IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v13y2021i21p11816-d665302.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Evaluating the Sustainability Dimensions in the Food Supply Chain: Literature Review and Research Routes

Author

Listed:
  • Maria Elena Latino

    (Innovation Engineering Department, University of Salento, 73100 Lecce, Italy)

  • Marta Menegoli

    (Innovation Engineering Department, University of Salento, 73100 Lecce, Italy)

  • Martina De Giovanni

    (Innovation Engineering Department, University of Salento, 73100 Lecce, Italy)

Abstract

Nowadays, the world is facing numerous sustainability challenges and the modern food system is called to innovate processes or products in order to remain competitive within the market, as well as answering to strategic government guidelines for a more sustainable food supply chain. This study aims to investigate what the main research routes of a sustainable food supply chain are, explored by the international scientific panorama, with a view for providing companies with a framework of the sustainability paths that can be followed, and, to researchers, gaps and future research routes to explore. A systematic review method is adopted through bibliometric analysis and results were obtained with VOSViewer software support. Descriptive and thematic analyses allowed us to discover the bibliometric characteristics of the sample, the main specific topics and the related research routes already addressed in sustainable food supply chain, the main food supply chain models studied in association with sustainability and the effort employed by academia to investigate the three sustainability dimensions: environmental, economic and social. Concluding, the research field of sustainability in the food supply chain is focused on management issues able to generate impacts on process, systems, practices, production and quality.

