Environmental management effects in certified Serbian food companies

The objective of this research was to investigate the rationale and the motivations for implementation of ISO 14001 based environmental management system in the Serbian food sector, and evaluate specific effects and outputs of the implemented system. A total of 20 Serbian food companies with implemented requirements of ISO 14001 were interviewed. Results highlighted two sets of reasons for implementation of an environmental management system - prevention of pollution being the predominant one, and reasons related to customers' relationship, increased sales and competitiveness. The highest ranked benefits were legal compliance, followed by conservation of natural resources, improved firm's reputation, waste reduction and emergency responses. Outputs of implemented systems showed various environmental improvements achieved by the companies. Finally, a rise of environmental awareness was rated as the most important determinant related to the importance of implemented environmental management systems. Most of the results concur with similar researches performed in the non-food sectors. Results from the Serbian food industry research showed that the implementation of ISO 14001 achieved its foreseen intentions.