Examples of corporate social responsibility
While many companies now practice some form of social responsibility, some are making it a core of their operations. Ben and Jerry's, for instance, uses only fair trade ingredients and has developed a sustainability program for dairy farms in its home state of Vermont. Starbucks has created its C.A.F.E. Practices guidelines, which are designed to ensure the company sources sustainably grown and processed coffee by evaluating the economic, social and environmental aspects of coffee production. Tom's Shoes, another notable example of a company with CSR at its core, donates one pair of shoes to a child in need for every pair a customer purchases.
However, Stevens said companies need to really understand what their core social purpose is and how that aligns with their stated mission, to create a cohesive CSR strategy.
For example, Stevens said that Kashi, a Kellogg's brand, wants to increase organic farming and is one of the few certified organic cereals. Since only 1 percent of U.S. farmland is actually organic, the breakfast brand worked with Quality Insurance International to help certify new organic farmers across the nation.