From theory to practice: key barriers to circular supply chains in the European food industry
(2025) MGTN59 20251Department of Business Administration
- Abstract
- Traditionally rooted in a linear economy model, the European food industry is now rapidly shifting towards circular supply chain systems. Compared to the previous model, this approach offers significant environmental and socio-economic benefits, including greater resource efficiency, waste reduction, and increased market competitiveness. Despite a clear theoretical framework based on the principles of reduce, reuse, and recycle, the transition to circular supply chains remains difficult to implement in practice. While academic literature shows strong interest in the topic of circularity, it tends to focus more on policy and strategic aspects rather than on the concrete barriers that companies face during implementation. This results in a... (More)
- Traditionally rooted in a linear economy model, the European food industry is now rapidly shifting towards circular supply chain systems. Compared to the previous model, this approach offers significant environmental and socio-economic benefits, including greater resource efficiency, waste reduction, and increased market competitiveness. Despite a clear theoretical framework based on the principles of reduce, reuse, and recycle, the transition to circular supply chains remains difficult to implement in practice. While academic literature shows strong interest in the topic of circularity, it tends to focus more on policy and strategic aspects rather than on the concrete barriers that companies face during implementation. This results in a clear research gap regarding the real obstacles encountered by food companies in Europe in their transition to circular supply chains. Through a systematic literature review of recent academic contributions on the topic, this thesis identifies and categorizes the main barriers discussed by scholars. The literature review is complemented by a comparative qualitative case study of two manufacturing companies operating in the European food industry, with the ultimate goal of comparing the empirical findings with the barriers identified in the literature, in order to highlight similarities and differences between theory and practice. The eight semi-structured interviews conducted allowed for a deeper exploration of some aspects already discussed in the literature, while also uncovering new challenges specific to the companies under analysis. In particular, the data report that companies identify as key challenges the difficulties in interpreting and adapting to evolving regulations, the lack of infrastructure and technological support for circular processes, and the internal resistance to organizational change. Through the empirical analysis, it is observed that the practical impact of these obstacles often depends on company size, existing sustainability experience, and the degree of circularity integration within the supply chain. Therefore, this research demonstrates that the transition to circular supply chains in the European food industry is shaped by a combination of expected barriers and context-specific practical challenges that remain understudied in the academic field. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9200126
- author
- Hamdi, Amal LU and Jadhav, Soundarya Rani LU
- supervisor
-
- Martin Blom LU
- organization
- course
- MGTN59 20251
- year
- 2025
- type
- H1 - Master's Degree (One Year)
- subject
- keywords
- circular supply chain, European food industry, linear economy, circular economy, implementation barriers, transition, food company
- language
- English
- id
- 9200126
- date added to LUP
- 2025-06-27 14:10:28
- date last changed
- 2025-06-27 14:10:28
@misc{9200126,
abstract = {{Traditionally rooted in a linear economy model, the European food industry is now rapidly shifting towards circular supply chain systems. Compared to the previous model, this approach offers significant environmental and socio-economic benefits, including greater resource efficiency, waste reduction, and increased market competitiveness. Despite a clear theoretical framework based on the principles of reduce, reuse, and recycle, the transition to circular supply chains remains difficult to implement in practice. While academic literature shows strong interest in the topic of circularity, it tends to focus more on policy and strategic aspects rather than on the concrete barriers that companies face during implementation. This results in a clear research gap regarding the real obstacles encountered by food companies in Europe in their transition to circular supply chains. Through a systematic literature review of recent academic contributions on the topic, this thesis identifies and categorizes the main barriers discussed by scholars. The literature review is complemented by a comparative qualitative case study of two manufacturing companies operating in the European food industry, with the ultimate goal of comparing the empirical findings with the barriers identified in the literature, in order to highlight similarities and differences between theory and practice. The eight semi-structured interviews conducted allowed for a deeper exploration of some aspects already discussed in the literature, while also uncovering new challenges specific to the companies under analysis. In particular, the data report that companies identify as key challenges the difficulties in interpreting and adapting to evolving regulations, the lack of infrastructure and technological support for circular processes, and the internal resistance to organizational change. Through the empirical analysis, it is observed that the practical impact of these obstacles often depends on company size, existing sustainability experience, and the degree of circularity integration within the supply chain. Therefore, this research demonstrates that the transition to circular supply chains in the European food industry is shaped by a combination of expected barriers and context-specific practical challenges that remain understudied in the academic field.}},
author = {{Hamdi, Amal and Jadhav, Soundarya Rani}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{From theory to practice: key barriers to circular supply chains in the European food industry}},
year = {{2025}},
}