IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/bstrat/v34y2025i1p1287-1301.html

Collaboration for the sustainable food supply chain: A bibliometric analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Linh Nguyen Khanh Duong
  • Vikas Kumar
  • Qile He

Abstract

There is increasing attention on the topic of collaboration for sustainable food supply chains (SFSCs), with increasingly contributing journals and publications every year. The urgency of this topic is even more highlighted due to the COVID‐19 pandemic and the more recent energy and food crisis. Hence, the field needs to have a good portrait of the ongoing research in this area and to better understand future research directions to enable optimized future strategic plans and problem‐solving capability of effective collaboration for SFSCs. This paper reviews, analyses, and synthesizes the current state of research into collaboration for SFSCs. We examine a sample of 528 articles identified from the Scopus and Web of Science databases using bibliometric analysis methodology. We identify four research clusters: collaboration and sustainable supply chain management, emerging markets and resilience, digital technologies, and perishable food products. This paper clarifies interrelated themes and identifies a range of topic areas that still demand further investigation.

Suggested Citation

  • Linh Nguyen Khanh Duong & Vikas Kumar & Qile He, 2025. "Collaboration for the sustainable food supply chain: A bibliometric analysis," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34(1), pages 1287-1301, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:bstrat:v:34:y:2025:i:1:p:1287-1301
    DOI: 10.1002/bse.4051
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.4051
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/bse.4051?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Donthu, Naveen & Kumar, Satish & Mukherjee, Debmalya & Pandey, Nitesh & Lim, Weng Marc, 2021. "How to conduct a bibliometric analysis: An overview and guidelines," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 133(C), pages 285-296.
    2. Kunpeng Li & Jun-Yeon Lee & Amir Gharehgozli, 2023. "Blockchain in food supply chains: a literature review and synthesis analysis of platforms, benefits and challenges," International Journal of Production Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 61(11), pages 3527-3546, June.
    3. 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.
    4. Govindan, Kannan, 2018. "Sustainable consumption and production in the food supply chain: A conceptual framework," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 195(C), pages 419-431.
    5. Gold, Stefan & Hahn, Rüdiger & Seuring, Stefan, 2013. "Sustainable supply chain management in “Base of the Pyramid” food projects—A path to triple bottom line approaches for multinationals?," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 22(5), pages 784-799.
    6. Siems, Erik & Land, Anna & Seuring, Stefan, 2021. "Dynamic capabilities in sustainable supply chain management: An inter-temporal comparison of the food and automotive industries," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 236(C).
    7. Stefan Gold & Stefan Seuring & Philip Beske, 2010. "Sustainable supply chain management and inter‐organizational resources: a literature review," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 17(4), pages 230-245, July.
    8. Kirti Nayal & Rakesh D. Raut & Balkrishna E. Narkhede & Pragati Priyadarshinee & Gajanan B. Panchal & Vidyadhar V. Gedam, 2023. "Antecedents for blockchain technology-enabled sustainable agriculture supply chain," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 327(1), pages 293-337, August.
    9. Cattaneo, Andrea & Sánchez, Marco V. & Torero, Máximo & Vos, Rob, 2021. "Reducing food loss and waste: Five challenges for policy and research," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    10. 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.
    11. Chauhan, Chetna & Kaur, Puneet & Arrawatia, Rakesh & Ractham, Peter & Dhir, Amandeep, 2022. "Supply chain collaboration and sustainable development goals (SDGs). Teamwork makes achieving SDGs dream work," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 147(C), pages 290-307.
    12. Caroline Cloutier & Parnian Oktaei & Nadia Lehoux, 2020. "Collaborative mechanisms for sustainability-oriented supply chain initiatives: state of the art, role assessment and research opportunities," International Journal of Production Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 58(19), pages 5836-5850, October.
    13. Moreno-Miranda, Carlos & Dries, Liesbeth, 2022. "Integrating coordination mechanisms in the sustainability assessment of agri-food chains: From a structured literature review to a comprehensive framework," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 192(C).
