KORPORATIVNA DRUŠTVENA ODGOVORNOST PREDUZEĆA PREHRAMBENE INDUSTRIJE U REPUBLICI SRBIJI.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) represents activities, implemented by a company in order to fulfill ethical requirements towards all target groups. Studies show that investing in the technologies which aim at preserving the environment and doing business in line with ecological requirements can increase the competitiveness of companies on the market. Having in mind the fact that numerous companies, during the production process produce some negative effects on the environment and the society, the requirements and the pressure of the social community is growing so that the companies start acting responsibly. This is very important for the environmental protection, exercising human rights and freedoms, meeting the requirements and the responsibility towards the consumer rights protection, companies' visibility and control by the general public. Corporate social responsibility urges companies to act responsibly towards the society, thus, that relationship is based on respecting all of the social, ethical, ecological and economic values important for the decision making process. Companies from the food industry have a special social responsibility to preserve the environment in which they operate, to provide healthy and secure food to the consumers and to raise the life quality of the wider community by introducing certain actions. In this context, the paper will analyze the importance and necessity of social responsibility of companies of the food industry. In developed economy, corporate social responsibility is becoming a very important factor for consumers when deciding which product to buy, which improves the competitiveness of the CSR companies. A successful involvement of the transition countries, such as Serbia, and their companies, into the international economy, requires of them to adopt standards of the global market, out of which CSR is considered a priority. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]