Sustainable Transition of Meat and Cured Meat Supply Chain: A Transdisciplinary Approach
Abstract
This edited volume provides an innovative perspective on the future of food systems. The contributors analyse relevant issues for a sustainable and responsible food consumption and cover fundamental steps for a broader approach to the sustainability of meat-based products. The book presents several issues and solutions to engage food firms in a measurable ecological transition. Topics discussed include not only the pedagogical perspective on sustainable food consumption, the evolution of (meat-based) food production systems and the animal welfare perspective, but also the adaptation of firm’s strategies to the sustainable transition, the effects of climate change on agri-food firms’ governance structures and the evolution of consumers perceptions on meat-based products and the role of CSR labels.
This book targets managers and entrepreneurs who work in the meat industry and are seeking to improve their socio-environmental performance and governance, accountants that works at the production of sustainability reports for food companies, researchers working at the cutting edge of the food and environmental fields, professionals working in the meat industry and researchers interested in the investigation of novelties in European food regulation.
... Similarly, an examination of sustainability reports within Italian F&B listed companies has revealed a compromised commitment to sustainability (Fiandrino et al., 2019). Consequently, considering the large prevalence of SMEs within this Italian productive context (Fellegara et al., 2023), there exists a gap in the analysis of industry associations regarding their role in promoting firms' sustainability reporting. ...
... The Italian context was chosen because of the diffusion of traditional productions within the European market (ex-Regulation CE 510/2006) and the limited relative per-capita consumption (OECD, 2022;OECD/FAO, 2021;Statista, 2021). Conversely, this specific supply chain is of interest since consumers are more demanding in terms of process disclosure, controls on product quality, and traceability of products along the production chain (e.g., Fellegara et al., 2023;Kumar et al., 2022). Additionally, this production context has been extensively analyzed in terms of micro (firm-level) determinants of sustainability reporting and sustainability performance assessment tools developed (Cagno et al., 2023;Huebel & Schaltegger, 2022), also within the Italian scenario (Caccialanza & Marinoni, 2023;Fellegara et al., 2023;Fiandrino et al., 2019). ...
... Conversely, this specific supply chain is of interest since consumers are more demanding in terms of process disclosure, controls on product quality, and traceability of products along the production chain (e.g., Fellegara et al., 2023;Kumar et al., 2022). Additionally, this production context has been extensively analyzed in terms of micro (firm-level) determinants of sustainability reporting and sustainability performance assessment tools developed (Cagno et al., 2023;Huebel & Schaltegger, 2022), also within the Italian scenario (Caccialanza & Marinoni, 2023;Fellegara et al., 2023;Fiandrino et al., 2019). Accordingly, this study aims to further contribute to this debate by considering the interdependence between micro (firm-level) sustainability actions, sustainability performance measurement and disclosure, and the meso (association-level) initiatives. ...
This study seeks to examine the interconnections and potential influencing factors between firms' sustainability initiatives and the pressures exerted by industry associations for sustainability reporting. Given the reluctance of many firms to disclose their sustainability efforts, particular attention is directed toward the Italian meat and cured meat industry, with a focus on uncovering the drivers that link firms' sustainability actions to the level of engagement by industry associations in promoting sustainability reporting. Employing a multiple case study design, this research adopts a qualitative and interpretative methodology, leveraging semi‐structured interviews to elucidate pertinent strengths and weaknesses associated with both external and internal factors, as well as managerial strategies. Encompassing various stages of the supply chain, from genetic selection and animal husbandry to processing and distribution, this study aims to bridge a gap in the existing literature on sustainability reporting by shedding light on firms' approaches to both reporting and action. Furthermore, it offers novel insights into the often‐overlooked meso‐level factors influencing firms' propensity for sustainability reporting, including the role played by trade associations.
