Search Results (28)

Agri-food organisations face a deepening governance challenge: managing demand un-certainty, supply chain volatility, and food waste under tight operational margins and in-creasing sustainability pressures. While artificial intelligence (AI) offers transformative potential for logistics and operations management, the organisational dimensions of its adoption, including strategic alignment, human capital development, and change management, remain insufficiently synthesised in the literature. This study investigates AI-driven demand planning as a management and organisational innovation, presenting a systematic review of 37 peer-reviewed studies (2015–2025) following the PRISMA protocol. Thematic synthesis across four analytical pillars, such as forecasting model applications, inventory and waste management practices, strategic impacts and resilience, and methodological overviews, reveals that advanced AI tools can reduce the mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) by 20–40% over traditional statistical methods in empirical case studies, with direct consequences for logistics performance, food waste reduction, and inventory governance. Critically, the review identifies persistent organisational barriers, particularly for SMEs: data governance deficiencies, high costs of technology adoption, workforce skill gaps, and the need for structured change management to institutionalise AI-based planning systems. The findings demonstrate that AI integration in agri-food supply chains constitutes a fundamental organisational transformation, requiring aligned strategies in innovation management, human resource development, supply chain governance, and sustainable business development. This review contributes to the administrative and management sciences by providing a structured, evidence-based framework for managers, policymakers, and practitioners navigating the organisational transition towards AI-enabled agri-food operations. Full article

This paper investigates how sustainable public procurement (SPP) is operationalised in school catering in the Metropolitan City of Rome and how it reshapes market conditions affecting the participation of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the region. While SPP is widely framed as a lever for sustainability and local development, its concrete effects on SME inclusion and supply-chain organisation remain underexplored. Drawing on procurement document analysis and supply-chain reconstruction in the Metropolitan City of Rome, the study examines how sustainability criteria—such as organic quotas, traceability requirements and quality standards—are translated into operational requirements. The findings show that SPP goes beyond the simple performative addition of sustainability requirements to existing markets and actively reorganises market coordination structures and supply-chain relations. Procurement shapes not only what is sourced, but also how logistics, continuity of supply, and coordination are organised across the agri-food chain. SME participation emerges as conditional and capability-dependent rather than automatically enabled by sustainability-oriented procurement. In fragmented agri-food systems, smaller firms often participate indirectly through intermediaries or larger catering operators rather than through direct access to contracts. Rather than interpreting these dynamics as a simple exclusion of SMEs, the paper argues that SPP operates as a form of selective and asymmetrical market-shaping, redistributing participation opportunities unevenly across actors depending on their organisational and coordination capacities. The paper contributes to the literature by conceptualising procurement as a governance instrument whose effects depend on the interaction between procurement architecture, sustainability requirements, and the structural characteristics of the supply base. More broadly, it highlights the importance of aligning sustainability objectives with existing supply-chain capacities and territorial market structures when designing procurement policies. Full article

While the circular economy offers a new perspective for achieving sustainability goals, digital technologies have become key enablers of this transformation. However, few studies in the literature address the identification and prioritisation of critical success factors for digitalisation that support the transition to a circular economy, particularly for agri-food SMEs operating in developing countries. This study proposes an integrated PESTEL-based and Spherical Fuzzy AHP (SF-AHP) framework to identify and prioritise critical success factors for digitalisation in the circular economy transition of agri-food SMEs. First, the literature-derived critical success factors were identified and structured according to the PESTEL framework. The TOE framework was then employed as a theoretical lens to interpret these factors at the firm level in terms of technological, organisational, and environmental dimensions. A five-member expert panel evaluated the factors in the context of Türkiye, and their relative importance was analysed using a weighted SF-AHP approach. Quantitative results reveal that ‘Data analytics to boost agricultural output’ is the most significant factor (w = 0.128), followed by ‘High investment costs’ (w = 0.123) and ‘Efficient technology for the CE process’ (w = 0.114). To ensure the robustness of the findings, a comparative analysis was performed; the results revealed a strong alignment between SF-AHP and Fuzzy AHP (r = 0.986), as well as a high degree of consistency with AHP (r = 0.910), validating the methodological stability of the proposed framework. This study contributes to the identification of strategic priorities for digitalisation in the transition to a circular economy among agri-food SMEs in developing countries and provides policymakers and practitioners with a guiding framework. Full article

