Sufficiency Business Strategies in the Food Industry—The Case of Oatly

Searching for a sustainable economy: Work, cooperation, and territorial solutions

BACKGROUND

This article discusses expanded governance of territorial issues as the basis for a sustainable way of producing and commercializing, as well as the relevance of work analysis within this governance. This discussion is developed from the Functionality and Cooperation Economy approach and from Brazilian experiences of organic food production and community-based solid waste management.

OBJECTIVE

To identify and analyze the relationship between territorial issues and work activities in initiatives that seek territorial solutions for food and waste management in order to reflect on a sustainable economic transition and its challenges.

METHODS

This article presents a reflection, a posteriori, concerning the follow-up of two initiatives that seek a sustainable economy and that, facing territorial issues, adopted different economic strategies. The field of research, by which the intended reflections are guided, originated from two intervention projects conducted by two different research/intervention groups.

RESULTS

Our study highlights how the central focus on the effects of work in a territory can support the development of reflexivity and, consequently, the production of transversal cooperation and the sharing of material and immaterial resources, thereby leading to multifunctional territorial solutions.

CONCLUSION

This study presents how the co-construction of multifunctional territorial solutions, involving cooperation among different actors, can be developed by an analysis of the respective activities involved. This analysis confers centrality to real work in order to feed the governance devices and enable the development of relationships of trust, necessary for living and producing in harmony, along with the construction of conventions and dynamic cooperation.

A typology of sustainable circular business models with applications in the bioeconomy

As an approach to sustainable development, circular business models are increasingly being developed. However, many circular business models focus on environmental or technological contributions to sustainability rather than considering all dimensions of sustainability simultaneously. Based on existing sustainable business model archetypes, a hierarchical business model typology is developed that allows a stepwise exploration of sustainable business model innovation opportunities incorporating an environmental, social and economic dimension. An analysis of business model components generates a closer look on the six newly defined Sustainable Circular Business Models. Finally, a conceptual application for organic waste valorization technologies, supported by examples from literature, allows a practical view on the implementation of the business models in the bio-economy. The typology offers a guide toward sustainable business model design or innovation opportunities centered around technologies creating value from waste.

Plant-Based Innovations for the Transition to Sustainability: A Bibliometric and in-Depth Content Analysis

Plants maintain the ecological equilibrium of the earth and stabilize the ecosystem. Today, traditional commodities and new value-added markets can be served simultaneously. There is significant biosource and bioprocess innovation for biobased industrial products. Furthermore, plant-based innovation is associated with the transition to sustainability. This study performed a bibliometric and in-depth content analysis to review plant-based innovations in the research field between 1995 and 2022. A set of 313 articles was identified from the Scopus and Web of Science databases. Different analytical scientometric tools (topic mapping and overlay visualization networks) were used to analyze 124 articles; the most influential countries, institutions, authors, journals and articles were identified. Through in-depth studies, based on the grounded theory approach, five leading research areas related to plant-based innovation were determined: (1) agricultural/environmental innovation, (2) plant-based food or feed innovation, (3) innovation within the medical/pharmaceutical research area, (4) technology-related innovation and (5) economic/business aspects of plant-based innovations. Future research directions include exploring less examined and new topics, such as the sustainability implications of incorporating various plant-based foods and Industry 4.0 in plant-based innovation, and linking and developing findings from different research areas.

From Sustainable Global Value Chains to Circular Economy-Different Silos, Different Perspectives, but Many Opportunities to Build Bridges