Suggested Citation

  • Maria Elena Latino & Marta Menegoli & Martina De Giovanni, 2021. "Evaluating the Sustainability Dimensions in the Food Supply Chain: Literature Review and Research Routes," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-25, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:21:p:11816-:d:665302
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/21/11816/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/21/11816/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Beske, Philip & Land, Anna & Seuring, Stefan, 2014. "Sustainable supply chain management practices and dynamic capabilities in the food industry: A critical analysis of the literature," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 152(C), pages 131-143.
    2. Snyder, Hannah, 2019. "Literature review as a research methodology: An overview and guidelines," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 333-339.
    3. Sgarbossa, Fabio & Russo, Ivan, 2017. "A proactive model in sustainable food supply chain: Insight from a case study," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 183(PB), pages 596-606.
    4. Scott Stephens, 2001. "Supply Chain Operations Reference Model Version 5.0: A New Tool to Improve Supply Chain Efficiency and Achieve Best Practice," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 3(4), pages 471-476, December.
    5. Heller, Martin C. & Keoleian, Gregory A., 2003. "Assessing the sustainability of the US food system: a life cycle perspective," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 76(3), pages 1007-1041, June.
    6. Paul, Justin & Criado, Alex Rialp, 2020. "The art of writing literature review: What do we know and what do we need to know?," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 29(4).
    7. Paul, Justin & Parthasarathy, Sundar & Gupta, Parul, 2017. "Exporting challenges of SMEs: A review and future research agenda," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 52(3), pages 327-342.
    8. Zhanguo Zhu & Feng Chu & Alexandre Dolgui & Chengbin Chu & Wei Zhou & Selwyn Piramuthu, 2018. "Recent advances and opportunities in sustainable food supply chain: a model-oriented review," International Journal of Production Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 56(17), pages 5700-5722, September.
    9. Gómez, Miguel I. & Ricketts, Katie D., 2013. "Food value chain transformations in developing countries - Selected hypotheses on nutritional implications," ESA Working Papers 288987, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Agricultural Development Economics Division (ESA).
    10. Mary M. Crossan & Marina Apaydin, 2010. "A Multi‐Dimensional Framework of Organizational Innovation: A Systematic Review of the Literature," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(6), pages 1154-1191, September.
    11. Nees Jan Eck & Ludo Waltman, 2010. "Software survey: VOSviewer, a computer program for bibliometric mapping," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 84(2), pages 523-538, August.
    12. Soysal, Mehmet & Bloemhof-Ruwaard, Jacqueline.M. & Meuwissen, Miranda P.M. & van der Vorst, Jack G.A.J., 2012. "A Review on Quantitative Models for Sustainable Food Logistics Management," International Journal on Food System Dynamics, International Center for Management, Communication, and Research, vol. 3(2), pages 1-20, December.
    13. Gómez, Miguel I. & Ricketts, Katie D., 2013. "Food value chain transformations in developing countries: Selected hypotheses on nutritional implications," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 139-150.
    14. Catherine Hardy & Thomas E. Graedel, 2002. "Industrial Ecosystems as Food Webs," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 6(1), pages 29-38, January.
    15. Brian R Chabowski & Saeed Samiee & G Tomas M Hult, 2013. "A bibliometric analysis of the global branding literature and a research agenda," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 44(6), pages 622-634, August.
    16. Yuna Chiffoleau & Tara Dourian, 2020. "Sustainable Food Supply Chains: Is Shortening the Answer? A Literature Review for a Research and Innovation Agenda," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(23), pages 1-21, November.
    17. Scheil-Adlung, Xenia., 2015. "Global evidence on inequities in rural health protection : new data on rural deficits in health coverage for 174 countries," ILO Working Papers 994876213402676, International Labour Organization.
    18. Betsy Donald & Meric Gertler & Mia Gray & Linda Lobao, 2010. "Re-regionalizing the food system?," Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 3(2), pages 171-175.
    19. Stefan Wirsenius, 2003. "The Biomass Metabolism of the Food System: A Model‐Based Survey of the Global and Regional Turnover of Food Biomass," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 7(1), pages 47-80, January.
    20. Pauline Deutz & Giuseppe Ioppolo, 2015. "From Theory to Practice: Enhancing the Potential Policy Impact of Industrial Ecology," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(2), pages 1-15, February.
    21. Jette Jacobsen & Nick Hanley, 2009. "Are There Income Effects on Global Willingness to Pay for Biodiversity Conservation?," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 43(2), pages 137-160, June.
    22. Reynolds, Christian & Goucher, Liam & Quested, Tom & Bromley, Sarah & Gillick, Sam & Wells, Victoria K. & Evans, David & Koh, Lenny & Carlsson Kanyama, Annika & Katzeff, Cecilia & Svenfelt, Åsa & Jack, 2019. "Review: Consumption-stage food waste reduction interventions – What works and how to design better interventions," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 7-27.
    23. Ole Ellegaard & Johan A. Wallin, 2015. "The bibliometric analysis of scholarly production: How great is the impact?," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 105(3), pages 1809-1831, December.
    24. Chunkui Zhu & Peishan Tong & Zhiping Song, 2021. "A Bibliometric and Visual Analysis of Environmental Behavior Research," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(18), pages 1-19, September.
