integrated waste water recycling initiative is a fundamental necessity. Another important area for environmental preservation is energy conservation and its management. There is a need to reduce carbon footprint by reengineering manufacturing, distribution, packaging operations within beverage industry. Beverage industry consumes enormous amount of packaging material causing enormous pressure on environment. Fresh use of packaging material needs to be reduced through recycling in line with food safety principles. The beverage industry must incorporate environment friendly and sustainable infrastructure for their future growth as an important objective to fulfillment of the CSR.
Human Rights Enforcement
Respect for human rights is significantly important while implementing CSR. Workplaces need to be transparent, safe, spearheading inclusive growth for all employees. Employees must be provided with freedom of association and the principle of collective bargaining must be followed.
Empowering Labor Laws
Any child or forced labor should be done away with. Discrimination on the basis of gender, ethnicity, creed or caste should be discarded in its entirety within the company. Trained and empowered workforce can play a significant role in the company’s growth providing a much needed competitive edge over rivals.
CSR Issues with the Beverage Industry
Issues
Environment
Human Rights
Labor Laws
Anti-bribery and Anti-Corruption Practices
Areas
Waste water recycling, Energy conservation and Material recycling for sustainable practices
Safe Workplaces and transparent environment providing inclusive growth.
No child labor or forced labor. No discrimination on the basis of gender, creed and ethnicity
The strict code of conduct and ethics for employees at all levels. Never resort to bribery at any levels at any cost.
Anti-bribery and Anti-Corruption Practices
The UN Global Compact also prescribes ethical business practices among businesses. The company when operates across the world with impressive brand equity it becomes increasingly important to follow a strict code of ethics across the globe. Corporate integrity is a prime driver in the process of sustainability. Business growth should come through fair business practices without violating local laws and rules. Companies should never resort to any kind of direct or indirect bribery to influence any government officials at any level. Any such act will pose significant risk to the company not only in the country where bribery happens but also across the world. Such incidents may tarnish the brand image immensely putting company’s existence in jeopardy. The strict code of ethics must be enforced among company employees at all levels and strict vigil must be done so that no violation to this account takes place.
References
UN Global Compact (2013). What is the UN Global Compact? [Online] Accessed 9 March 2014

Global Corporate Sustainability Report (2013). The Ten Principles of the UN Global Compact.
[Online] Accessed 9 March 2014 Annual Sustainability Reports (2012). The Coca-Cola Company. [Online]
Accessed 9 March 2014