ISO Standards: A Platform for Achieving Sustainable Development Goal 2

Avenues of decarbonisation in the dynamics of processed food supply chains: Towards responsible production consumption

Nowadays, the demand for processed food items is surging. To fulfil the enhanced demand, a significant impact is laid on the environment, which enhances the carbon footprint being generated. Hence, to overcome this, the avenues of decarbonisation need to be explored. The presented work is aimed at promoting the decarbonisation of the existing practices within the processed food supply chains. It finds strong compliance with the sustainable development goal (SDG-12), focusing on responsible production-consumption mechanisms. For the same, key enactors of decarbonisation are identified and mapped with the practices at various stages of food supply chains, i.e. upstream, downstream, and other allied practices. Based upon these enactors, a relational, hierarchical framework is developed to provide a comprehensive perspective on complex intricacies. This framework is analysed with an innovative approach which comprises the fundamentals of Interval-Valued Intuitionistic Hesitant Fuzzy Set with the Entropy measures. It results in the outranking of the enactors relative to its importance in the decarbonisation of processed food supply chains. Furthermore, the empirical findings are validated by the sensitivity analysis to felicitate robust decision-making. The outcomes of the presented work provide a roadmap and stepped approach to achieve the decarbonisation goals and make production-consumption mechanisms sustainable. It finds implications in the development of the framework, policy formulation, and decisional attributes for the decarbonisation of food supply chains. It focuses on the adoption of strategies that align with global efforts to mitigate climate change and promote a sustainable future.

The effects of power imbalance on supply chain sustainability adoption: evidence from the artisanal fishing industry

Purpose

Grounded on resource dependence theory, the authors explored how power and dependence affect sustainability adoption in an artisanal fishing supply chain (AFSC) in Mexico.

Design/methodology/approach

An in-depth longitudinal case study was conducted to identify relationships among fishers, a cooperative and intermediaries using a content analysis of data gathered from a combination of interviews, focus groups, observations, participatory workshops and secondary data.

Findings

As a result of the existing power imbalance among AFSC members, mediated forces (e.g. rewards for intermediary–fishers relationship) were the most prominent observed. In addition, a close and high dependence on resources affecting supply chain sustainability (SCS) adoption was identified. For example, within intermediary–cooperative relationships, a power imbalance caused mostly by financial resource dependence generated a negative impact on economic sustainability related to unfair prices and unfair trade. The results, thus, showed the detrimental influence of intermediaries among AFSC members on SCS adoption.

Practical implications

A greater understanding of power imbalance and dependence can help AFSC members to identify their weaknesses and develop actions to adopt sustainability.

Originality/value

Unlike previous research, the authors go beyond the often positive research focus of SCS studies and provide, through the resource dependence theory, a longitudinal view on how power imbalance negatively affects SCS adoption.

Setting the sustainable development targets for restaurants and Italian HoReCa sector

Due to its strategic position and direct relationship with multiple stakeholders, the HoReCa sector can be a crucial node for the promotion of sustainability in the agri-food chain. However, the sector is currently responsible for a high environmental, social, and economic load. A recent response to these impacts is the diffusion of initiatives that assess and promote sustainable practices at the catering business level. The study aims to verify, using a scientific methodology, how current sustainability programs enable the HoReCa sector to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the level of implementation of sustainable practices in the Italian context. To this end, seven currently available national and international sustainability programs were selected, analyzed, and compared. A matrix approach was adopted to understand the balance of the programs with respect to the three pillars of sustainability. A more in-depth analysis was conducted on the Italian Ristorazione Sostenibile 360 (RS 360) case study, which was analyzed both in terms of compliance with the SDGs and in terms of the sustainability performance of the 29 restaurants that participated in the pilot phase of the project. Although the programs differ from each other, they comply with the 2030 Agenda goals, with a particular focus on achieving Goal 12. Furthermore, the analysis highlighted how a balance between the social, environmental, and economic spheres is essential to ensure the sustainable growth of the sector and to bring benefits to the community. As for the case study, 76 % of the analyzed restaurants achieve at least 70 % of the maximum level of fulfillment of the SDGs achievable by the HoReCa sector. This is a symptom of the sector's potential to contribute to supply chain sustainability. However, continuous improvement is essential to ensure the resilience of the HoReCa sector in the future.

The Role of Standards in the Development and Delivery of Sustainable Products: A Research Framework

The progress towards sustainable development could be accelerated by the adoption of progressive technologies and the development of new “green” products. The anecdotal evidence suggests that the acceptance of these products is, in part, affected by the development and acceptance of new standards as well as by the management of standardization in firms. Yet, there is a lack of a clearly focused research agenda that would systematically address the management of standardization in firms–particularly from a sustainability perspective. This paper addresses this gap and develops a research framework that is organized in three areas—intrafirm capabilities (the role of standards in the development of firms’ capabilities in—and through—standardization-related activities), interorganizational relationships (the role of standards in the development of interorganizational relationships) and accountability (the role of standards for accountability in firms and supply chains). Each area provides a set of representative research questions for future research. The paper also aims to encourage scholars in the field to address standardization from a strategic perspective, to develop an understanding about the complex nature of the management of standardization and trace its economic and sustainability consequences.