Abstract

During the last years the scope of procurement functions, especially in food producing companies, has enlarged. Senior buyers have to consider ecological and social criteria in their buying decision beside physical quality and price of the ingredients. But sustainable sourcing is a quite new field for conventional companies and their employees. That is why companies often only take a narrow variation of activities, for example by demanding special certificates of their suppliers. A systematic approach is missing. Decision-makers do not have the complete overview of all ecological and social interdependences in the whole upstream supply chain. And most of the time the only reason to act is the risk of bad reputation. But there are also supply risks for food companies which need to be considered, before we reach tipping points in nature which companies cannot withdraw. So in this article not only image risks but also supply risks based on ecological and social evolution are presented as a motivation for sustainable sourcing. Furthermore this article offers a systematic categorization of possible measures and relevant factors for their selection.