    14. Kazushi Takahashi & Rie Muraoka & Keijiro Otsuka, 2020. "Technology adoption, impact, and extension in developing countries’ agriculture: A review of the recent literature," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 51(1), pages 31-45, January.
    15. Miguel I. Gómez & Deishin Lee, 2023. "Transforming food supply chains for sustainability," Journal of Supply Chain Management, Institute for Supply Management, vol. 59(4), pages 79-92, October.
    16. Jay B. Barney, 2018. "Why resource‐based theory's model of profit appropriation must incorporate a stakeholder perspective," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(13), pages 3305-3325, December.
    17. Sudusinghe, Jayani Ishara & Seuring, Stefan, 2022. "Supply chain collaboration and sustainability performance in circular economy: A systematic literature review," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 245(C).
    18. Friedman, Nicola & Ormiston, Jarrod, 2022. "Blockchain as a sustainability-oriented innovation?: Opportunities for and resistance to Blockchain technology as a driver of sustainability in global food supply chains," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 175(C).
    19. Nishat Alam Choudhary & Shalabh Singh & Tobias Schoenherr & M. Ramkumar, 2023. "Risk assessment in supply chains: a state-of-the-art review of methodologies and their applications," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 322(2), pages 565-607, March.
    20. Verhoef, Peter C. & Broekhuizen, Thijs & Bart, Yakov & Bhattacharya, Abhi & Qi Dong, John & Fabian, Nicolai & Haenlein, Michael, 2021. "Digital transformation: A multidisciplinary reflection and research agenda," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 889-901.
    21. George Mutugu Mwangi & Stella Despoudi & Oscar Rodriguez Espindola & Konstantina Spanaki & Thanos Papadopoulos, 2022. "A planetary boundaries perspective on the sustainability: resilience relationship in the Kenyan tea supply chain," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 319(1), pages 661-695, December.
    22. Adenle, Ademola A. & Wedig, Karin & Azadi, Hossein, 2019. "Sustainable agriculture and food security in Africa: The role of innovative technologies and international organizations," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 58(C).
    23. Nader, Joelle & El-Khalil, Raed & Nassar, Elma & Hong, Paul, 2022. "Pandemic planning, sustainability practices, and organizational performance: An empirical investigation of global manufacturing firms," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 246(C).
    24. Montecchi, Matteo & Plangger, Kirk & West, Douglas C., 2021. "Supply chain transparency: A bibliometric review and research agenda," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 238(C).
    25. Kamble, Sachin S. & Gunasekaran, Angappa & Gawankar, Shradha A., 2020. "Achieving sustainable performance in a data-driven agriculture supply chain: A review for research and applications," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 219(C), pages 179-194.
    26. Lingxiu Dong & Puping (Phil) Jiang & Fasheng Xu, 2023. "Impact of Traceability Technology Adoption in Food Supply Chain Networks," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 69(3), pages 1518-1535, March.
    27. Lioutas, Evagelos D. & Charatsari, Chrysanthi & De Rosa, Marcello, 2021. "Digitalization of agriculture: A way to solve the food problem or a trolley dilemma?," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    28. Khare, Apoorv & Jain, Rajesh, 2022. "Mapping the conceptual and intellectual structure of the consumer vulnerability field: A bibliometric analysis," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 567-584.
    29. Luai Jraisat & Mohannad Jreissat & Arvind Upadhyay & Farhana Sajjad & Krishna Chandra Balodi, 2022. "Paradox of strategic partnerships for sustainable value chains: Perspectives of not‐for‐profit actors," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(7), pages 3491-3508, November.
    30. Acquaye, Adolf A. & Yamoah, Fred A. & Feng, Kuishuang, 2015. "An integrated environmental and fairtrade labelling scheme for product supply chains," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 164(C), pages 472-483.
    31. Stella Despoudi & Grammatoula Papaioannou & George Saridakis & Samir Dani, 2018. "Does collaboration pay in agricultural supply chain? An empirical approach," International Journal of Production Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 56(13), pages 4396-4417, July.