Innovation is a central driver of competitiveness, resilience, and sustainability in the agri-food sector, particularly among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). However, traditional science- and technology-based models may not fully grasp the innovation dynamics in this domain, and research explicitly addressing agri-food SMEs remains limited. This study adapts, integrates, and extends existing Innovation Capability (IC) and related constructs into a unified WI–PI–IA framework (Willingness to innovate–Propensity to innovate–Innovation Ability) for agri-food SMEs. The framework is empirically tested through a sectoral quantitative case-study based on structured questionnaires administered to twenty SMEs operating in the Sardinian sheep dairy industry. The findings confirm the framework’s validity, highlighting the role of contextual factors and revealing distinct innovation patterns between cooperatives and private firms. This study is, to our knowledge, the first to conceptualise IC in agri-food SMEs as the outcome of the three above constructs and offers a comprehensive and context-sensitive approach that contributes to academic research and directs policymakers towards factors that affect agri-food SME innovation outcomes, considering their unique structures and specific challenges they face. Full article

This study investigates the export strategies of agri-food SMEs through two terroir products: La Tête de Moine AOP from the Bellelay region and Tunisian olive oil from the Sfax region. Grounded in the resource-based view (RBV), it explores how firm-level and territorially embedded resources shape export performance. A two-stage qualitative design combining semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions was employed in both contexts. Analysis reveals that the La Tête de Moine AOP sector stands out from the olive oil sector due to certain resources and capacities, which are collective reputation, product traceability, cooperative management, forecasting, and long-term planning systems, centralized knowledge management, shared brand, financial advantages, and territorial social capital. Tunisian olive oil export strategy differs from the cheese sector through market responsiveness, upstream integration, and product innovation. The findings highlight the critical role of territorial capital and collective organization in enhancing sustainable competitiveness and reveal how distinct resource configurations shape SME internationalization in developed versus emerging economies. Practical recommendations are proposed to create a more relevant resources–capabilities collection, aiming at creating a sustainable competitive advantage for SMEs exporting terroir food. Full article

The European Digital Innovation Hub (EDIH) network represents the EU’s first program for accelerating digital technology adoption by SMEs and public organizations. However, academic literature on EDIHs remains fragmented with notable sectoral imbalances—particularly underrepresentation of the agri-food sector. This scoping review systematically examines existing EDIH publications to identify knowledge gaps and propose a research agenda. Searches were conducted in Web of Science, Google Scholar, and MDPI databases (Jan–May 2025), complemented by snowballing techniques, identifying 84 publications categorized by methodology, interaction levels, and sectoral relevance. Results reveal uneven distribution across four EDIH interaction levels, with ecosystem-level research dominating while internal dynamics and European network-level coordination remain understudied. Only 1.7% of EDIH beneficiaries receiving services by September 2024 originate from agriculture, confirming the sector’s marginal participation. Most contributions lack empirical validation, relying on theoretical frameworks or isolated case studies with limited geographic scope. As the first comprehensive review addressing EDIHs in agri-food contexts, this study provides timely insights at the end of the first EDIH implementation cycle and outlines priorities for future research to support equitable and evidence-based digital transformation. Full article

Ensuring consistent quality and safety in agri-food processing is a strategic priority for firms seeking compliance with international standards such as ISO 9001 and ISO 22000. Traditional inspection practices in Ecuador’s food industry remain largely destructive, labor-intensive, and subjective, limiting real-time decision-making. This study developed a non-destructive, ISO-aligned framework for process-level quality control by integrating digital (RGB) imaging for surface-level inspection, hyperspectral imaging (HSI) for internal-quality prediction (e.g., moisture, firmness, and freshness), near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) for compositional and authenticity analysis, and deep learning (DL) models for automated classification of ripeness, maturity, and defects. Experimental results across four flagship commodities—bananas, cacao, coffee, and shrimp—achieved classification accuracies above 88% and ROC AUC values exceeding 0.90, confirming the robustness of AI-driven, multimodal (RGB–HSI–NIRS) inspection under semi-industrial conveyor conditions. Beyond technological performance, the findings demonstrate that digital inspection reinforces ISO principles of evidence-based decision-making, conformity verification, and traceability, thereby operationalizing the Plan–Do–Check–Act (PDCA) cycle at digital speed. The study contributes theoretically by advancing the conceptualization of Quality 4.0 as a socio-technical transformation that embeds AI-driven sensing and analytics within management standards, and practically by providing a roadmap for Ecuadorian SMEs to strengthen export competitiveness through automated, real-time, and auditable quality assurance. Full article

