IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v17y2025i15p6794-d1710351.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A Set of Sustainability Indicators for Brazilian Small and Medium-Sized Non-Alcoholic Beverage Industries

Author

Listed:
  • Alexandre André Feil

    (Department of Accounting Science, University of Vale do Taquari-Univates, Lajeado 95914-014, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil)

  • Angie Lorena Garcia Zapata

    (Department of Accounting Sciences at Uniminuto (Colombia), University of Vale do Taquari-Univates, Lajeado 95900-014, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil)

  • Mayra Alejandra Parada Lazo

    (Department of Accounting Sciences at Uniminuto (Colombia), University of Vale do Taquari-Univates, Lajeado 95900-014, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil)

  • Maria Clair da Rosa

    (Department of Pedagogy, University of Vale do Taquari-Univates, Lajeado 95914-014, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil)

  • Jordana de Oliveira

    (Department of Environmental Quality, Feevale University, Novo Hamburgo 93510-235, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil)

  • Dusan Schreiber

    (Department of Environmental Quality, Feevale University, Novo Hamburgo 93510-235, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil)

Abstract

Sustainability in the non-alcoholic beverage industry requires effective metrics to assess environmental, social, and economic performance. However, the lack of standardised indicators for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) hinders the implementation of sustainable strategies. This study aims to select a set of sustainability indicators for small and medium-sized non-alcoholic beverage industries in Brazil. Seventy-four indicators were identified based on the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) guidelines, which were subsequently evaluated and refined by industry experts for prioritisation. Statistical analysis led to the selection of 31 final indicators, distributed across environmental (10), social (12), and economic (9) dimensions. In the environmental dimension, priority indicators include water management, energy efficiency, carbon emissions, and waste recycling. The social dimension highlights working conditions, occupational safety, gender equity, and impacts on local communities. In the economic dimension, key indicators relate to supply chain efficiency, technological innovation, financial transparency, and anti-corruption practices. The results provide a robust framework to guide managers in adopting sustainable practices and support policymakers in improving the environmental, social, and economic performance of small and medium-sized non-alcoholic beverage industries.

