Place-Branded Foods with Responsible and Sustainable Management: A La Carte Serving in Regional Restaurants

REVIEW TABLE – REVIEWER 1

Article: Place-branded Foods with Responsible and Sustainable Management: A la carte serving in Regional Restaurants

Reviewer 1

Review N.º

Reviewers’ observations

Line

Changes made

Comment

This study attempts to explore the influences of using regional agri-food products, implementing quality management practices, implementing environmental management practices, and implementing corporate social responsibility practices on the financial performance of restaurants linked to their place of origin. The followings are my suggestions for the manuscript.

1

The measurement items for each variable were adopted from some related studies in the literature. The study should discuss whether these items are suitable for measuring the variables and whether the data collected are suitable for analysis. The validity and reliability of the questionnaire survey were not analysed in the study.

396 to 413

Considering the reviewers’ comments, which we acknowledge, the changes provided below were incorporated in the revised version of the manuscript:

 “The constructs were measured using variables based on a literature review. The QMPs focus on the administrative organization of restaurants and were based on the recent studies of Alonso-Almeida et al. [33], Cantele & Cassia [19], Kasim & Ismail [106], Llach et al. [29], and Planken [107]. The EMPs were measured using questions related to environmental protection already employed in the general literature about environmental management as Cantele & Cassia [19], Llach et al. [29], Perramon et al. [30], Molina-Azorín et al. [92], Kassinis & Soteriou [105], and Planken [107]. These measures include both technical issues (such as energy and water-saving activities) and organizational practices (such as personnel training in environmental issues) [92]. The CSR practices are measured in terms of working environment, salary level, stakeholder commitment, and management commitment, in accordance to Alonso-Almeida et al. [33], Bagur-Femenías et al. [88], Cantele & Cassia [19], and Planken [107]. Finally, the FPR was measured in this study considering performance in terms of financial results indicated by the restaurants’ owners and based on the previous studies by Alonso-Almeida et al. [33], Bagur-Femenías et al. [88], Cantele & Cassia [19], Kassinis & Soteriou [105], Kasim & Ismail [106], Llach et al. [29], Molina-Azorín et al. [92], and Perramon et al. [30]. Before its dissemination, the questionnaire was subjected to a pre-test with several restaurant owners in the Centro Region.” (Line 396 to 413)

2

Restaurants linked to their place of origin are the research objects of the study; but, the sampling process did not mention how to verify the selected samples are restaurants linked to their place of origin.

431 to 434

Initial: “Given the geographical area and objective guiding this study, to select restaurants to include in the study, regarding the filters available on Tripadvisor.com, the following sequence of procedures was implemented: (1) “geographical area”; (2) type of establishment, with selection limited to “restaurants”; (3) type of cuisine, selecting the characteristic of: “good for regional cuisine”; and (4) establishments classified with between three and five stars (see Figure 2).”

Change made: “Given the geographical area and research goals, to select restaurants to include in the study, regarding the filters available on Tripadvisor.com, the only way to ensure that the restaurants in the selection had a link to their place of origin was in the "Good for..." section, from the selection filters menu, choosing the option "regional gastronomy". Thus, the following sequence of procedures was implemented: (1) “geographical area”; (2) type of establishment, with selection, limited to “restaurants”; (3) type of cuisine, selecting the characteristic of: “good for regional cuisine”; and (4) establishments classified with between three and five stars (see Figure 2).”

3

The study mention that, according to the Qualtrics calculator, the optimal sample size is 265. Table 3 also shows the descriptive statistics of the 265 sampled restaurants. The study also obtained 854 restaurants from the selection process shown in Figure 2. It is not clear how many questionnaires were delivered to restaurants, and how many questionnaires were returned.

441 to 444

Initial: “This selection process gave a total of 854 restaurants…”

Change made: “This selection process gave a total of 854 restaurants. All restaurants were contacted in three ways: through the Surveymonkey platform, by email and also through Facebook Messenger. These contacts resulted in a total of 292 responses, of which 265 were considered valid and 27 invalid for reasons such as not responding to the entire questionnaire.

