Table 3 Exemplary quotes from the cases...

Table 3

Exemplary quotes from the cases in the study

Topic	Quote
Sustainability practices	“Regarding sustainability, we optimize the use of space in the truck, optimize travelling routes, optimize combination of product families per trip, for example FFV and with canned goods, it contaminates less” (Case K)
	“product packaging is made of biodegradable materials that can also be reused by consumers and not wasted immediately” (Case B)
	“We work for environmental sustainability taking care of an efficient use of resources in our facilities, for instance, we have recovery systems (heat and steam) for fruit pasteurization, also, we recover and reuse of hot water for cleaning purposes” (Case G)
	“We are working together with suppliers for the use of recycled or biodegradable plastic, we also support producers to develop projects for composting through our fair-trade program.” (Case I)
	“we are not really focused on reducing our environmental impact because we believed we already have 0 impact thanks to our local production policy: buying raw material from 0 km suppliers have impacted greatly on eliminating emissions”
	“Employees are family, if they need some help, the family is there for them. If they feel home, they will be happy, work better and be more productive […] This is good for them and for the company as we gain a lot in visibility and efficiency” (Case P)
	“Regarding sustainability we have several projects in place, for example, we joined a consortium for energy generation from renewable sources, and we get competitive prices. Also, to be more sustainable we implemented a filtering system for the wastewaters, installed LED lighting bulbs. Moreover, we invest in employees training about hygiene, English language, and competitive business practices” (Case S)
Sustainability assessment	[For water consumption control] “we installed sensors close to the plants for monitoring the amount of water the plants receive and if it is enough for them” (Case A)
	“We do not measure plenty of practices, it would be certainly overwhelming! […] we [processors] should not bear all the responsibility and costs” (Case B)
	“We have a control room that registers and monitors the use of water, energy and methane, continuously... it is a quite evolved system” (Case G)
	“Potentials for performance measurement are huge, we started with the use of resources (energy, water), monitoring and communicating to everyone in the company. Periodically we analyze the consumption and discuss how to reduce them. But still, there is a lot to do with all the information and indicators we already have” (Case G)
	“Each POS controls and monitors the packaging waste generated per product family per SKU. Weekly revision of waste reduced and causes, we’ve improved our performance reducing 50% of waste!” (Case K)
	“We do believe that certificates have ‘power’ to create customer’s trust and create the possibility to reinforce supplier monitoring” (Case N)
	“Every day some employees must fill in the system with many data, and at the end of the year, sometimes data are combined […] we know it is important to look not only at revenues, profit and ROI because “revenues and profit do not look at the future!, but in practice, it is difficult to do something else” (Case N)
	[performance measurement] is really basic, we manage few financial indicators, and when a customer wants to know about our sustainability initiatives and performances, we need to retrieve different data stored in our database, but they are not evaluated and monitored constantly” (Case P)
	“we developed our own sustainability report since 2014, we are the first company in the sector to publish a sustainability report” (Case S)
Stakeholder requirements	“We have plenty of certifications, depending on the requirements of each buyer in Italy and abroad”
	“certifications allow as to show our consumers they are safe, they [certifications] legitimate us” (Case B)
	Our clients [large retailers] require also the compliance with this type of certifications. We audit our supplier every 2 years to ensure everyone is aligned with those principles” (Case G)
	“Is also important to communicate internally what the amount of CO₂ reduced means in terms of number of trees, or any other example that makes people/staff aligned and committed with our impact” (Case K)
	“the main performance to observe [regarding sustainability] is quality. Even if quality is not paid, but is asked by the customer, and definitely without quality we do not work!” (Case Q)

Topic	Quote
Sustainability practices	“Regarding sustainability, we optimize the use of space in the truck, optimize travelling routes, optimize combination of product families per trip, for example FFV and with canned goods, it contaminates less” (Case K)
	“product packaging is made of biodegradable materials that can also be reused by consumers and not wasted immediately” (Case B)
	“We work for environmental sustainability taking care of an efficient use of resources in our facilities, for instance, we have recovery systems (heat and steam) for fruit pasteurization, also, we recover and reuse of hot water for cleaning purposes” (Case G)
	“We are working together with suppliers for the use of recycled or biodegradable plastic, we also support producers to develop projects for composting through our fair-trade program.” (Case I)
	“we are not really focused on reducing our environmental impact because we believed we already have 0 impact thanks to our local production policy: buying raw material from 0 km suppliers have impacted greatly on eliminating emissions”
	“Employees are family, if they need some help, the family is there for them. If they feel home, they will be happy, work better and be more productive […] This is good for them and for the company as we gain a lot in visibility and efficiency” (Case P)
	“Regarding sustainability we have several projects in place, for example, we joined a consortium for energy generation from renewable sources, and we get competitive prices. Also, to be more sustainable we implemented a filtering system for the wastewaters, installed LED lighting bulbs. Moreover, we invest in employees training about hygiene, English language, and competitive business practices” (Case S)
Sustainability assessment	[For water consumption control] “we installed sensors close to the plants for monitoring the amount of water the plants receive and if it is enough for them” (Case A)
	“We do not measure plenty of practices, it would be certainly overwhelming! […] we [processors] should not bear all the responsibility and costs” (Case B)
	“We have a control room that registers and monitors the use of water, energy and methane, continuously... it is a quite evolved system” (Case G)
	“Potentials for performance measurement are huge, we started with the use of resources (energy, water), monitoring and communicating to everyone in the company. Periodically we analyze the consumption and discuss how to reduce them. But still, there is a lot to do with all the information and indicators we already have” (Case G)
	“Each POS controls and monitors the packaging waste generated per product family per SKU. Weekly revision of waste reduced and causes, we’ve improved our performance reducing 50% of waste!” (Case K)
	“We do believe that certificates have ‘power’ to create customer’s trust and create the possibility to reinforce supplier monitoring” (Case N)
	“Every day some employees must fill in the system with many data, and at the end of the year, sometimes data are combined […] we know it is important to look not only at revenues, profit and ROI because “revenues and profit do not look at the future!, but in practice, it is difficult to do something else” (Case N)
	[performance measurement] is really basic, we manage few financial indicators, and when a customer wants to know about our sustainability initiatives and performances, we need to retrieve different data stored in our database, but they are not evaluated and monitored constantly” (Case P)
	“we developed our own sustainability report since 2014, we are the first company in the sector to publish a sustainability report” (Case S)
Stakeholder requirements	“We have plenty of certifications, depending on the requirements of each buyer in Italy and abroad”
	“certifications allow as to show our consumers they are safe, they [certifications] legitimate us” (Case B)
	Our clients [large retailers] require also the compliance with this type of certifications. We audit our supplier every 2 years to ensure everyone is aligned with those principles” (Case G)
	“Is also important to communicate internally what the amount of CO₂ reduced means in terms of number of trees, or any other example that makes people/staff aligned and committed with our impact” (Case K)
	“the main performance to observe [regarding sustainability] is quality. Even if quality is not paid, but is asked by the customer, and definitely without quality we do not work!” (Case Q)

[ViewLarge]

Sharing Unavailable