Consumer choices are largely influenced by sustainability, necessitating SMEs from the agri-food sector to strategically address sustainability and innovate their business models. Nonetheless, the challenge for such sustainable leadership lies in maintaining an equilibrium between innovation, sustainability, and financial performance. This study examined how strategic leadership fosters sustainability-oriented innovation within SMEs exemplified by the wine industry. A survey involving 354 German wineries served to analyze a multi-dimensional concept of innovation clusters (early adopters, pragmatists, pioneers, skeptics, conservatives), type of innovation, sustainability orientation, strategic ambitions, and business performance. Exploring the adoption of fungus-resistant grape varieties (FRV) allowed investigating how sustainability transitions to meet EU Green Deal targets are shaped by strategic groups involving strategic positioning and innovation clusters. There was a correlation between stronger sustainability orientation with greater innovation (Means up to 4.39). As per the findings, it was observed that high scores (p < 0.001, η² = 0.144–0.160) in market and process innovation were obtained by early adopters and pioneers. These innovation champions excel in economic and social sustainability (p < 0.001) but nonetheless were found to be financially underperforming (Means 1.97–2.18). Innovations that were applied enhanced innovation scores (η² = 0.128) but did not improve immediate performance. The strongest performance (Mean 2.60) was reported by skeptics though they fared poor in terms of sustainability and innovation. It was also noted that early adopters and pioneers (44–45%) were leading in FRV adoption, while a lag was observed within premium-oriented organizations. These insights may motivate SMEs in their quest for strategic sustainability and allow fine-tuning political and societal measures to achieve a sustainable transition and quantified Green Deal ambitions. It was concluded that long-term positioning was improved by sustainability-driven innovation, however, it would involve short-term performance trade-offs for SMEs. Political support should motivate the sustainable leadership champions to also safeguard profitability. Full article

The transition from soft to hard law is reshaping global agri-food governance, particularly in relation to sustainability and corporate responsibility. This article analyzes this shift by examining two regulatory approaches: voluntary instruments such as the OECD-FAO Guidance for Responsible Agricultural Supply Chains and binding EU directives like the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) and the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD). Using a qualitative and interpretive methodology, the study combines a literature review and two case studies (Nicoverde and Lavazza) to explore the evolution from soft law to hard law and the synergies and analyze how these tools are applied in the Italian agri-food sector and how they can contribute to improving corporate sustainability performance. Findings show that soft law has paved the way for more rigorous regulation, but the increasing compliance burden poses challenges, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). These cases serve as virtuous examples to illustrate how soft and hard law interact in practice, offering concrete insights into the translation of general sustainability principles into corporate strategies. A hybrid governance framework—combining voluntary and binding tools—can foster sustainability if supported by coherent policies, stakeholder collaboration and adequate support mechanisms. The study offers practical insights for both companies and policymakers navigating the evolving legal scenario. Full article

Digital innovation is rapidly transforming the agriculture sector, drawing attention from global development institutions, policymakers, tech firms, and scholars aimed at aligning food systems with international goals like Zero Hunger and the FAO agendas. Small and medium enterprises in agriculture (Agri-SMEs) represent a significant portion of processing and production units but face challenges in digital transformation despite their importance. Technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), blockchain, cloud services, IoT, and mobile platforms offer tools to improve efficiency, access, value creation, and traceability. However, the patterns and applications of these transformations in Agri-SMEs remain fragmented and under-theorized. This paper presents a systematic review of interactions between digital transformation and innovation in Agri-SMEs based on findings from ninety-five peer-reviewed studies. Key themes identified include AI-based decision support, blockchain traceability, cloud platforms, IoT precision agriculture, and mobile technologies for financial integration. The review maps these themes against business model values and highlights barriers like capacity gaps and infrastructure deficiencies that hinder scalable adoption. It concludes with recommendations for future research, policy, and ecosystem coordination to promote the sustainable development of digitally robust Agri-SMEs. Full article

The scientific literature and practice have demonstrated that the old linear economic model “extract—produce—use and throw away” is no longer sustainable due to the enormous accumulation of waste and the related production of CO₂. Consequently, there is a need to adopt more sustainable development systems that include recycling resources and producing goods derived from recycled material. The examined literature highlights that SMEs are the least likely to make technological or paradigm changes in favor of sustainable choices due to a lack of resources and managerial competencies. This study presents a mixed-method approach based on qualitative and quantitative analyses. The qualitative analysis aims to identify, in the Italian context, measures that encourage companies to reduce the use of plastics in favor of sustainable alternatives. The quantitative analysis, based on secondary data, aims to identify the characteristics of the firms that benefited from the aid identified in the previous analysis. Thus, this study may support corporate environmental sustainability strategies in Italy by identifying specific characteristics and profiles of those companies willing to obtain public incentives for the use of recycled materials in their business and production processes. The results show that small and micro-sized companies obtained most of the analyzed incentives (almost 76% in terms of number of applications), and the most affected areas by these measures are the agriculture and food industries. Therefore, economic incentives can improve sustainable performance for small and micro-sized enterprises in the wide agri-food sector, while the legislator must adopt different tools, such as bans, Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), and sustainability reports for medium-large sized companies of other crucial industrial sectors such as construction and automotives. Full article

