The agri-food industry has a central role when dealing with sustainable development mainly due to the huge amount of natural resource it consumes and the tight connection with human well-being. Innovation is the key to have a greater impact on the three sustainability spheres: economic, environmental and social. The radicality of the change makes the adoption of a sustainable orientation easier for new entrants in the market. In fact, for incumbents changing the traditional way of operating is riskier. For this reason, this study focuses exclusively on agri-food startups. Starting from the construction of a database, this study aimed at understanding how companies bring their sustainability innovation to the market, that is to say, which are the most implemented sustainable business models. In order to do this, it has been developed an ad-hoc classification, by mixing different contributions and leveraging on the criticism done to the existing classifications. Even though this classification has been developed with a particular focus on the agri-food industry, it could be used also to perform analyses in other fields. The analysis performed on 834 sustainable agri-food startups showed that the most implemented business model is by far “Maximize materials and energy efficiency, with 407 startups, followed by “Substitute with renewables and natural processes” and “Redesign the supply chain for society/environment”, both with 125. The second part of the study focused on one specific business model: “Redesign the supply chain for society/environment”. Adopting the case-study methodology to four funded agri-food startups belonging to the supply chain stage “Service Providers”, it was possible to gather some insights on different ways of operating. The objective of the interviews has been deepening the business models of each company with particular attention on the relationship among the three sustainability spheres. The four startups address primarily the social sphere, but a positive environmental impact result as consequence. Moreover, results demonstrate that it is feasible to be profitable while addressing the social sphere, even though a trade-off between the two pillars must be found.
L’industria agroalimentare ha un ruolo centrale quando si parla di sviluppo sostenibile, a causa del grande consumo di risorse naturali e della stretta connessione con il benessere degli individui. L’innovazione è la chiave per impattare in maniera significativa i tre ambiti della sostenibilità: ambientale, economico e sociale. Questo studio ha come unità di analisi le startups agroalimentari in quanto, per le aziende già consolidate, cambiare il modus operandi per consentire l’adozione di un comportamento sostenibile potrebbe risultare rischioso. Partendo dalla costruzione di un database, questo studio ha avuto come obiettivo l’identificazione dei modelli di business sostenibili maggiormente diffusi. A tal fine, è stata sviluppata una classificazione ad-hoc, ottenuta sfruttando diverse classificazioni esistenti e le critiche ad esse connesse presenti in letteratura. Sebbene questa classificazione sia stata pensata appositamente per l’industria agroalimentare, potrebbe essere sfruttata anche in altri campi. Dall’analisi condotta sulle 834 startup agroalimentari sostenibili presenti nel database, è emerso che il modello di business più implementato è “Massimizzare l’efficienza energetica e dei materiali” con 407 startups, seguito da “Sostituire con energie rinnovabili e processi naturali” e “Redesign della supply chain per la società/ambiente”, entrambe con 125 startups. La seconda parte di questo studio si è focalizzata su un archetipo in particolare: “Redesign della supply chain per la società/ambiente”. Tramite quattro studi di caso sviluppati su aziende appartenenti allo stadio della filiera “Service Providers”, è stato possibile cogliere diverse sfaccettature dell’archetipo in questione. In particolare, le interviste hanno avuto l’obiettivo di approfondire i modelli di business di ciascuna azienda, rivolgendo particolare attenzione alla relazione tra le tre sfere della sostenibilità. Le quattro aziende trattano in particolare la sfera sociale, tuttavia si registrano conseguenze positive anche sull’ambiente. I risultati mostrano infine che il business può essere redditizio pur avendo come priorità l’aspetto sociale, ma è necessario trovare un trade-off tra i due pilastri.
Sustainable business models of agri-food startups : focus on supply chain redesign
TREGLIA, GIORGIA
2018/2019
Abstract
The agri-food industry has a central role when dealing with sustainable development mainly due to the huge amount of natural resource it consumes and the tight connection with human well-being. Innovation is the key to have a greater impact on the three sustainability spheres: economic, environmental and social. The radicality of the change makes the adoption of a sustainable orientation easier for new entrants in the market. In fact, for incumbents changing the traditional way of operating is riskier. For this reason, this study focuses exclusively on agri-food startups. Starting from the construction of a database, this study aimed at understanding how companies bring their sustainability innovation to the market, that is to say, which are the most implemented sustainable business models. In order to do this, it has been developed an ad-hoc classification, by mixing different contributions and leveraging on the criticism done to the existing classifications. Even though this classification has been developed with a particular focus on the agri-food industry, it could be used also to perform analyses in other fields. The analysis performed on 834 sustainable agri-food startups showed that the most implemented business model is by far “Maximize materials and energy efficiency, with 407 startups, followed by “Substitute with renewables and natural processes” and “Redesign the supply chain for society/environment”, both with 125. The second part of the study focused on one specific business model: “Redesign the supply chain for society/environment”. Adopting the case-study methodology to four funded agri-food startups belonging to the supply chain stage “Service Providers”, it was possible to gather some insights on different ways of operating. The objective of the interviews has been deepening the business models of each company with particular attention on the relationship among the three sustainability spheres. The four startups address primarily the social sphere, but a positive environmental impact result as consequence. Moreover, results demonstrate that it is feasible to be profitable while addressing the social sphere, even though a trade-off between the two pillars must be found.| File | Dimensione | Formato | |
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https://hdl.handle.net/10589/151827