4

Although the study has proposed four research hypotheses to explore the influences of some independent variables (i.e., RAP, QMP, EMP, CSR) on the dependent variable (i.e., FP), Table 6 shows the influences of individual measurement items of the independent variables on the dependent variable. For each independent variable, some of the items are statistically significant, and some are not; and the authors made a conclusion that the corresponding research hypothesis was not rejected. Maybe It would be better to build a model to analyze the influences of variables rather than the influences of items.

363 to 369

The conceptual model was expanded to consider the proposal made by the reviewer and thus to consider all the sub-variables that make up each of the four key variables. This change is reflected in Figure 1 inserted in the article.

Text has been added between lines 363 and 367:

“The proposed conceptual model of analysis explores the relations between all the various components that integrate the variables of quality management practices (QMP), environmental management practices (EMP), corporate social responsibility practices (CSR) and the financial performance (FPR) in restaurants (see Figure 1).”

In the legend of the figure 1 (line 370) was added the following note:

“Note: The description of variables is provided below in Table 5.”

5

Up to now, there are many studies analyzing the associations between financial performance and quality management, environmental management as well corporate social responsibility, respectively. The study mentioned that only a few studies analyzed their relationships simultaneously. This implies that the study should discuss the comparison of the influences of these three variables to reinforce the contribution of the study. Otherwise, the theoretical contribution of the study will not be enough.

686 to 697

Change made: (Introduction of new set analysis in the results and discussion chapter) “The results obtained demonstrate that the three different management practices analysed (quality, environment and social responsibility) associated with the use of promoting regional agri-food products have on the financial results of the restaurants themselves. Thus, and as previously mentioned, the results obtained confirm the results achieved by other works carried out previously and not only those focused on restaurants (see 29-31) but also on other tourist industries, such as the hotel sector (see 31, 33), for example.

Most of the previous studies focused on just one of the management practices used in this study and, in fact, most showed that the ability of different companies, and also restaurants, to manage their performance in terms of quality, management environmental and responsibility issues are a strategic issue and, when done proactively, prove to be profitable and sustainable for this type of companies, as also noted by Molina-Azorín et al. [92].”

REVIEW TABLE – REVIEWER 2

Article: Place-branded Foods with Responsible and Sustainable Management: A la carte serving in Regional Restaurants

Reviewer 2

Review N.º

Reviewers’ observations

Line

Changes made

Comment

The aim of the article was to determine the impact that the association of local branded foods and the adoption of responsible and sustainable management practices (eg. quality management, environmental management and corporate social responsibility) have on the financial performance of regional restaurants related to the country of origin.

The authors approach the theoretical part in a complete way and present a clear image on the approached subject.

1

The only significant observation on the text would be related to the size of the sample, namely I would recommend the inclusion of arguments for which the number of 265 restaurants was considered representative (relative to what / what is the titular population / statistical population, probability of guaranteeing results, etc.) and what were the criteria on the basis of which the restaurants included in the analysis were selected.

445 to 453

Considering the reviewers’ comments, which we acknowledge, the changes provided below were incorporated in the revised version of the manuscript:

The paragraph between lines 430 and 439 was introduced in the article where the determination of the optimal sample size is explained.

Change made: “The sample size was determined using the Qualtrics calculator [111] using the finite population correction factor and expressed as follows:

                (1)

Taking,

Where: Z is the confidence level, σ is the standard deviation and e is the sampling error.

Following this process, the optimal sample size, for a 95,0% confidence level, allowing a 5.0% error margin, resulted in an optimal sample size of 265 restaurants (Table 2).”

I have the following remarks on the details of the citation:

2

- on line 141, the citation with number 54 appears before the citations with smaller numbers (42, 43 etc)

141

The citation 54 in the original document, after new rearrangement of the references, is now the reference number 45 and it’s in order with the other references.

3

- citation number 63 appears before citation number 62

200

The citation 63 in the original document, after new rearrangement of the references, is now the reference number 67 and it’s in order with the other references.

