This chapter examines the sustainable business practice of True Cost Accounting (TCA) using a case study of a popular European chocolate manufacturer. The chapter begins by defining TCA and discussing how corporations can apply TCA techniques. TCA allows corporations to quantify and measure all social and environmental costs in the production and supply of goods. Doing so can provide significant advantages to a corporation, including the simultaneous development of profitable and sustainable products, innovations in the value chain that promote social equity, and signaling to consumers a commitment to sustainable business practices. The chapter then details the various true cost components identified by our case study firm as the true cost of chocolate, including the costs of forced labor, child labor, land use and occupation, carbon emissions, and more. This is followed by an examination of the techniques used to measure and quantify these costs. The chapter then concludes with an overview of how the case study firm was able to leverage TCA techniques into a competitive advantage by improving conditions along the chocolate supply chain while reducing harmful practices commonly found in the industry.

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Sustainability Never Tasted So Sweet: The Use of True Cost Accounting in the Chocolate Industry

  • Benjamin Hubbard

摘要

This chapter examines the sustainable business practice of True Cost Accounting (TCA) using a case study of a popular European chocolate manufacturer. The chapter begins by defining TCA and discussing how corporations can apply TCA techniques. TCA allows corporations to quantify and measure all social and environmental costs in the production and supply of goods. Doing so can provide significant advantages to a corporation, including the simultaneous development of profitable and sustainable products, innovations in the value chain that promote social equity, and signaling to consumers a commitment to sustainable business practices. The chapter then details the various true cost components identified by our case study firm as the true cost of chocolate, including the costs of forced labor, child labor, land use and occupation, carbon emissions, and more. This is followed by an examination of the techniques used to measure and quantify these costs. The chapter then concludes with an overview of how the case study firm was able to leverage TCA techniques into a competitive advantage by improving conditions along the chocolate supply chain while reducing harmful practices commonly found in the industry.