Search results

Food sustainability is a world-acknowledged issue that requires urgent integrated solutions at multi-levels. This study aims to explore how food firms can improve their sustainability performance through digital traceability practices, considering the mediating effect of sustainability-oriented innovation (SOI) and the moderating effect of supply chain learning (SCL) for the food supply chain therein.

Hierarchical regression with a moderated mediation model is used to test the proposed hypotheses with a sample of 359 food firms from four provinces in China.

Digital traceability has a significant positive impact on the three pillars of sustainability performances among food firms. SOI (product innovation, process innovation and organisational innovation) mediates the relationship between digital traceability and sustainability performance. SCL plays moderating roles in the linkage between digital traceability and both product and process innovation, respectively.

This paper contributes as one of the first studies to develop digital traceability practices and their sustainability-related improvements for Chinese food firms; it extends studies on supply chain traceability to a typical emerging market. This finding can support food sustainability practice in terms of where and how to invest in sustainability innovation and how to improve economic, environmental and social performance.

Implementing sustainable practices in multi-tier supply chains (MTSCs) is a difficult task. This study aims to investigate why such endeavours fail and how MTSC partners can address them.

A single-case study of a global food retail company was used in this study. Semi-structured interviews with the case firm and its first- and second-tier suppliers were used to collect data, which were then qualitatively analysed using thematic analysis.

Major barriers impeding the implementation of sustainability in multi-tier food supply chains were revealed such as the cost of sustainability, knowledge gap, lack of infrastructure and supply chain complexity. Furthermore, the findings reveal five possible solutions such as multi-tier collaboration and partnership, diffusion of innovation along the chain, supply chain mapping, sustainability performance measurement and capacity building, all of which can aid in the improvement of sustainability practices.

Future research should investigate how specific barriers and drivers affect specific aspects of sustainability, pointing practitioners to specific links between the variables that can aid in tailoring sustainability oriented investment.

This research supports managerial comprehension of MTSC sustainability, pointing out ways to improve sustainability performance despite the complex multi-tier system of food supply chains.

The research on MTSC sustainability is still growing, and this research contributes to the debate about how MTSCs can become more sustainable from the perspective of the triple bottom line, particularly food supply chains which face significant sustainability challenges.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the level of concern and practice of sustainability development and also policy failure in the fast food supply chain.

A questionnaire using Likert scoring recorded variations in current practice and attitudes toward sustainable business. A two-stage cluster analysis was conducted to analyze the multi-attribute ordinal data obtained from the questionnaire.

Significant differences were found among clusters of fast food businesses in terms of their sustainability concern and practice, which is of interest to policy makers, consumers and supply chain partners. Medium-sized fast food dealers emerge with high environmental and social concern, but poor practice; larger retailers and fast food chains appear to have both fair social and environmental awareness and practice; and there is a cluster of small takeaway-specific outlets that have particularly low levels of knowledge of sustainability or sustainable practices. Policy failure is prevalent amongst these businesses and without regulation this represents a possible threat to the sector.

Reliance on stated rather than revealed preferences of the study may limit the implications of this analysis but it is a major step forward in understanding what has in the past been a very difficult sector to investigate due to data paucity.

Fast food is a sector with a lack of transparency which has attracted little academic attention to date, due to the difficulties of empirical analysis rather than lack of interest in a key food consumption sector. The message for the sector is to monitor its act, across all business types or face regulatory and policy intervention.

The research conducts a three-dimensional sustainability analysis of fast food supply chains to investigate the differences and trade-offs between different sustainability dimensions.

The food industry and its associated agricultural production have very significant global environmental and social impacts. The purpose of this study is to apply and evaluate the use of institutional theory and extended resource-based view (ERBV) to sustainability in food manufacturing and its supply chains. This will provide an understanding of the pressures that facilitate sustainability responses in food manufacturers and their supply chains.

An investigation of the Nespresso company and a multinational confectionery company were used to highlight the pressures that an organisation can face with respect to sustainability and demonstrate its responses using institutional theory and ERBV.

Based on ERBV and institutional theory, the authors developed an integrated conceptual framework that is readily applicable to food manufacturers and their supply chains and improves our understanding of how they react.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first time that both ERBV and institutional theory have been used to evaluate sustainability in food manufacturers and their supply chains. It is also the first time that the sustainability responses of the Nespresso company and another food manufacturer have been evaluated using these combined theories and this should improve our understanding of how these theories interact.

This chapter compares and discusses the 10 sustainability-oriented food supply chain innovations described in the previous chapters. Our purpose is to address and reflect on the questions and challenges introduced in the first chapter.

The cases are first analyzed in terms of the extent to which the innovations were motivated and impacted the social, environmental, and economic dimensions of sustainability. The various sustainable food supply chain practices adopted are compared. The third section explores the innovation strategies used in the cases, including the type of strategy, the breadth and level of innovativeness of the strategy, the governance approach, and the extent of capability development required. The final section presents our conclusions.

The results suggest that to become truly sustainable, companies need to adopt a broad set of practices that address all three dimensions of sustainability, and develop strategies to make the sustainability-oriented innovation economically viable. The more radical and systemic the innovation, the more difficult it is to generate these outcomes.

