Sustainability Reporting in Dairy Cooperatives in Poland: Managers’ Opinions

The motivation for conducting this study was the growing importance of sustainability reporting (ESG) in the business sector, driven by both regulatory pressure from the European Union and stakeholder expectations. In Poland, significant differences are visible in the level of organizational preparedness for implementing ESG principles—large enterprises increasingly integrate non-financial reporting into their business strategies. At the same time, small and medium-sized firms, especially in the cooperative sector, face numerous barriers such as limited resources, a lack of specialist knowledge, or low awareness of potential benefits. The dairy cooperative sector, which plays a key role in the Polish food market, remains relatively understudied in the context of ESG, further reinforcing the need for such an analysis. The literature gap concerns primarily the limited number of studies focusing on small and medium-sized entities in the agri-food sector, particularly those operating as cooperatives. Most existing research focuses on large corporations and capital market entities, whereas cooperatives—despite their significant local and social role—are largely absent from mainstream ESG research. There is a lack of reliable analyses examining ESG awareness among cooperative managers and their readiness to implement non-financial reporting. The study was conducted using a structured interview questionnaire addressed to the management teams of 18 dairy cooperatives in Poland. A total of 56 respondents participated, grouped according to the size of their cooperatives. A pilot study involving five respondents was carried out before the main research to ensure clarity of the questionnaire. The analysis was descriptive and included comparing the responses across small, medium, and large cooperatives. The results reveal significant differences in ESG knowledge levels: awareness among managers in large cooperatives reaches 91%, whereas in small cooperatives it is only 11%. Similar disparities are observed in the preparation of non-financial ESG reports (3% in small cooperatives, 96% in large ones) and in the integration of ESG strategy with overall business strategy. Large cooperatives more frequently use technologies for data collection, report emissions, waste, and water usage, and undertake social initiatives. The study confirms that financial resources, organizational scale, and regulatory pressure are the key factors determining the advancement of ESG practices.