Bridging organisational discourse and practice change: exploring sustainable procurement portfolios for Australian beef

Abstract

Purpose Private retail and brand-driven sustainable procurement standards are influencing global agri-food markets, shifting trade and export priorities and reshaping food supply chains. Using the case of Australian beef, the authors construct and evaluate three procurement activity “portfolios” and evaluate how these activity sets pull towards or against diverse organisational goals and/or science-based sustainability objectives. Design/methodology/approach A review of the academic and practitioner literature identified three key pillars for sustainable Australian beef procurement: animal welfare, environmental management and climate change (i.e. emissions). A subset of sustainable beef production activities (n = 100) was identified through this review plus semi-structured interviews with Australian beef retailers and industry bodies. This activity set was filtered (n = 40) and scored by a panel of science experts via a series of workshops and an additional survey. Using these data, the authors use a k-means cluster analysis (k = 3) to consider the strong or weak contributions of each activity portfolio towards typical sustainable beef goals. Findings A portfolio-based view of sustainable procurement puts the trade-offs between activities and the need for clear sustainability prioritisation into sharp focus. The authors find that individual strategies may be singularly more or less impactful, complex or popular, but when combined as a suite of activities enacted towards a particular goal or set of goals, essential for success. The authors find that obtaining balance across sustainable beef pillars versus within specific pillars can narrow the optimal set of activities that can succeed against multiple sustainability goals. Practical implications For procurement managers, the balance between clear focus and multidimensional progress is a difficult challenge. It requires the bold identification and articulation of an organisation’s interlocking corporate, industry or environmental objectives and flexibility on the strategies, tools and resources required. The authors posit that shifting away from a focus on rigid metrics may be useful in breaking the impasse on meaningful action. Social implications Using a set of known activities and strategies that a procurement manager might draw from in operationalising sustainability goals, the authors cluster activities into three discrete activity portfolios. Each portfolio requires differing levels of effort, implementation complexity and potential for within-pillar and cross-pillar impact (i.e. co-benefits). Assessing the evidence and potential for cross-pillar impacts of individual strategies is a complex undertaking, indicative of the systems and tangled interactions that characterise sustainability science more broadly. Originality/value By assessing how the procurement function can be leveraged and operationalised towards sustainability goals through a lens of optimal portfolio management, the authors provide a way forward for the procurement managers working within large retailers and agri-food businesses to progress towards multiple sustainability pillars simultaneously.

Climate and Biodiversity Credentials for Australian Grass-Fed Beef: A Review of Standards, Certification and Assurance Schemes

“…The development and implementation of sustainability schemes for beef production are still in their early stages internationally and will need focused attention to meet internationally agreed targets given that there are less than seven years remaining to meet the goals of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development [177]. To ensure consumer acceptance of beef products and meet sustainable procurement standards, it is imperative to demonstrate that underpinning sustainability schemes are credible and will achieve stated sustainability objectives [178,179]. This will require transparent certification processes, robust monitoring and reporting mechanisms, and adherence to recognized standards and benchmarks.…”

The meat of the matter

“…However, the pressure to improve on this has been great and industries must demonstrate positive shifts to maintain their economic standing. The work by Ricketts et al (2023) investigates the activities that can contribute towards achieving sustainability objectives within the Australian beef industry.…”