Cross-sector social partnership in the fight against food loss and waste. The perspective of enterprises

This paper studies cross-sector social partnerships (CSSP), in particular, business-no-profit partnerships, with the objective to investigate the drivers at the basis of enterprises’ participation to these projects and their perception of the benefits obtained. Using a qualitative approach, the study examines the experience of different enterprises operating in food industry and involved in CSSP devoted to the fight against food waste. Interviews provided evidence of the coexistence of social and economic objectives at the basis of the participation of enterprises in CSSP, as well as heterogeneous benefits that are searched by enterprises, and which include reputation improvements, efficiency and efficacy of business processes, while all the interviewees agree on the positive outcome of the collaboration, regardless of their starting motivation.