4

Please check all citations used in the text to be in ascending order depending on when they

appear in the text.

…

All citations and respective references were revised and reorganized both in the text and in the References section.

REVIEW TABLE – REVIEWER 3

Article: Place-branded Foods with Responsible and Sustainable Management: A la carte serving in Regional Restaurants

Reviewer 3

Review N.º

Reviewers’ observations

Line

Changes made

Comment

This is a very good quality submission. The research problem is relevant and important. The applied methods are appropriate. The results are presented in the right way, and the implications are properly discussed.

1

In the last row of Table 1, do you mean market share?

---

Considering the reviewers’ comments, which we acknowledge, the changes provided below were incorporated in the revised version of the manuscript:

Initial: “Market quota has increased”

Change made: “Market share has increased”

2

In Table 5, what is the difference between CAR.3 and CAR.4?

---

CAR.3 = Type of employees (Family members or outside the family)

CAR.4 = Number of employees of the restaurant

Initial: “CAR.3 Employees”

Change made: “CAR.3 Type of employees (Family members or outside the family)”.

3

Please provide Odds Ratios and Confidence Intervals for the logistic regression.

---

In Chapter 4 Results and Discussion, given the new introduced model (GLM) table 6 was replaced by revised tables 6, 7, 8 and 9, referring to Model 1 - Logit (table 6), Model 2 - Probit (table 8) and Model 3 GLM linked to Logit (table 7) and GLM linked to Probit (table 9).

Following the reviewer's recommendation, the Odds Ratios and Confidence Levels of the logistic regressions were added.

4

Why is the Data Availability Statement not applicable?

817 to 818

Initial: “Data Availability Statement: Not applicable.”

Change made: “Data Availability Statement: Information created and data used during the current study is available from the corresponding author on reasonable request to bona fide researchers.”

Please refer to:

5

Bryła P., Regional ethnocentrism on the food market as a pattern of sustainable consumption, Sustainability, 2019, Vol. 11, 6408. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11226408.

150

It’s the reference n.º 49, introduced in line 150:

“…resulting experience [49].”

6

Bryła P., The role of appeals to tradition in origin food marketing. A survey among Polish consumers, Appetite, 2015, Vol. 91, pp. 302-310. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2015.04.056.

84

It’s the reference n.º 20, introduced in line 33:

“…throughout the production chain [19, 20].”

7

Ilbery, B., & Kneafsey, M. (1999). Niche Markets and Regional Speciality Food Products in Europe: Towards a Research Agenda. Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space, 31(12), 2207–2222. https://doi.org/10.1068/a312207.

53

It’s the reference n.º 10, introduced in line 53:

“…in a rural region and visitors’ experience [3, 10].”

8

Kamil Pícha, Josef Navrátil & Roman Švec (2018) Preference to Local Food vs. Preference to “National” and Regional Food, Journal of Food Products Marketing, 24:2, 125-145, DOI: 10.1080/10454446.2016.1266549.

80

It’s the reference n.º 18, introduced in line 80:

“…and the region’s sustainability [18].”

9

Incomplete references: 72, 86, 98

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The references that initially had the numbers 72, 86 and 98, after the introduction of the references suggested by the authors, started to have the numbers 77, 91 and 103.

Reference 77:

Initial: Hjalager, A.-M., & Richards, G. (2002). 13 Still undigested: research issues in tourism and gastronomy. In Tourism and gastronomy (pp. 224–234).

Change made: Hjalager, A.-M., & Richards, G. (2002). 13 Still undigested: research issues in tourism and gastronomy. In A.-M. Hjalager & G. Richards (Eds.), Tourism and gastronomy (pp. 224–234). Routledge. Taylor & Francis Group.

Reference 91:

Initial: Porter, M. (1985). Competitive Advantage: Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance: With a New Introduction.

Change made: Porter, M. E. (1985). The Competitive Advantage: Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance. New York: Free Press (Republished with a new introduction, 1998).

