Executive Summary

Food waste is a hot topic and with the rise in middle class globally along with urbanization, there

has been a transition towards more perishable consumed food. Retailers have high influnce on

both suppliers as well as consumers. CSR is an integral part of Tesco's system of corporate

governance. The company has been working on benefitting the environment and the society

overall. During the department meeting, it was agreed that waste was to be further eliminated

from within the supply chain, which also meant modifying the retail's marketing mix. By careful

planning of demands and orders, the food waste can be reduced. Since demand orders may vary,

the overproduced food should not be wasted and the producers should sell that to other

companies to earn profits and even donate to charities through Tesco. The retailer will also alter

the sales promotion activities to ensure that extra purchases that are not beneficial and result in

more wastage of food can be minimized. To reduce food waste, special emphasis will be given

on choosing the right food packaging so that product is not damaged and its shelf life is

extended. While eliminating food waste from the supply chain, it is also imperative to educate

the consumers by focusing on marketing communication as the final decision is made by the

consumers. It is the retailer's duty to help consumers make informed decisions and encourage

them to prevent food waste.

 Introduction

According to the Food Waste Scorecard produced by Feedback, a UK charity campaigning for a

better food system, Tesco tops the list of UK's best as well as the worst supermarket to prevent

food waste. The agreed outcome of the meeting was to redefine and modify the existing

marketing mix. This includes ensuring that overproduced food was not wasted and either

delivered to charities or make connections between producers and food manufacturers, altering

the labeling to clarify better information about storage methods, and individual packaging of the

product, altering the pricing strategies and most of course, focusing on marketing communication

so that awareness can be raised among consumers regarding the adverse impacts of food waste.

Ethics and Sustainability

At Tesco, the overall framework of organization's corporate governance incorporates Corporate

Social Responsibility. Ethical issues arise during all elements of marketing mix. At distribution

level, Tesco encouraged 24 of its largest food suppliers to adopt the United Nation's Sustainable

Development Goal to halve food waste by 2030 (Binns, 2020).

First of all, considering the pandemic situation, the excess food produced will be provided free of

cost to the local communities so that nobody sleeps hungry in the country. The food wasted

beyond retailer's demand ends up in landfills is not only unethical but also costs a lot for the

producers and by suggesting that this food is delivered to charities or old homes, the retailer will

be taking an ethical step.

Exaggerating packaging designs or misleading labels that only include 'best before' is not a

sustainable action. The labels should be changed from 'best before' to 'use by' for products like

cheese. Along with date labels, clear instructions should be mentioned on packaging like storage
methods, freezing and defrosting (KLBD, 2017). Tesco will encourage its suppliers of food

manufacturers to change their packaging details and labels by investing in innovative technique

and reducing food waste (Heneghan, 2016). The products will be better positioned to

communicate how food waste will be tackled.

By conducting marketing research thoroughly and studying the consumer buying behavior, the

retailer can forecast its sales in an accurate manner. The purchase pattern of people has already

been changed during the pandemic and so, it would be advisable to order according to demand of

customers only from suppliers.

The sales promotions like buy one get one free encourage people to make excess purchases as

they believe they gain value for their dollar spent. On the contrary, reducing prices will allow for

more consumers to be able to afford the food whereas sales promotions should incorporate

taglines that remove the perception regarding relationship between low price and inferior quality.

Tesco plans to use marketing communications with the purpose to spread awareness among

consumers so that their priorities may shift to avoid food waste (Young, Russell, Robinson and

Chintakayala, 2017). Tesco used a campaign that not only provided information about effective

meal planning and showed food can be stored properly, but Tesco chefs also helped by holding

cooking classes so people know how they can change their consumption habits and contribute in

bringing change (Quinn, 2020). Social media marketing will also be used to connect with people

and influence the consumer behavior on food waste.

Managerial and Organizational Implications

A large food retailer has a unique position to tackle the issue of global food waste since they

have contacts as well as influence on the farmers, manufacturers, and also consumers. By
changing the marketing mix of Tesco, the organization is not letting go of its market share rather

it will become sustainable and environment-friendly brand as perceived by the consumers. It will

allow the retailers to strengthen their retail partnerships with food suppliers.

Having an upgraded inventory system will ensure accurate forecasting while making the right

orders at the right time to the suppliers. Overall inventory management and accurate sales

forecast will allow the managers to place the required orders. By collaborating directing with the

farmers, not only waste will be reduced but forecast data will also be shared and overplanting

can be prevented. By treating the farmers are partners will ensure long term sustainability of the

supply chain. Already working closely with 71 of its suppliers, Tesco is making initiatives to

reduce food waste levels (Binns, 2020). Tesco will also help farmers sell directly to other food

manufacturers but initially, it plans to send the excess food to food banks and shelter homes for

charity purpose.

It would be spreading the message to encourage every individual to actively participate in

making sure that nobody remains hungry. Having an extended shelf life of products and slashing

the sales promotions that result in excess purchase will contribute to achieving the overall

ambitions that provide value to Tesco. It aims to become the leader in reducing food waste

globally by envisioning to become the "most high valued business by: the customers we serve,

the communities in which we operate, our loyal and committed colleagues and of course, our

shareholders." The changes in marketing mix suggested will help Tesco achieve its vision and

create a positive and sustainable image in the community.

Supermarkets like Tesco are viewed as a source of inspiration (Heneghan, 2016). By educating

people using promotional campaigns, cooking classes and also interacting with the consumers to
gather more ideas to prevent food waste and hunger, Tesco will be able to create a robust relation

with both its suppliers as well as customers. Consumer education initiatives will also help to

promote the retailer's reputation for sustainability and transparency. Consumers as well as

suppliers prefer the companies with a sustainable image in the society (Heneghan, 2016). So,

these CSR initiatives that involve altering the marketing mix to reduce food waste will portray

that Tesco is playing an active role for the environmental sustainability and is an ethical brand.

Reflection

To deal with the CSR issue identified by public relations team and find solution to ensure that

business image is restored, a departmental meeting was held between a team of cross-functional

professionals from marketing department. To prepare for the meeting, consumer data was

gathered, along with reports and market research that highlighted the alarming situation of how

the company's image was being tarnished. A thorough research was conducted to identify the

waste in different stages of supply chain.

The marketing team, which also included me, being a middle manager, prepared for the meeting

and all managers, team leaders were invited through e-mails. The research also included data of

historical trends of the supermarket as well as the market trends of competitors. Since the

problem of rising food waste has already been pointed out, every individual was notified before

the meeting to conduct their own research and suggest ways to reduce waste by providing

justifiable evidence.

The research and individual efforts to seek solution enhanced both learning as well as analytical

abilities while providing an opportunity to be innovative as everyone was encouraged to

participate in the meeting. It was a challenging act as Tesco has already been executing CSR
activities and finding areas for improvement is not an easy task. But the best part during the

whole process was the encouragement given by the senior management to think outside the box

and provide valuable inputs. The preparation period allowed to brainstorm and to utilize my own

research skills as well as giving me a chance to work at my full potential.

This meeting helped me feel included, trusted and also gave me an opportunity to contribute

valuably to the success of the business. I understood the significance of teamwork, collaboration,

and informal interactions from this meeting. Even with a particular agenda, every person was

participating with what they had come up with and allowed me to identify my own strengths as a

team member as well as my weaknesses.

The takeaways from meeting are that every individual during the supply chain is important and

so, the business has to ensure that waste is to be eliminated beginning from the farmer to the

consumer. Secondly, it is not always the senior management that has the right solutions, rather

valuable insights from every worker leads to creating a unique aspect for the business. The

solutions and action plan that was finalized was an overall teamwork.
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