    25. Aleksander Banasik & Argyris Kanellopoulos & G. D. H. Claassen & Jacqueline M. Bloemhof-Ruwaard & Jack G. A. J. Vorst, 2017. "Assessing alternative production options for eco-efficient food supply chains using multi-objective optimization," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 250(2), pages 341-362, March.
    26. Wen-Yau Cathy Lin, 2012. "Research status and characteristics of library and information science in Taiwan: a bibliometric analysis," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 92(1), pages 7-21, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Abderahman Rejeb & Karim Rejeb & Andrea Appolloni & Mohammad Iranmanesh & Horst Treiblmaier & Sandeep Jagtap, 2022. "Exploring Food Supply Chain Trends in the COVID-19 Era: A Bibliometric Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-33, September.
    2. Ajay Philip & Rahul R. Marathe, 2022. "A New Green Labeling Scheme for Agri-Food Supply Chains: Equilibrium and Information Sharing under Uncertainties," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-34, November.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Khlystova, Olena & Kalyuzhnova, Yelena & Belitski, Maksim, 2022. "The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the creative industries: A literature review and future research agenda," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 1192-1210.
    2. Paul, Justin & Alhassan, Ibrahim & Binsaif, Nasser & Singh, Prakash, 2023. "Digital entrepreneurship research: A systematic review," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
    3. Lages, Cristiana R. & Perez-Vega, Rodrigo & Kadić-Maglajlić, Selma & Borghei-Razavi, Niloofar, 2023. "A systematic review and bibliometric analysis of the dark side of customer behavior: An integrative customer incivility framework," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    4. Chen, Yanyan & Mandler, Timo & Meyer-Waarden, Lars, 2021. "Three decades of research on loyalty programs: A literature review and future research agenda," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 179-197.
    5. Mandler, Timo & Sezen, Burcu & Chen, Jieke & Özsomer, Ayşegül, 2021. "Performance consequences of marketing standardization/adaptation: A systematic literature review and future research agenda," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 416-435.
    6. Rohmer, S.U.K. & Gerdessen, J.C. & Claassen, G.D.H., 2019. "Sustainable supply chain design in the food system with dietary considerations: A multi-objective analysis," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 273(3), pages 1149-1164.
    7. Ali Saeed Almuflih & Janpriy Sharma & Mohit Tyagi & Arvind Bhardwaj & Mohamed Rafik Noor Mohamed Qureshi & Nawaf Khan, 2022. "Leveraging the Dynamics of Food Supply Chains towards Avenues of Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(12), pages 1-15, June.
    8. Md Abu Helal & Nathaniel Anderson & Yu Wei & Matthew Thompson, 2023. "A Review of Biomass-to-Bioenergy Supply Chain Research Using Bibliometric Analysis and Visualization," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(3), pages 1-32, January.
    9. D. Krysanov, O. Varchenko, 2017. "Agro-food chains: key issues of creation and development," Economy and Forecasting, Valeriy Heyets, issue 1, pages 72-91.
    10. Kumar Mangla, Sachin & Börühan, Gülmüş & Ersoy, Pervin & Kazancoglu, Yigit & Song, Malin, 2021. "Impact of information hiding on circular food supply chains in business-to-business context," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 1-18.
    11. Dwi Ratna Hidayati & Elena Garnevska & Paul Childerhouse, 2021. "Sustainable Agrifood Value Chain—Transformation in Developing Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(22), pages 1-20, November.
    12. Gulyas Greta & Molnar Elisabeta Ilona, 2023. "Wellness Tourism Management Research A bibliometric analysis," Management & Marketing, Sciendo, vol. 18(2), pages 172-191, June.
    13. Elena Francke, Anna & Carrete, Lorena, 2023. "Consumer self-regulation: Looking back to look forward. A systematic literature review," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    14. Mariana Toussaint & Pablo Cabanelas & Pilar Muñoz-Dueñas, 2022. "Social sustainability in the food value chain: what is and how to adopt an integrative approach?," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 56(4), pages 2477-2500, August.
    15. Nelaeva, Alena & Nilssen, Frode, 2022. "Contrasting knowledge development for internationalization among emerging and advanced economy firms: A review and future research," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 232-256.
    16. Sureka, Riya & Kumar, Satish & Colombage, Sisira & Abedin, Mohammad Zoynul, 2022. "Five decades of research on capital budgeting – A systematic review and future research agenda," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    17. Goodell, John W. & Kumar, Satish & Lahmar, Oumaima & Pandey, Nitesh, 2023. "A bibliometric analysis of cultural finance," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    18. Taghikhah, Firouzeh & Voinov, Alexey & Shukla, Nagesh & Filatova, Tatiana & Anufriev, Mikhail, 2021. "Integrated modeling of extended agro-food supply chains: A systems approach," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 288(3), pages 852-868.
    19. Manuel Fernández-Esquinas & María Isabel Sánchez-Rodríguez & José Antonio Pedraza-Rodríguez & Rocío Muñoz-Benito, 2021. "The use of QCA in science, technology and innovation studies: a review of the literature and an empirical application to knowledge transfer," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 126(8), pages 6349-6382, August.
    20. Costa, Paula L. & Ferreira, João J. & Torres de Oliveira, Rui, 2023. "From entrepreneurial failure to re-entry," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:21:p:11816-:d:665302. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.