Aspects and Challenges in Implementing Sustainable Development and Business in the Food and Beverage Processing Industry
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.37886/ruo.2023.014Keywords:
sustainable development, sustainable business, food and beverage processing industry, business strategy, governance, strategic managementAbstract
Research Question (RQ): What are the key aspects and challenges in implementing sustainable development and business in the food and beverage processing industry?
Purpose: The paper focuses on sustainable business, in terms of how companies impact on social, environmental and economic development through their operations and development efforts, with a focus on the food and beverage processing industry. Food and beverage manufacturing is one of the key pillars of the Slovenian economy and it is therefore crucial to study and understand sustainable development in this sector. The aim of this paper is to provide an overview, analysis and synthesis of knowledge related to sustainable development in the food and beverage processing industry.
Method: We pursue a multidimensional and sufficiently holistic approach to the concept of sustainable development, aiming to provide fresh insights into recent literature and current trends in sustainable development, with a focus on the food and beverage processing industry. The research used classical qualitative research methods: review of existing literature, analysis and synthesis of findings, description, compilation, induction, deduction and other sufficiently systematic and cybernetic qualitative research methods selected and applied. On this basis, we have designed the basis of a model of the key aspects and impacts of sustainable business in the food and beverage processing industry.
Results: We conclude that monitoring and evaluating the social, environmental, and economic performance of safe food and beverage production, as well as the management, governance, development of core and business strategies and business models focused on sustainability, is a major challenge for companies in the industry studied. We also note that the literature points to the need for a more focused approach to understanding sustainable business in this industry. As the literature also indicates a gap in the provision of tools that allow for a sufficiently comprehensive and effective assessment of sustainability at the different stages of the supply chain, the methods for assessing sustainability need to be adapted to the companies of the industry studied, which is specific in its characteristics but plays a key role in achieving a sustainable future.
Organization: Since the business shift towards sustainable business is still weak, the results of the survey are an important starting point to raise awareness among organizations of all types about the importance and identification of sustainable development and business.
Society: At the societal level, there is a growing awareness of the consequences of human behavior on the environment, on individual health and on food consumption. Consumers, especially in developed countries, are increasingly interested in food products (and packaging) that are safe, organic and in achieving greater levels of personal and environmental well-being. The proposed concept can contribute to this.
Originality: The paper is one of the few to examine sustainable development in the context of the food and beverage processing industry, which has been facing various interrelated challenges over the last few years.
Limitations/Future Research: As the literature shows a gap in providing tools to assess sustainability at different stages of the supply chain in a sufficiently comprehensive and adequately effective way, we suggest to develop the measurement instrumentation of the proposed model on the basis of the presented framework.
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