The significant climate change the planet has faced in recent decades has prompted global leaders, policymakers, business leaders, environmentalists, academics, and scientists from around the world to unite their efforts since 1987 around sustainable development. This development not only promotes economic sustainability but also environmental, social, and corporate sustainability, where clean production, responsible consumption, and sustainable infrastructures prevail. In this context, the present article aims to propose a development framework for sustainability in food sector SMEs, which includes Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and the integration of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) strategies as key elements to reduce CO₂ emissions and improve operational efficiency. The methodology includes a comparative analysis of strategies implemented between 2019 and 2023, supported by quantitative data showing a 20% reduction in operating costs, a 10% increase in market share, and a 25% increase in productivity for companies that adopted clean technologies. This study offers a significant contribution to the field of corporate sustainability, providing a model that is adaptable and applicable across different regions, enhancing innovation and business resilience in a global context that requires collective efforts to achieve the sustainable development goals.

Problem statement: An environmentally conscious consumer’s perspective can shift as they look for things that are gentler on the planet. Conversely, businesses engage in greenwashing when they try to cover up their lacklustre environmental initiatives. The current research was used the theory of rational choice behaviour to examine a model that connects corporate green washing and consumers’ green purchase intentions via the mediating roles of perceived risk, green trust and green confusion about food and beverage brands in Saudi Arabia. Research motivation: Sustainable business practices have been developed and adopted by corporations in response to the growing interest in environmentally friendly lifestyles and green products. However, green washing has become increasingly common as a means for businesses to give off the impression that they care about the environment when they really don’t. Research methodology: The online survey was used to obtain data directly from consumers about their views on green washing by corporations. Primary data was analysed using appropriate statistical tools and techniques in SPSS, AMOS and SmartPLS software, such as Correlation, Regression, Structural Equation Modelling (SEM), etc. Results: In terms of perceived greenness and confusion, the results showed that green wash mediates the relationship between green purchasing intention and greenness. There is a two-way correlation between consumers’ intentions to buy environmentally friendly products and their levels of green perception, and green confusion. The findings of this study were broadening our understanding of the consequences of green washing. Conclusions: All things considered, the study was encouraging more research on the subject and be a useful tool for academics, corporate managers, and students interested in environmental sustainability, product innovation, and green branding. According to the results, businesses can improve their green purchasing intentions by cutting down on green washing and focusing instead on building a positive reputation for their brand and encouraging customer loyalty. Corporate performance and social environment sustainability can both benefit greatly from this paper’s expansion of knowledge regarding the processes of individual customer psychological effects after perceptions of corporate greenwashing behaviour.

The food supply chain in South Africa faces significant challenges related to transparency, traceability, and consumer trust. As concerns about food safety, quality, and sustainability grow, there is an increasing need for innovative solutions to address these issues. Blockchain technology has emerged as a promising tool to enhance transparency and accountability across various industries, including the food sector. This study sought to explore the potential of blockchain technology in revolutionizing through promoting transparency that enable the achievement of sustainable food supply chain infrastructure in South Africa. The study found that blockchain technology used in food supply chain creates an immutable and decentralized ledger of transactions that has the capacity to provide real-time, end-to-end visibility of food products from farm to table. This increased transparency can help mitigate risks associated with food fraud, contamination, and inefficiencies in the supply chain. The study found that blockchain technology can be leveraged to enhance supply chain efficiency and trust among stakeholders. This technology used and/or applied in South Africa can reshape the agricultural sector by improving production and distribution processes. Its integration in the food supply chain infrastructure can equally improve data management and increase transparency between farmers and food suppliers.There is need for policy-makers and scholars in the fields of service delivery and food security to conduct more research in blockchain technology and its roles in creating a more transparent, efficient, and trustworthy food supply chain infractructure that address food supply problems in South Africa. The paper adopted a qualitative methodology to collect data, and document and content analysis techniques were used to interpret collected data. 

Food safety in supply chains remains a critical concern due to the complexity of global distribution networks. This study develops a conceptual framework to evaluate how food safety risks influence supply chain performance through predictive analytics. The framework identifies and minimizes food safety risks before they cause serious problems. The study examines the impact of food safety practices, supply chain transparency, and technological integration on adopting predictive analytics. To illustrate the complex dynamics of food safety and supply chain performance, the study presents supply chain transparency, technological integration, and food safety practices and procedures as independent variables and predictive analytics as a mediator. The results show that supply chain managers' capacity to anticipate and control risks related to food safety can be improved by predictive analytics, leading to safer food production and distribution methods. The research recommends that businesses create scalable cloud-based predictive model solutions, combine data sources, and employ cutting-edge AI and machine learning tools. Companies should also note that strong, data-driven approaches to food safety require cooperative data sharing, regulatory compliance, training initiatives and ongoing improvement.

Consumers waste significant amounts of food. Food waste presents a substantial problem for the environment, society and economy. Addressing the food waste challenge is crucial for fostering sustainable behavior and achieving the Sustainability Development Goal 12.3 agenda. Norms are a significant determinant in motivating consumers to prevent food waste and could be activated by other factors. Religiosity has the potential to influence norms related to food waste behavior. This study investigated how religiosity affects the intentions of consumers to minimize food waste. The interplay of religiosity, personal norms, subjective norms, and intention to avoid food waste was examined by the extended norm activation model. Data were obtained from Muslim consumers in Indonesia. Structural equation modeling evaluation showed that religiosity positively affects the intention to prevent food waste. The intention to avoid food waste is more closely associated with personal norms compared to subjective norms. Personal norms mediate the religiosity and food waste reduction intention relationship. Consumer awareness activates personal norms by making them feel accountable for food waste’s negative impact. These findings provide insights to stakeholders in developing policies to mitigate the food waste issue.

Online shopping has eliminated the need to visit physical commercial centres. As a result, trips to these centres have shifted from primarily shopping-motives to leisure, companionship, and dining. The shifting in consumer behaviour is implicated in the growing spatial agglomeration of restaurants/cafes within commercial centres in European cities. Conversely, in southern cities, various casual restaurants/cafes also serve as leisure and companionship hubs. However, their spatial patterns are less explained. This article aims to elucidate the spatial pattern of these diverse restaurants/cafes in a typical southern city, Surabaya City. In this study, we employ the term ‘food services’ to encompass the various types of restaurants/cafes found in southern cities. We gather Points of Interest (POIs) data about food services via web scraping on Google Maps, then map out their spatial distribution across 116 spatial units of Surabaya City. Utilising k-means cluster analysis, we classify these 116 spatial units into six distinct clusters based on the composition of food service variants. Our findings show that City Centres and Sub-City Centres are locations for different types of restaurants/cafes. The City Centre is typically a location for fine dining restaurants and cafes, whereas Sub-City Centres are locations for fast casual dining and fast food restaurants. Cafes and fast food restaurants are centralised throughout downtown areas. Casual food service restaurants, such as casual style dining, coffee shops, and food stalls, are dispersed along business, residential zones, and periphery areas without intense domination of any specific variant.