This chapter introduces the volume’s theme by describing the challenges of sustainability in the agri-food industry and the critical role of agri-food supply chains. Following a description of traditional and sustainable supply chain management practices, we discuss the likely characteristics of sustainability-oriented innovations and how organizations pursuing higher levels of economic, social, and environmental performance will need to adapt their capabilities.

Drawing on the emerging concepts and practices from sustainable supply chain management as well as traditional and emerging concepts from innovation, we develop general propositions and expectations about how organizations might address sustainable effectiveness in their supply chains. The importance of the agri-food industry to all three pillars of sustainable effectiveness and predictions about the inability to feed future populations gives the discussion a certain urgency.

Sustainability-oriented innovations in the agri-food supply chain are different from traditional innovations. We develop propositions regarding the driving motivations, their nature and scope (i.e., more radical and systemic than incremental and focused), and the importance of a multi-stakeholder approach. The 10 cases presented in the volume are summarized.

The ongoing pandemic has gravely affected different facets of society and economic trades worldwide. During the outbreak, most manufacturing and service sectors were closed across the globe except for essential commodities such as food and medicines. Consequently, recent literature has focused on studying supply chain resilience and sustainability in different pandemic contexts. This study aims to add to the existing literature by exploring the economic, environmental and societal aspects affecting the food supply chain and assessing the impact of COVID-19 on food sustainability.

A survey method has been adopted with a questionnaire instrument investigating the role of technology, government policies, geopolitics and intermediaries on sustainable organisational management. A five-point Likert scale (i.e. 1 = strongly disagree; 5 = strongly agree) is used to evaluate the responses. The findings are based on 131 responses from entry-level workers and senior executives of different food supply chains across Asia and Europe. The data has been analysed to derive insights into the impacts of this pandemic.

The survey concludes with the significant impact of COVID-19 on the three pillars of sustainability, i.e. economic, social and environmental dimensions. The empirical analysis shows digitalisation and its applications help mitigate the negative effect of COVID-19 on sustainability. In addition, the supportive government policies and intermediatory interventions were helpful in improving sustainability at each level.

The findings have implications for businesses and policymakers. Companies can learn from the advantages of digitalisation to counter the challenges imposed by the pandemic or similar situations in the future in maintaining the sustainability of their supply chains. Managers can also learn the importance of effective organisational management in driving sustainability. Finally, policymakers can devise policies to support businesses in adopting sustainable practices in their supply chains.

This study adds to the limited literature exploring the impact of COVID-19 on food supply chain sustainability through the triple bottom line lens. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is also one of the first empirical studies to examine the effect of technology, government and organisational management practices on the sustainability of food supply chains.

As members of the food supply chain, food manufacturers acquire power and hold responsibility for the sustainable transformation of our food systems. Sustainability assessment and reporting frameworks function as instruments to shape sustainable transformation processes. The purpose of the paper is to investigate the suitability for food manufacturing companies and their connectivity with the up- and downstream food supply chain.

The first section of the study explores the need for holistic, company-based sustainability frameworks in the food manufacturing sector from the literature. The second part compares seven frameworks, in terms of content and supply chain connectivity.

Food sector specificity demands the inclusion of topics specific to food systems. Furthermore, none of the investigated frameworks fulfil both food sector specificity and full connectivity with the up- and downstream supply chain.

As a limitation to this work, comparison of the frameworks at topic level instead of indicator level is considered. The findings call for more harmonised and integrated sustainability assessment throughout the food supply chain.

The framework a food manufacturer should apply depends on their motivation behind conducting the sustainability assessment and reporting. Evidence is provided from various perspectives and with regard to key issues such as content, certification and communication.

No comparison between sustainability frameworks has been made yet from the supply chain perspective of food manufacturers.

This study aims to advance current knowledge on resilient and sustainable short food supply chains, by identifying sustainability practices and resilience capabilities and how these interact.

Empirical data were collected from three cases via 16 semi-structured interviews. This methodological choice answers a call to develop more case studies to better understand perspectives on sustainable and resilient supply chains. Thematic analysis was used for data analysis.

Sustainability practices may positively enhance the resilience of short food supply chains, and vice versa. Specifically, social sustainability practices are perceived as enablers of resilience capabilities, and production practices can have a positive or negative impact on resilience capabilities.

This research addresses an important gap in the current short food supply chains literature, by looking at sustainability and resilience in an integrated way for the first time. The proposed working hypotheses and conceptual framework illustrate the complex relationship between social, economic and environmental sustainability and five resilience capabilities within short food supply chains.

This paper investigates how chain members collaborate to ensure the sustainability of supply chains through the social capital perspective.

Following a case study design, three social capital mechanisms – reach, richness and receptivity – were used as a lens with two eco-innovative food companies and their respective supply chains in Southern Brazil. Data consisted of interviews and other sources of evidence obtained from multiple stakeholders.

Results highlight the importance of a managerial orientation for sustainability and that sustainable chains presuppose a network that is closely linked and with great affinity. Not only does the management of operations improve the green performance of companies for environmental benchmarking but it also expands to include the supply chain. Social capital mechanisms can encourage partners to develop strategic initiatives for sustainability, especially if managers share key drivers for adopting eco-innovations and overall chain sustainability.

The paper contributes to research on collaboration within sustainable supply chain management. Empirical data were gathered from different stakeholders in two food chains in a developing country. Through the lens of social capital mechanisms, the paper shows how different types of companies collaborate in their supply chain for sustainability.