Reference 103:

Initial: Jiang, W., Dev, C. S., & Rao, V. R. (2002). Brand Extension and Customer Loyalty Evidence from the Lodging Industry. SHA Articles and Chapters.

Change made: Jiang, W., Dev, C. S., & Rao, V. R. (2002). Brand extension and customer loyalty: evidence from the lodging industry. The Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly, 43(4), 5–16. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0010-8804(02)80037-4

10

Line 76 - which ensure

76

Initial: “…promoters, who ensure a good welcome…”

Change made: “…promoters, which ensure a good welcome…”

11

Line 376 - 2.3

377

Initial: “…around 2,3 million inhabitants.”

Change made: “…around 2.3 million inhabitants.”

12

Line 422 - 95.0

422

Initial: “…for a 95,0% confidence level...”

Change made: “…for a 95.0% confidence level...”

13

Line 423 - 5.0

423

Initial: “…and admitting a 5,0% margin of error...”

Change made: “…and admitting a 5.0% error margin...”

14

Line 449 - 81.9 (now line 458)

488

Initial: “…married (81,9%),...”

Change made: “…married (81.9%),...”

15

Line 450 - 38.9 (now line 459)

489

Initial: “…qualifications, 38,9% have higher education...”

Change made: “…qualifications, 38.9% have higher education...”

16

Line 529 - dependent variable (now line 538)

538

Initial: “…or dependent, variable,...”

Change made: “…or dependent variable...”

17

Line 598 - dots instead of commas in decimal fractions (now line 608)

632

Change made:

“The results of applying the discrete-choice models (Model 1 – Logit, Model 2 – Probit and Model 3 – Generalized Linear Model applied to Logit and Probit models) for the sample considered (see Tables 6-9), used as dependent variable the financial performance of restaurants linked to their territory of origin, representing the value of 1 when owners or managers state that restaurant profits grew, and 0 if the opposite was found, returning to Model 1 an LR Chi2 of 68.71 with a p-value of 0.0001, for Model 2 an LR Chi2 of 69.00 with a p-value of 0.0001 and for Model 3, when the GLM linked to Logit, an AIC of 1.3622 and a BIC of -1003.09, and when the GLM linked to Probit, an AIC of 1.3612 and a BIC of -1003.37, indicating that all are statistically significant.”

REVIEW TABLE – REVIEWER 1

Article: Place-branded Foods with Responsible and Sustainable Management: A la carte serving in Regional Restaurants

Reviewer 1

Review N.º

Reviewers’ observations

Line

Changes made

Q1

Because the measures of the variables (i.e., RAP, QMP, EMP, CSR, FP) are developed by the authors based on a review of related literature, it is important to verify the validity of the measurements. In addition to content validity, the study has to evaluate the construct validity of the measurements. For example, the authors can use confirmatory factor analysis or other methods to evaluate construct validity.

---

We acknowledge the reviewer's comment, nevertheless, in the current empirical approach, due to the dichotomous nature of the data (including the one-tailed distribution of the dependent variable), the option was to use discrete-choice models, namely logit and probit, using as robustness check option the estimation of generalized linear models linked to logit and probit. Based on previous empirical applications of these estimation methods, the validity of the measurements is not usually tested in the scope of binary data explanation. As recommended in the previous round of revision, the use of the proposed measurements follows previous theoretical and empirical studies.

Q2

Because the questionnaire survey method was used in the study, it is also necessary to check the reliability of the questionnaire survey results.

412 to 421

804 to 808

We acknowledge the reviewer's comment. For clarifying the two-steps procedure adopted, the following sentence was introduced in the manuscript in the Methodology description:

“The reliability of the questionnaire survey results was previously ensured by conducting a pilot test in both Portuguese and Spanish Restaurants, covering a small sample of 20 restaurants (i.e. 10 Portuguese restaurants + 10 Spanish restaurants). Afterwards, the results of the questionnaires were compared and no significant results were found or missing answers (or values). Since it was not possible to collect a sufficient number of 200 valid questionnaires related to the Regional Spanish restaurants located in the Extremadura Region, especially due to the Covid-19 conjecture, the option was to perform the final analysis applied only to the Portuguese sample. Moreover, a principal component analysis was performed pointing out the joint significance of variables representing RAP, QMP, EMP, and CSR.”

