Why would private firms be interested in fighting hunger? Institutional pressures leading to responsible innovation

Private companies have increasingly sought to invest in responsible innovation, in many cases focusing in dealing with grand challenges, the ambitious objectives that are essential for the sustainable development of humankind. In this paper, we look for the reasons private organizations invest significant resources in tackling a grand challenge, such as food production that is linked to the commitment to eradicate hunger and why this is often done through responsible innovation. We propose a conceptual model using social movement theory to understand why private companies embrace grand challenges following a societal change in public expectations towards food-related businesses. We also apply institutional theory to comprehend the isomorphic mechanism through which other organizations within the same field replicate this behaviour, engaging themselves in their own responsible innovation for food production and argue that this is the best course of action to respond to these pressures. The example of Ocado and Marks and Spencer retailers is used to illustrate how this dynamic works.