The role of digital data for food cleaner production innovation and cleaner value proposition.

Project Information

FooDization

Grant agreement ID: 101030185

DOI

10.3030/101030185

Project closed

EC signature date 23 April 2021

Start date 1 June 2021

End date 31 May 2023

Funded under

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Total cost

€ 151 850,88

EU contribution

€ 151 850,88

Coordinated by

BUDAPESTI CORVINUS EGYETEM
Hungary

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - FooDization (The role of digital data for food cleaner production innovation and cleaner value proposition.)

Reporting period: 2021-06-01 to 2023-05-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Why does FooDization deserve to be studied?
Food is essential to human health and prosperity. This cannot be denied. Nevertheless, food production causes many environmental hazards, such as overexploitation of natural resources (e.g. water, vegetation, and animal life). Moreover, the human population is expected to increase in size and longevity, so the demand for food will grow, putting more pressure on natural resources. Therefore, shifting towards cleaner food production is critical and urgent for human society, which can also attract consumer preferences.
Although the introduction of digital technologies in the agri-food sector has led to increased accuracy and better quality of products, enhancing the sustainability of farming, food production still prompts severe consequences for the natural environment, especially regarding food waste, pollution and the overexploitation of natural resources. Hitherto, there is still a substantial imbalance between the natural resources’ regeneration time and the pressure imposed by the market.
The discrepancy between Nature and market timings is why studying the concept of agility applied to Nature is vital.
FooDization employs a qualitative multiple-case study research design aiming to unpack the complex relationship between digital transformation, agility, and environmental sustainability in the agri-food industry.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

The findings of this study show that when natural resources cover a prominent role in production, such as in the agri-food industry, agility takes peculiar characteristics not found in other sectors, giving rise to nature-driven agility. What is unique about this novel type of agility is that it improves the firm’s capacity to adapt natural resources while respecting nature times flexibly.
In the process, digital technologies are essential for scanning data about natural resources and predicting environmental dynamics. Agri-food companies have no more low technology knowledge. Companies are massively inverting to acquire digital technologies and related competencies so that firms can timely adapt their whole food production process to environmental and market dynamics. So digital technologies are an antecedent of Nature-driven agility.
At the same time, the firm’s management must develop a solid commitment to environmental sustainability to enhance the relationship between nature-driven agility and cleaner food production; otherwise, the times of nature are not respected. Furthermore, customer pressure toward food products or service changes must align with environmental sustainability.
Why do we need to specify that managers and customers must be committed to environmental sustainability? Because they may trigger adverse effects on cleaner food production. Adopting digital technologies is not a sufficient condition that automatically leads to cleaner food production. Digital technologies are tools and, as with any other tool, can be used for positive and negative purposes. That is why agri-food companies must ensure their managers are committed to environmental sustainability. Also, customers have their responsibilities in this process. They can put positive pressure on agri-food firms asking for, for example, more sustainable packaging and ingredients. Or, they can put negative pressure, such as asking for a never-ending price reduction de facto, forcing companies to overexploit natural resources.
These results were disseminated through several channels:
Conferences:
• Keynote presentation at 7th International Scientific Conference on Economics & Management: EMAN, March 23, 2023.
• Frau, M., Moi, L., Cabiddu F., & Keszey, T., (2023). Unpacking the link between digitalization and cleaner food production through the lens of agility. In IMTC 2023 “International Marketing Trends Conference”. Paris, France, January 19-21.
• Frau, M. & Keszey, T., (2022). The role of digital data in the agri-food product development process. European Marketing Academy Conference EMAC 2022 13th Regional Conference, Kaunas, Lithuania, September 21-23. Best conference paper.
• Frau, M. & Keszey, T., (2022). Agri-food firms’ attitude toward digital data exploitation in the product development. 28th Conference of the Hungarian Association for the Education and Research in Marketing EMOK, Hernádvécse, Hungary, August 23-25, 2022; Selected for been published in Marketing & Menedzsment.
• Frau, M., Moi, L., Cabiddu F., & Keszey, T., (2022). The role of market pressure on nature-driven agility and sustainable food production. European Marketing Academy Conference EMAC, Budapest, Hungary, May 27-29, 2022. Member of the organizing committee, in charge for the meet-the-editor sections.
Scientific publications:
• Frau, M. & Keszey, T. (2023). Agri-food firms’ attitude toward digital data exploitation in the product development. Marketing & Menedzsment.
• Frau, M., Moi, L., Cabiddu F. & Keszey, T. (2022). Time to clean up food production? Digital technologies, nature-driven agility, and the role of managers and customers. Journal of Cleaner Production.
• Frau, M., Moi, L., & Cabiddu F. (2022). Digital transformation through the lens of digital data: an exploratory analysis in the agri-food sector. Journal of Small Business Strategy.
No website has been developed for the project.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

Appling agility to Nature is a revolutionary change of perspective since agility is traditionally studied by observing people and organisations. Agility is defined as the capacity to modify and reconfigure assets and capabilities at a quick pace to enhance value-creation opportunities.
FooDization makes several contributions to research and practice. From a theoretical perspective, we extend the literature on agility and sustainability in the food context by advancing the concept of nature-driven agility. Adopting the notion of nature-driven agility, organisations adapt the full production process to market changes and capture new value-creation opportunities within nature constraints. Our findings extend previous literature on sustainability introducing the notion of nature-driven agility in the agri-food context. In particular, the empirical and theoretical analysis reveals the critical interacting dimensions (resources data scanning for predicting, management commitment to sustainability and customer pressure) that enhance or reduce the impact of nature-driven agility on cleaner food production. Moreover, we put four propositions that summarise our findings as the starting point for future research in this nascent line of inquiry.
From a managerial perspective, FooDization offers helpful guidance for managers and practitioners, particularly those who perform in the agri-food context, on how best to leverage digital technologies and agility to attain cleaner food production. The proposed framework helps them to understand what strategic actions and operational decisions are needed to develop and implement nature-driven agility to improve their responsiveness towards environmental sustainability challenges. FooDization could therefore help managers orient their behaviour. It can be used to understand how to implement and design proper operations that capture value-creation opportunities while addressing sustainability issues, thereby improving a firm’s performance in business contexts where managing natural resources may be challenging.

The paper published in Journal of Cleaner Production is posted in the Corvinus Wall of Fame