Suggested Citation

  • Alexandre André Feil & Angie Lorena Garcia Zapata & Mayra Alejandra Parada Lazo & Maria Clair da Rosa & Jordana de Oliveira & Dusan Schreiber, 2025. "A Set of Sustainability Indicators for Brazilian Small and Medium-Sized Non-Alcoholic Beverage Industries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(15), pages 1-21, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:15:p:6794-:d:1710351
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/15/6794/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/15/6794/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ethel T Mwanaumo & Bupe GM Mwanza, 2024. "Assessment of the Drivers and Barriers to Adoption of Green Supply Chain Management Practices: A case of the Beverage Manufacturing Industry," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 8(14), pages 401-416, December.
    2. Juanita Álvarez Jaramillo & Jhon Wilder Zartha Sossa & Gina Lía Orozco Mendoza, 2019. "Barriers to sustainability for small and medium enterprises in the framework of sustainable development—Literature review," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(4), pages 512-524, May.
    3. Paolo Trucillo & Alessandro Erto, 2023. "Sustainability Indicators for Materials and Processes," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(8), pages 1-16, April.
    4. Risky Budianto & Isnalita, 2024. "Controlling social problems and environmental changes through sustainability: Evidence from Indonesian beverage companies," International Journal of Management and Sustainability, Conscientia Beam, vol. 13(2), pages 232-252.
    5. Becker, Martin G. & Martin, Fabio & Walter, Andreas, 2022. "The power of ESG transparency: The effect of the new SFDR sustainability labels on mutual funds and individual investors," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 47(PB).
    6. Sebastian Kot, 2018. "Sustainable Supply Chain Management in Small and Medium Enterprises," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-19, April.
    7. Rafael Ninno Muniz & Carlos Tavares da Costa Júnior & William Gouvêa Buratto & Ademir Nied & Gabriel Villarrubia González, 2023. "The Sustainability Concept: A Review Focusing on Energy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(19), pages 1-22, September.
    8. Sze Chin Chong & Narentheren Kaliappen, 2025. "Antecedents and consequences for sustainability in Malaysian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)," Social Responsibility Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 21(5), pages 987-1008, January.
    9. Maria Brenner & Catherine Browne & Anne Gallen & Susanna Byrne & Ciara White & Mary Nolan, 2019. "Development of a suite of metrics and indicators for children’s nursing using consensus methodology," Journal of Clinical Nursing, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(13-14), pages 2589-2598, July.
    10. Mugerman, Yevgeny & Steinberg, Nadav & Wiener, Zvi, 2022. "The exclamation mark of Cain: Risk salience and mutual fund flows," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    11. Patrizia Gazzola & Enrica Pavione & Stefano Amelio & Martina Mauri, 2024. "Sustainable Strategies and Value Creation in the Food and Beverage Sector: The Case of Large Listed European Companies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(22), pages 1-16, November.
    12. Craig R. Carter & Dale S. Rogers & Thomas Y. Choi, 2015. "Toward the Theory of the Supply Chain," Journal of Supply Chain Management, Institute for Supply Management, vol. 51(2), pages 89-97, April.
    13. Beverly B. Tyler & Brooke Lahneman & Daniele Cerrato & Allan Discua Cruz & Karin Beukel & Nathalie Spielmann & Marco Minciullo, 2024. "Environmental practice adoption in SMEs: The effects of firm proactive orientation and regulatory pressure," Journal of Small Business Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 62(5), pages 2211-2246, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Changchun Zhu & Jianguo Du & Fakhar Shahzad & Muhammad Umair Wattoo, 2022. "Environment Sustainability Is a Corporate Social Responsibility: Measuring the Nexus between Sustainable Supply Chain Management, Big Data Analytics Capabilities, and Organizational Performance," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-20, March.
    2. Fang, Fei & Parida, Sitikantha, 2025. "The cost of misclassification in mutual funds," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    3. Davis-Sramek, Beth & Robinson, Jessica L. & Darby, Jessica L. & Thomas, Rodney W., 2020. "Exploring the differential roles of environmental and social sustainability in carrier selection decisions," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 227(C).
    4. Jiang, Yihuo & Ni, Hongliang & Ni, Yihan & Guo, Xiaomei, 2023. "Assessing environmental, social, and governance performance and natural resource management policies in China's dual carbon era for a green economy," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 85(PB).
    5. Giovanna Culot & Matteo Podrecca & Guido Nassimbeni & Guido Orzes & Marco Sartor, 2023. "Using supply chain databases in academic research: A methodological critique," Journal of Supply Chain Management, Institute for Supply Management, vol. 59(1), pages 3-25, January.
    6. Jianbo Hu & Wenxin Cai & Yu Shen & Faustino Dinis, 2025. "How Does Digital Trade Affect a Firm’s Green Total Factor Productivity? A Life Cycle Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(14), pages 1-27, July.
    7. Phares, Jonathan & Dobrzykowski, David D. & Prohofsky, Jodi, 2021. "How policy is shaping the macro healthcare delivery supply chain: The emergence of a new tier of retail medical clinics," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 64(3), pages 333-345.
    8. Asif Mahmood & Rana Tahir Naveed & Naveed Ahmad & Miklas Scholz & Muhammad Khalique & Mohammad Adnan, 2021. "Unleashing the Barriers to CSR Implementation in the SME Sector of a Developing Economy: A Thematic Analysis Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(22), pages 1-20, November.
    9. Marcela Marçal Alves Pinto & João Luiz Kovaleski & Rui Tadashi Yoshino & Regina Negri Pagani, 2019. "Knowledge and Technology Transfer Influencing the Process of Innovation in Green Supply Chain Management: A Multicriteria Model Based on the DEMATEL Method," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(12), pages 1-33, June.
    10. Suriyan Jomthanachai & Wai Peng Wong & Khai Wah Khaw, 2024. "An Application of Machine Learning to Logistics Performance Prediction: An Economics Attribute-Based of Collective Instance," Computational Economics, Springer;Society for Computational Economics, vol. 63(2), pages 741-792, February.
    11. Yang Yang & Xuezheng Chen & Jing Gu & Hamido Fujita, 2019. "Alleviating Financing Constraints of SMEs through Supply Chain," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-19, January.
    12. Chiara Mio & Silvia Panfilo & Benedetta Blundo, 2020. "Sustainable development goals and the strategic role of business: A systematic literature review," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(8), pages 3220-3245, December.
    13. Graziela Darla Araujo Galvão & Steve Evans & Paulo Sergio Scoleze Ferrer & Marly Monteiro de Carvalho, 2022. "Circular business model: Breaking down barriers towards sustainable development," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(4), pages 1504-1524, May.
    14. Raffeq S. Alim, 2025. "Marketing Strategy Transformation of Micro-Small and Medium Enterprises in Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao: A Convergent Design," International Journal of Research and Scientific Innovation, International Journal of Research and Scientific Innovation (IJRSI), vol. 12(1), pages 614-631, January.
    15. Winkler, Lorenz & Kilic, Onur A. & Veldman, Jasper, 2022. "Collaboration in the offshore wind farm decommissioning supply chain," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 167(C).
    16. Thierry Sauvage & Tony Cragg & Sarrah Chraibi & Oussama El Khalil Houssaini, 2018. "Running the Machine Faster: Acceleration, Humans and Warehousing," Post-Print hal-02905068, HAL.
    17. Queiroz, Maciel M. & Fosso Wamba, Samuel, 2019. "Blockchain adoption challenges in supply chain: An empirical investigation of the main drivers in India and the USA," International Journal of Information Management, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 70-82.
    18. Oana Vasile & Armenia Androniceanu, 2018. "An Overview of the Romanian Asylum Policies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(5), pages 1-22, May.
    19. Anna M. Hansson & Eja Pedersen & Niklas P. E. Karlsson & Stefan E. B. Weisner, 2023. "Barriers and drivers for sustainable business model innovation based on a radical farmland change scenario," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 25(8), pages 8083-8106, August.
    20. Stefan Gold & Thomas Chesney & Tim Gruchmann & Alexander Trautrims, 2020. "Diffusion of labor standards through supplier–subcontractor networks: An agent‐based model," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 24(6), pages 1274-1286, December.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    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:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:15:p:6794-:d:1710351. 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.