Business social & environmental problem. Business & Marketing Essay

Social Responsibility
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Assessment 1 – Choosing a Social or Environmental Problem
Background
New Zealand (NZ) is considered one of the most progressive countries in the world. The citizens in NZ (Kiwis) are recognised as progressive, particularly after being ranked at 14th position on Human Development Index (HDI) in 2019. However, NZ is encountering a social and environmental threat. Currently, rising obesity among children is threatening to conceive diabetes and overweight challenges in the future (UNICEF, 2019). The rate of obese children in NZ is 30.9% with malnutrition deprivation of 1.6 times (NZ Ministry, 2019). Simultaneously, NZ is encountering lack of freshwater availability due to polluted aquamarine life. The polluted water in NZ causes diarrhoea, cholera and typhoid among children, resulting in an early fatality (Trowbridge & Donovan, 2020). Freshwater supply is disturbed by plastic components and poor recycling by industrial organisations in NZ (NZ Ministry, 2020). The two identified challenges are threatening nutritional growth and ecology of NZ collectively, questioning future HDI ranking.
Discussion
The impact of social and environmental problems in NZ is increasing nationwide broadly, particularly by popular carbonated drink manufacturers. According to Tahmassebi and BaniHani (2020), Pepsi has the most significant contribution to causing obesity worldwide. The company sells 1 billion litres worldwide during each fiscal period. As a result, the contribution of Pepsi in causing obesity worldwide, including NZ, is unmatchable. On the contrary, Coca-Cola (Coke) is accused of contaminating the water in NZ due to imperfect recycling process. In NZ, Coke is reportedly having a significant share in 45% of freshwater pollution. As a result, NZ took the national initiative of becoming the first country to ban plastic (Woolf, 2020). The two leading brands in the foods and beverage industry are the source of causing social and environmental challenge experienced by Kiwis today. It is necessarily required that the two companies should take appropriate initiatives to overcome the problem.
Arguably, Pepsi and Coke should demonstrate better corporate citizenship while operating in NZ by taking strategic initiatives. Pepsi is a source of causing rising health issues, such as obesity and diabetes, in NZ and various countries. For Pepsi, diversifying the product portfolio is essential, especially in the age of health consciousness and consumer empowerment (Nooyi & Govindarajan, 2020). Pepsi should discontinue the sugary variants to demonstrate corporate citizenship. The company should introduce zero-sugar product variants by improvising the formula. It would allow Pepsi to acknowledge the rising health challenge among Kiwi children while retaining the potential customer base simultaneously. It is to notify that Pepsi could experience attrition of the customer base in the initial phases. However, diversification of the portfolio would resolve the rising social challenge in NZ from the core. Pepsi is the source of rising obesity among children in NZ and worldwide, requiring necessary response measures as resolution.
On the contrary, Coke is accused of caus...