    32. Ardekani, Zahra Fozouni & Sobhani, Seyed Mohammad Javad & Barbosa, Marcelo Werneck & de Sousa, Paulo Renato, 2023. "Transition to a sustainable food supply chain during disruptions: A study on the Brazilian food companies in the Covid-19 era," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 257(C).
    33. ManMohan S. Sodhi & Christopher S. Tang, 2018. "Corporate social sustainability in supply chains: a thematic analysis of the literature," International Journal of Production Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 56(1-2), pages 882-901, January.
    34. Zhao, Xiaofei & Wang, Ping & Pal, Raktim, 2021. "The effects of agro-food supply chain integration on product quality and financial performance: Evidence from Chinese agro-food processing business," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 231(C).
    35. Muhammad Salman Asif & Henry Lau & Dilupa Nakandala & Youqing Fan & Hilal Hurriyet, 2022. "Case study research of green life cycle model for the evaluation and reduction of scope 3 emissions in food supply chains," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 29(4), pages 1050-1066, July.
    36. Chen, Lujie & Zhao, Xiande & Tang, Ou & Price, Lydia & Zhang, Shanshan & Zhu, Wenwen, 2017. "Supply chain collaboration for sustainability: A literature review and future research agenda," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 194(C), pages 73-87.
    37. Mani, Venkatesh & Gunasekaran, Angappa, 2021. "Upstream complex power relationships and firm’s reputation in global value chains," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 237(C).
    38. Ali, Imran & Arslan, Ahmad & Tarba, Shlomo & Mainela, Tuija, 2023. "Supply chain resilience to climate change inflicted extreme events in agri-food industry: The role of social capital and network complexity," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 264(C).
    39. Genovese, Andrea & Acquaye, Adolf A. & Figueroa, Alejandro & Koh, S.C. Lenny, 2017. "Sustainable supply chain management and the transition towards a circular economy: Evidence and some applications," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 66(PB), pages 344-357.
    40. Andreas Wieland, 2021. "Dancing the Supply Chain: Toward Transformative Supply Chain Management," Journal of Supply Chain Management, Institute for Supply Management, vol. 57(1), pages 58-73, January.
    41. Reardon, Thomas & Lu, Liang & Zilberman, David, 2019. "Links among innovation, food system transformation, and technology adoption, with implications for food policy: Overview of a special issue," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 285-288.
    42. Camel, Afaf & Belhadi, Amine & Kamble, Sachin & Tiwari, Sunil & Touriki, Fatima Ezahra, 2024. "Integrating smart Green Product Platforming for carbon footprint reduction: The role of blockchain technology and stakeholders influence within the agri-food supply chain," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 272(C).
    43. Vachon, Stephan & Klassen, Robert D., 2008. "Environmental management and manufacturing performance: The role of collaboration in the supply chain," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(2), pages 299-315, February.
    44. Marty, Justine & Ruel, Salomée, 2024. "Why is “supply chain collaboration” still a hot topic? A review of decades of research and a comprehensive framework proposal," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 273(C).
    45. Başak Kalkanci & Morvarid Rahmani & L. Beril Toktay, 2019. "The Role of Inclusive Innovation in Promoting Social Sustainability," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 28(12), pages 2960-2982, December.
    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. Ubaldo Comite & Alba Maria Gallo & Francesco Albergo & Valentina Beretta, 2025. "Accounting for Climate Change: A Temporal Analysis of the Literature," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34(7), pages 8213-8236, 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. Najafi, Mehdi & Zolfagharinia, Hossein, 2024. "A Multi-objective integrated approach to address sustainability in a meat supply chain," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 124(C).
    2. Mariana Toussaint & Pablo Cabanelas & Alicia Blanco‐González, 2021. "Social sustainability in the food value chain: An integrative approach beyond corporate social responsibility," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(1), pages 103-115, January.
    3. 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.
    4. Sudusinghe, Jayani Ishara & Seuring, Stefan, 2022. "Supply chain collaboration and sustainability performance in circular economy: A systematic literature review," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 245(C).