A growing interest in the circular economy concept has pushed the discourse in various management-related disciplines beyond established boundaries, with calls to better address how such a model may be developed in a world of global value chains. Still, the conventional linear economy model continues to dominate business, society, and research. While the concept of better connecting physical output and input flows at multiple production or consumption levels is becoming more accepted, it remains unclear how to make this happen while ensuring that sustainability targets are met or exceeded. Multiple scientific communities contribute different perspectives to this discourse, with promising opportunities for research. Circular economy and sustainability from business and economics perspectives are multifaceted. The existing body of knowledge needs to be advanced to assist private individuals, business managers, investors, or policymakers in making informed decisions. In this article for the inaugural issue, we provide a snapshot of the discourses among those who have studied the circular economy and its related topics. We outline conceptual inroads and potential research questions to encourage further circular economy and sustainability research and discourse from business or economics perspectives as well as from the broader transdisciplinary angle. We propose three research pathways: (1) connecting output with input needs in a global circular economy; (2) beyond today’s business logic for a global circular economy; and (3) inclusion of the Global South in North-dominated circular economies. For each, we propose concepts, theories, or methodological approaches and offer various perspectives from the micro, macro, and meso levels.

Sustainable Agri-Food Systems: Environment, Economy, Society, and Policy

Agri-food systems (AFS) have been central in the debate on sustainable development. Despite this growing interest in AFS, comprehensive analyses of the scholarly literature are hard to find. Therefore, the present systematic review delineated the contours of this growing research strand and analyzed how it relates to sustainability. A search performed on the Web of Science in January 2020 yielded 1389 documents, and 1289 were selected and underwent bibliometric and topical analyses. The topical analysis was informed by the SAFA (Sustainability Assessment of Food and Agriculture systems) approach of FAO and structured along four dimensions viz. environment, economy, society and culture, and policy and governance. The review shows an increasing interest in AFS with an exponential increase in publications number. However, the study field is north-biased and dominated by researchers and organizations from developed countries. Moreover, the analysis suggests that while environmental aspects are sufficiently addressed, social, economic, and political ones are generally overlooked. The paper ends by providing directions for future research and listing some topics to be integrated into a comprehensive, multidisciplinary agenda addressing the multifaceted (un)sustainability of AFS. It makes the case for adopting a holistic, 4-P (planet, people, profit, policy) approach in agri-food system studies.

Circular Food Behaviors: A Literature Review

Consumer behavior is crucial in the transition towards circular food systems. Studies so far investigate isolated circular food behaviors, but it is still unclear how the literature comprehensively addresses these behaviors. This paper provides an overview of the literature on circular food behaviors. Following a semi-systematic literature review, we analyze 46 papers related to circular food behaviors. We summarize their main features, categorize the behaviors, and propose a future research agenda. Results show the novelty and quick popularity of the topic, a dispersion across sustainability and agri-food journals, the manuscripts’ goals related to consumption, a predominance of empirical data collection in Europe, a focus on behaviors related to protein alternatives, food waste, and upcycled foods, and the importance of communication and consumers’ education. We categorize and characterize three types of circular food behaviors: linear, transitioning, and circular behaviors. Circular behaviors (i) are part of a systemic circular economy view, (ii) define consumers as “doers” or “prosumers”, (iii) pursue long-term sustainability goals, (iv) show a high engagement of skilled consumers, and (v) are supported by technologies. Future research should consider the social dimension of sustainability and pursue a systemic view of circular food behaviors. We suggest that a circular food-related lifestyle may incorporate the recommended directions.

Information Technology for Business Sustainability: A Literature Review with Automated Content Analysis

An extremely dynamic and fast-moving environment is pushing enterprises to continuous innovation and change. Managing sustainability in a digitalized environment seems to be of central importance for policy makers, as information technologies (IT), in combination with sustainability objectives, offer a wide range of opportunities for positive change. Through a systematic literature review and the application of automated content analysis, this study aims to provide insights into the latest research in the interdisciplinary field of sustainable business models and information systems. The results of the analysis, combined with a researcher’s perspective, suggest that IT, which can be used to achieve sustainability objectives, are already in place and have an infinite number of potential implications in the future. The results suggest that positive economic, social, and environmental changes can be achieved by using IT as long as they are used to identify unsustainable actions and enable positive change. The analysis of research trends revealed a discrepancy between the research in the European Union and the rest of the world and pointed to several avenues for future research.