Sustainability is becoming a pivotal guide for driving the governance strategies of value chains. Sustainable policy should have as its objective the perpetuation of production models over time to maintain its environmental, economic and social dimensions. Therefore, measuring the sustainability of a production system is fundamental to deepening the understanding of ongoing trends, considering the pressure exerted by agricultural policies, market dynamics and innovations introduced in the production system. The purpose of this paper is to present a holistic framework for assessing the sustainability of food quality schemes (FQS), including the role of both stakeholders within the value chain, and the territorial dimension. This paper discusses the use of dimensional indicators and proposes synthetic indexes to provide an overall picture of the evolution of sustainability of a specific production system. Particularly, the evolution of sustainability in the Parmigiano Reggiano Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) production system is evaluated over the period 2000-2018. It is assumed that its evolution is due to the effect of 20 years of innovations which have impacted on product quality, value chain performance and rural development, modifying the sustainability of the whole production system.
The objective of this study is twofold. Firstly, to analyze sustainability practices adopted in collaboration, including vertical collaboration i.e., with other actors or stages upstream or downstream in the supply chain, and horizontal collaboration i.e., with actors such as non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Secondly, to identify the sustainability performance expected from sustainability practices implemented in different supply chain stages. The study reports on a set of case studies representing four different food supply chain (FSC) stages: breeding/growing, processing, distribution and retail. The findings indicate that each stage selects different collaboration schemes for sustainability practices' implementation, prioritizing relations with upstream actors, namely grower/breeder, as these are key actors responsible for ensuring product quality and safety. In addition, the type of collaborative relationship is shown to be predominantly transactional for environmental and community practices, especially for solving specific short-term issues. Finally, varied areas of environmental and social sustainability performance are recognized, upstream and downstream, as a result of collaborative practices applied in different FSC stages, showing the diverse sustainability objectives pursued along the chain.
In the debate surrounding the sustainable future of food, claims like “buy local” are widespread in publications and the media, supported by the discourse that buying “local food” provides ecological, health and socio-economic benefits. Recognising the lack of scientific evidence for this claim, this paper aims to compare the results of sustainability assessments for 14 local and global food products in four sectors within four European countries. Each sector has been analysed independently using sustainability indicators across five dimensions of sustainability: environmental, economic, social, health and ethics. In order to determine if local products generally perform better, an outranking analysis was conducted to rank the products relative to their sustainability performance. Outranking is a multi-criteria decision aid method that allows comparison of alternatives based on quantitative and qualitative indicators at different scales. Each product is also characterized by a degree of localness in order to relate sustainability and localness. The results are given in the form of phi flows, which are relative preference scores of one product compared to other ones in the same sector. The rankings showed that global products consistently come last in terms of sustainability, even when the preference functions and weighting of the indicators were varied. The first positions of the rankings were taken either by the most local or an intermediary product. Moreover, detailed rankings at the attribute level showed the relative strengths and weaknesses of each food product along the local-global continuum. It appeared that the strength of local and intermediary products was mainly in health and socio-economic dimensions, particularly aspects of care and links to the territory such as biodiversity, animal welfare, governance or resilience. In relation to global food products, they presented substantial advantages in terms of climate change mitigation and affordability to consumers. This contrasts with the food-miles ecological claim. Thus, we conclude that distance is not the most critical factor in improving sustainability of food products, and that other criteria of localness (identity, governance or size) play a more critical role.
Short supply chain, as legally defined by Reg. 1305/13, is able to reach goals of “sustainable agriculture”, through the reduction of transportation costs and consequently of CO2 emissions. In addition, it promotes biodiversity and implements periurban agriculture. The interest for short food chain is growing in EU and in national legislations, considering its role in achieving environmental goals. This approach has a major effect on the reinterpretation of market performing principles, considering the role of Member States in defining more flexible rules applicable to local markets, as well as in interpreting the principle of free movement of goods within the local markets.
