Sustainable business model innovation in incumbent food and beverage companies

Abstract

There is increasing pressure on companies in the food and beverage industry to innovate their business models towards sustainability. These companies are being driven by both internal and external factors to transition from traditional business models to more sustainable business models (SBMs). This study aimed to gain new insights into the phenomenon and to thus contribute towards the emergent literature relating to sustainable business model innovation (SBMI) in incumbent companies. As incumbent companies transition towards SBMs, they are faced with various internal and external factors that either hinder or aid their SBMI journey. Gaining an understanding of the challenges and enablers of SBMI implementation can provide tools to managers responsible for SBMI within their respective companies to pro-actively mitigate challenges and identify enablers in the SBMI journey. Furthermore, understanding the value propositions and the value created, delivered and captured in the SBMI process can provide further motivation for incumbent companies to engage in the process. This study followed a qualitative, exploratory research method in order to refine and extend current theory on the research topic. Data was gathered from 16 semi-structured interviews that were conducted with senior managers in incumbent companies. The senior managers were selected based on their expertise and experience in SBMI within their respective companies. Participants were separated into three groups based on their functional expertise in order to allow for comparison across the participant groups. The study culminated in a conceptual framework aimed at providing an understanding of how companies transition to more SBMs in practice. The outcomes of this study contribute to emergent SBMI literature