A roadmap for sustainability performance assessment in the context of Agri-Food Supply Chain

Sustainability is today one of the most significant supply chain concerns. To guarantee the path towards sustain -ability, supply chains need to use Performance Measurement Systems (PMS) to assess and monitor their sustain-able performance. The Agri-Food Supply Chain (AFSC) is not an exception. However, given this sector's complexity and specific requirements, more profound research is needed in the context of sustainable perfor-mance. So far, none of the existent literature studies focuses on proposing a PMS system that simultaneously in-corporates the Triple Bottom Line (TBL) approach and promotes an integrated SC view. For that, the basis of a PMS system should be defined, which means establishing the performance areas that should be measured and monitored considering the sustainability goals. This paper aims two contribute to reduce this gap and the contri-butions are three-fold. First, define a standardized mapping of the Agri-Food Sustainable Supply Chain (AF-SSC) to be considered in a PMS, identifying appropriately the key stakeholders, material, information, and financials' direct and reverse flows. Second, identify the most critical sustainability-related Performance Areas (PA) (cate-gories) that should be measured in any AF-SSC. Third, and for each PA proposed, detail the main subcategories (characteristics). A multimethod methodology comprising semi-structured interviews including sector key stakeholders and a content-based literature review method is employed. Validation of the results is performed through AFSC stakeholders. As a result, a framework to guide the sustainable measurement of different SC stake-holders is outlined, that includes 16 performance areas and 71 subcategories. Given the high heterogeneity of the performance measures used in the literature, this research establishes the standard to be followed and a roadmap to guide the companies in evaluating their sustainability performance, encompassing the TBL.(c) 2022 Institution of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

This paper focuses on the sustainable performance of the Agri-Food Supply Chain (AFSC) and proposes a framework for a Performance Measurement System (PMS) that integrates the Triple Bottom Line (TBL) approach and an integrated supply chain view. By defining standardized mapping, identifying key stakeholders, and measuring indicators, it provides guidance for companies to evaluate their sustainability performance.