The 2014-2020 Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reform defines new rules for farmers including maintenance of the ecological focus area (EFA). Sustainability is also a requirement to meet consumer expectations and a competitive advantage for firms. This paper aims to evaluate the farmers' intention to implement sustainable practices related to the EFA measure and to the private sustainability schemes proposed by the food industry. The Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) was applied on a sample of durum wheat producers to analyse intentions 1) to maintain 7% of the arable land as an EFA, and 2) to implement the private sustainability scheme. Structural equation modelling was applied to test for the relative importance of intention determinants. The farmers' attitude and past behaviour positively affect intentions to implement the EFA, while perceived behavioural control and attitudes predict intentions to adopt the private sustainability scheme. These results suggest possible interventions that public authorities and supply chain leaders might implement to stimulate farmers' sustainable behaviours.
Consumers have, through their food choices, a major role in bringing about more sustainable food production. However, this presupposes that differences in sustainability are communicated to consumers. Even if food products are eco-labelled and consumers are motivated to support sustainability, a number of potential barriers may prevent consumers from using the information to make sustainable choices. Six such barriers are discussed in this paper.
This study seeks to analyze the role of retail eco-brands in the development of markets for sustainability certified food products. Building on insights from the New Institutional Economics (NIE) paradigm, but also broader literature in the supply chain management and marketing research, we suggest that private eco-branding and third-party certification can be explained as private institutional arrangements that motivate and enable sustainability governance by retailers both upstream and downstream in the value chain. Based on semi-structured interviews with Western European retailers, this study reveals critical functions of retailers' sustainability–oriented brands. These functions address a number of inefficiencies pertained to the third-party certification, making eco-branding a private product policy tool to proactively set and implement sustainability in food production and consumption practices. At the same time, limitations associated with the development and use of private eco-brands are identified. Based on these limitations, we suggest that while retailer's eco-brands are likely to play an important role in transforming food markets towards higher levels of sustainability in the future, the continuous value of third-party certification schemes in implementing sustainability in the food supply chain should not be underestimated. The role of the latter will be to reduce transaction costs and liability risks associated with retail efforts to govern product sustainability issues upstream in the supply chain.
Deep structural and sustained change is necessary to tackle contemporary environmental challenges. How such change emerges and can be governed has been explored through the notion of sustainable innovation journeys. To date research had conceptualised such journeys as transitions to more sustainable socio-technical systems, e.g. mobility, shelter, food and farming. However, there is a paucity of how innovation proceeds in firms as part of sustainable innovation journeys. This paper begins to address this gap in knowledge. A longitudinal case study was completed of a medium-sized food processing firm in the UK. Qualitative data were collected using ethnographic methods such as participant observation. Drawing on practice theory, a conceptual framework was developed which enabled us to explore and make sense of the firm’s sustainable innovation journey conceptualised as practices. Findings show that we can usefully treat a firm as a flow of practices that either resist or otherwise accommodate new practices deemed more sustainable.
Sustainable innovation is an emerging and fundamental force for change in business and society. Its potential to transform technology, products and markets distinguishes it as an area of entrepreneurial opportunity and a force of 'creative destruction' as defined by economist Joseph Schumpeter (1934). Walden Paddlers is a case example of Schumpeterian creative destruction in the area of sustainable innovation. By examining the process by which product and process innovations were achieved by this startup virtual corporation we gain a broader comprehension of how environmental and sustainability considerations can be successfully integrated into business strategy. The company is studied from idea generation through successful launching and management. Key to understanding the outcome was the environmentally related opportunity and the process through which the entrepreneur created innovation through the cultivation and leadership of a network of players. Two premises underlie the analysis: (i) by focusing on opportunity and innovation, the entrepreneurial field offers insights into the relationship between business and the natural environment; (ii) studies of startup entrepreneurial firms implementing environmental and sustainable strategies provide important data that add to our rapidly evolving body of knowledge about the relationship between corporate behavior and the environment. W e want to maintain Schumpeter's 'gale of creative destruction' pre-cisely because we need creativity and evolution (Allenby, 1997, p 110).
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