    5. Karaosman, Hakan & Perry, Patsy & Brun, Alessandro & Morales-Alonso, Gustavo, 2020. "Behind the runway: Extending sustainability in luxury fashion supply chains," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 652-663.
    6. Else, Tim & Choudhary, Sonal & Genovese, Andrea, 2022. "Uncovering sustainability storylines from dairy supply chain discourse," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 858-874.
    7. Min Zhou & Xianyi Long & Kannan Govindan, 2024. "Unveiling the value of institutional pressure in socially sustainable supply chain management: The role of top management support for social initiatives and organisational culture," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 31(4), pages 2629-2648, July.
    8. Rituraj Singh & Gourav Dwivedi, 2025. "Agri-food Supply Chain Management: A Review Using Bibliometric, Network, and Content Analyses," SN Operations Research Forum, Springer, vol. 6(2), pages 1-48, June.
    9. Siems, Erik & Land, Anna & Seuring, Stefan, 2021. "Dynamic capabilities in sustainable supply chain management: An inter-temporal comparison of the food and automotive industries," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 236(C).
    10. Abdul Jabbar & Pervaiz Akhtar & Syed Imran Ali, 2025. "The interplay between blockchain and big data analytics for enhancing supply chain value creation in micro, small, and medium enterprises," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 350(2), pages 649-671, July.
    11. Susana G. Azevedo & Minelle E. Silva & João C. O. Matias & Gustavo P. Dias, 2018. "The Influence of Collaboration Initiatives on the Sustainability of the Cashew Supply Chain," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-29, June.
    12. Marty, Justine & Ruel, Salomée, 2025. "Unpacking the interconnected challenges of rare metals supply chains: A systematic literature network analysis and conceptual framework," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 106(C).
    13. Zhu, He & Hu, Jiayao & Yang, Ying, 2025. "Towards a circular supply chain for retired electric vehicle batteries: A systematic literature review," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 282(C).
    14. Laura Macchion & Antonio Cavallin Toscani & Andrea Vinelli, 2023. "Sustainable business models of small and medium‐sized enterprises and the relationships to be established within the supply chain to support these models," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(2), pages 563-573, March.
    15. Montecchi, Matteo & Plangger, Kirk & West, Douglas C., 2021. "Supply chain transparency: A bibliometric review and research agenda," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 238(C).
    16. Mejías, Ana M. & Bellas, Roberto & Pardo, Juan E. & Paz, Enrique, 2019. "Traceability management systems and capacity building as new approaches for improving sustainability in the fashion multi-tier supply chain," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 217(C), pages 143-158.
    17. Rubén Michael Rodríguez‐González & Gonzalo Maldonado‐Guzman & Antonia Madrid‐Guijarro, 2022. "The effect of green strategies and eco‐innovation on Mexican automotive industry sustainable and financial performance: Sustainable supply chains as a mediating variable," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 29(4), pages 779-794, July.
    18. Stephen Abiam Danso & Qingfeng Meng & Zhen Li & Timothy Amoako & Collins Ewudzie Quansah, 2025. "Investigating the Impacts of Green Procurement on Supply Chain Resilience Through Supply Chain Collaboration: The Moderating Role of Human Resource Practices," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 16(4), pages 14320-14353, October.
    19. Mangla, Sachin Kumar & Luthra, Sunil & Rich, Nick & Kumar, Divesh & Rana, Nripendra P. & Dwivedi, Yogesh K., 2018. "Enablers to implement sustainable initiatives in agri-food supply chains," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 203(C), pages 379-393.
    20. Salvatore Ammirato & Alberto Michele Felicetti & Massimiliano Ferrara & Cinzia Raso & Antonio Violi, 2021. "Collaborative Organization Models for Sustainable Development in the Agri-Food Sector," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-22, February.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:bla:bstrat:v:34:y:2025:i:1:p:1287-1301. 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: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1002/(ISSN)1099-0836 .

    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.