CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY AND ITS IMPLEMENTATION IN DAIRY COOPERATIVES IN POLAND

The purpose of the study was to present and assess the development of the concept of social responsibility in dairy co-operatives in Poland. Nowadays, the development of enterprises with adequate impact on the natural environment is an element of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), in which three goals must be reconciled: economic, environmental and social. More and more good practices, often innovative, are appearing, which shape the competitive advantage of Polish companies on the market. The subject of the study were co-operatives in the dairy sector. The questionnaire was implemented in enterprises involved in milk purchasing and processing, which in 2020 achieved revenues from the sales of products at a level of at least PLN 15 million. The concept of Corporate Social Responsibility and areas of its implementation in selected dairy co-operatives have been indicated. A list of elements and areas considered important in the approach to sustainable development was presented. It was found that not all the surveyed enterprises implemented all the elements recognised as components of Corporate Social Responsibility to the same extent. In all the studied cooperatives, safety standards, the high quality of products, transport and logistics were indicated as the most significant in the area considered important in the approach to sustainable development. On the other hand, the activities undertaken within the framework of corporate social responsibility in most of the studied cooperatives concerned the use of fair market practices and activities for the benefit of local communities. The research also showed that the approach to CSR was not influenced by the size of the enterprise, measured by the value of product sales.