This paper investigates the key drivers influencing the internationalization of agricultural small and medium-sized enterprises (agri-SMEs) in Latin America, with a particular emphasis on the role of social and ethnic networks. Focusing on Argentina, Brazil, and Chile—three of the region’s largest agricultural economies—this study examines how familial and cultural connections between descendants of European immigrants and European entrepreneurs facilitate the global expansion of agri-SMEs. Using a cross-sectional quantitative analysis, data from agri-SME managers reveal the importance of these networks in reducing market entry barriers by providing insider knowledge of foreign markets, regulatory conditions, and potential business partnerships. The findings demonstrate that ethnic networks significantly reduce market entry barriers, providing Latin American agri-SMEs access to essential insider knowledge on foreign markets and local regulations, thereby facilitating internationalization. Additionally, agri-SMEs that leverage these networks are better positioned to meet growing global demands for sustainable, traceable food products, gaining a competitive advantage in international markets. The strength and frequency of interactions within ethnic networks are positively correlated with the degree of internationalization, highlighting the importance of social capital in overcoming operational challenges. This paper contributes to the literature by highlighting the underexplored role of ethnic networks in shaping the international marketing strategies of agricultural firms and their capacity to adapt to evolving consumer behaviors. The study offers practical insights for supporting the global integration of agri-SMEs in Latin America, addressing both operational challenges and the increasing need for sustainable food production practices. Full article

Carvacrol is a compound present in essential oils with proven antimicrobial activity against numerous pathogens. We firstly determine the post-antibiotic effect (PAE) of carvacrol (1×, 2×, 4× MIC) and post-antibiotic sub-minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) effect (1× + 0.25× MIC and 2× + 0.25× MIC) for two concentrations of Salmonella Typhimurium ATCC14028 (10⁶ and 10⁸ CFU/mL). Prior to testing, the minimum concentration and exposure time to achieve the bacterial inhibition (MIC 0.6 mg/mL and 10 min) were determined by broth microdilution and time–kill curve methods, respectively. At the MIC, carvacrol did not generate any PAE. At twice the MIC, the PAE was 2 h with the standard inoculum (10⁶ CFU/mL) and 1 h with the high-density inoculum (10⁸ CFU/mL). At 4× MIC concentrations, the PAE was higher in both cases > 43.5 h. Continuous exposure of post-antibiotic phase bacteria (1× and 2× MIC) to carvacrol at 0.25× MIC (0.15 mg/mL) resulted in an increase in PAE (PA-SME) above 43.5 h with both inocula. These results suggest that the PA-SME of carvacrol for S. Typhimurium can be significantly prolonged by increasing the sub-MICs, which would allow dose spacing, reduce adverse effects and improve its efficacy in the treatment of infected animals and as a disinfectant in agri-food facilities. Full article

This paper investigates the incorporation of sustainable development within the Portuguese agri-food sector amid global environmental and resource challenges. It underscores the role of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria in steering businesses towards sustainable practices. Through qualitative analysis, in-depth interviews with managers and experts explored sustainable business model adoption, highlighting SMEs’ unique challenges. The study reveals a divergence in sustainability practice maturity, advocating for integration into organizational culture and strategy. It points out SMEs’ reactive stance due to resource constraints and external pressures, contrasting with larger firms’ proactive approaches. The research supports a strategic reevaluation of business models for sustainability, emphasizing innovation, leadership, organizational commitment, and transparent communication. Practical contributions include embedding sustainability into core operations, enhancing competitiveness, fostering sustainable organizational culture, prioritizing employee well-being, and leveraging innovative marketing for sustainability communication. Recognizing its limitations, this study advocates exploring blockchain and AI for transparency, leadership’s role in sustainable models, and the importance of marketing in the agri-food sector for sustainable management. Insights indicate that innovation and strategic partnerships are crucial for enhancing organizational sustainability and achieving the SDGs. Full article

Family small and medium enterprises (FSMEs) differ from non-family SMEs regarding leadership type, human resource management practices, innovation orientation, change management, information and communication technology deployment, process maturity, and resource availability. These differences present challenges when leading any change. Process mining (PM) tools can optimize process value and eliminate non-added-value activities in FSMEs based on “Event Logs”. The present study investigates how a PM project is implemented in an FSME operating in the agri-food sector, focusing on challenges faced in every project phase to extract the most appropriate process that eliminates all sources of waste and bottleneck cases. Drawing upon the L*Lifecycle methodology combined with quality and lean management tools such as the fishbone diagram, Pareto diagram, and overall equipment efficiency (OEE), this study applied a PM project to a manufacturing process for an FSME operating in the agri-food sector. To achieve theoretical production capacity (TPC) and customer satisfaction, the method was analyzed and optimized using Disco and ProM toolkits. The results analysis using Disco and ProM toolkits gave clues about the organizational and technical causes behind the manufacturing process’s inefficiency. First, OEE showed that the studied FSME is struggling with equipment availability. Then, the implementation of the L*Lifecycle methodology allowed for the identification of five critical causes. An action plan to eliminate causes was proposed to the FSME managers. Full article