Sustainable procurement strategy: A case study of Cooperative grocery retailer in the UK

The procurement process as the starting point of a supply chain plays a key role indetermining the overall performance of any retailer. While larger retailers are more likelyto either encourage or pass on their responsibilities to their upstream suppliers toparticipate in sustainability improvements, small-scale cooperative retailers and specialistbusinesses are generally considered leaders in the field of sustainability. However, thereis a lack of research measuring the level of disclosure related to sustainable procurementstrategies in such organisations. Thus, this study aims to 1) develop a framework formeasuring sustainability in terms of procurement in retail grocery sector 2) assess sustainability performance of the case organisation by examining their sustainable procurement strategies and practices including their supplier selection criteria. This study adopts the content analysis method by analysing both qualitative and quantitative data.Research findings show that most of the focus of sustainable procurement in the case organisation is on environmental policies and employee welfare while lesser attention has been given to quality control, seasonal food and donation. The findings of this study will assist policy makers, practitioners and academics acquire a deeper understanding of sustainability performance in the grocery industry and will delineate how to improve retailing firms’ sustainability in the sourcing process.