Solving ESG issues through CSO: A case study of Fuji Oil Holdings Inc.'s sustainable procurement activities of Cocoa in Ghana

Abstract

Ghana is one of the world's largest cocoa producers and supplies most of the global chocolate manufacturers. However, the vital role that the country plays in the chocolate industry has come at a cost in terms of human and environmental problems which have led to deforestation and child labor. Although chocolate manufacturers are implementing new strategies to solve these ESG issues, the results have been incomplete in terms of their effectiveness. This chapter seeks to understand how firms can generate social and financial benefits while tackling ESG issues through the application of Moon's (2012) CSO framework. It examines the case of the global chocolate manufacturer Fuji Oil Holdings Inc. and its sustainable procurement activities in Ghana. The research investigated how the company is tackling ESG issues by applying the CSO framework. While it shows that there is a high compatibility between the company's implemented activities and CSO, the results illustrated in ESG and sustainable reports should be improved to better understand their outcomes. The paper provides empirical examples to tackle ESG issues through CSO and contributes to introducing a framework (CSO) other than Porter and Kramer's (2011) CSV, which is currently widely employed in academia.