In addition, at the Conclusions section, a limitation was added pointing out the following limitation:

“It should be noted that, due to limited access to data originating from the Regional Spanish Restaurants located in Extremadura Region, it was not possible to provide a comparative analysis between the two samples, as originally planned. This was mainly justified by the number of closures associated with the Pandemic crisis.”

Q3

The research hypotheses focus on the influences of variables (RAP, QMP, EMP, and CSR) on FP. The analysis models explore the associations between components of variables and FP. In each variable, some components have significant effects, and some do not. Can we conclude that the corresponding research hypothesis can be rejected or not? For example, among the six components of CSR, only two of them (CSR.1 and CSR.6) are significant; the other four components are not significant. Can we conclude that CSR has significant effects on PR, and say that the research hypothesis is supported? Similar questions for the other variables.

647 to 652

654

665

669

a

674

705

706

a

707

720

a

721

730

a

731

740 to 754

830 to 831

We acknowledge the reviewer's comment, and several amendments were introduced in the discussion and concluding remarks section, pointing out the support and/or rejection of the significant relationships concerning the sub-hypotheses, displayed in Figure 1. Moreover, in Tables 6, 7, 8 and 9, was introduced a column for better identifying the correspondence between the items and the sub-hypotheses.

Changes made:

“As observed in Tables 6-9, not all the items (tested through sub-hypotheses, cf. Figure 1) that integrate the four con-structs concerning the use of regional agri-food products (RAP), implementation of quality management practices (QMP), adoption of environmental management practices (EMP), and implementation of corporate social responsibility practices (CSR), reveal a significant influence on the behaviour of the response variable, that is, the financial performance of the restaurants studied.”

“…namely, for RAP, three parameters…”

“Concerning the QMP, there is a positive and statistically significant influence associated …”

“Relative to the EMP, the concern about choosing organic and sustainably farmed food (EMP.3) is the only item that reveals a positive and significant influence on restaurants’ financial performance, in all the models estimated.

In what concerns the CSR, the cooperation with the community to develop the territory (CSR.6) reveals also a positive and significant influence on restaurants’ financial performance. It is also worthwhile to outline that for the variable representing…”

“…meaning that the sub-hypothesis 1.e is not rejected.”

“…the implementation of this management option linked to the use of regional agri-food products by the restaurants in study, …”

“…on their financial performance, which signals both the rejection of the sub-hypotheses: 1.c and 1.d, in corresponding terms.”

“…financial performance, indicating that the sub-hypothesis 2.b is not rejected.”

“Regarding the adoption of environmental management practices (EMP), when restaurants choose the option of using organic and sustainably farmed food (EMP.3) in their menus, this reveals to have a positive and significant influence on their financial performance, being corroborated by the estimators obtained in the logit (Model 1) and GEV (Model 2) models. Thus, the sub-hypothesis 3.c cannot be rejected. This is also in line with previous studies indicating a positive relation between environmental management practices and firms’ economic-financial performance [30].

Concerning the corporate social responsibility practices (CSR), it is detected a positive and significant influence on the restaurants’ financial performance (FPR), associated with the items representing the socially responsible practice of commitment to retaining employees’ jobs, even in crisis situations (CSR.1), and the cooperation with the community in favour of the territory’s sustainable development (CSR.6). Thus, sub-hypotheses 4.a and 4.f cannot be rejected, correspondingly.

These results are aligned with the previous conclusions of Kang et al. [98], who stated that CSR influences financial performance in the hotel and tourism sector. In this same sector, …”

Lastly, we want to acknowledge all the comments received, which in our view contribute to improving the correction and scientific soundness of this research. And for that, on the Acknowledgments section we have made the following change:

“Acknowledgments: We want to acknowledge all the comments received from the editor and reviewers, which contributed to improving the correction and scientific soundness of this research.”