This study takes a look at factors that have influence on Green Sourcing in food retailing. More importantly, it focuses on factors with the positive impacts that direct retailers’ strategy in Sourcing and other Supply chain processes forward Green management. Influencing factors are studied based on three main levels: internal level (company level), industry level and national level. The theoretical part of the study not only presents theories on Green Sourcing and factors influencing Green Sourcing, but also takes a look on drivers for Green action in Sourcing and benefits of Green sourcing. Based on theory, a framework is developed which presents the impact of typical factors on three levels of management on Green Sourcing process. Theories of Supply chain management and Procurement process are presented in order to identify the different dimensions of the study. The study is qualitative in its nature and case study is used as the main source of data. Based on the discussion a framework, the case study of two food retailers in Finland – Kesko group and S group is analyzed. The theoretical frameworks of real factors with real impact form the basis of the empirical part of the study. Interviews are conducted to get their answers to see the differences in responses.
With comparative research, the findings of this study show that major factors having influence on the Green Sourcing implementation include internal factors, industry factors and national factors. Most of them have positive impact and just a few of them have negative impact. The Green Sourcing is mainly driven by potential cost savings, green consumers or regulatory requirements in place. The rest factors which have indirect impact address to a much less degree on both negative and positive impact, although they often represent a more profound environmental threat and consequent challenge of addressing them. This study also demonstrates that most Finnish food retailers have started to systematically work with sustainability issues. However, the study is involved with two large food retailers who have a significant market share, there are still many more medium and small-size retailers that further researches on them are required.fi=Opinnäytetyö kokotekstinä PDF-muodossa.|en=Thesis fulltext in PDF format.|sv=Lärdomsprov tillgängligt som fulltext i PDF-format
