Sustainability and digital transformation in the European food sector: Interdependencies, challenges, and strategy

Purpose

This paper explores how small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and adjacent actors in the European food sector navigate the dual imperatives of digital transformation and sustainability. While policy and academic discourse increasingly frame these agendas as complementary under the “twin transition,” limited research explores how resource-constrained food companies and adjacent actors perceive, prioritize, and operationalize their integration, especially given the sector's reputation for slow adoption of new technologies. The paper addresses this gap by investigating the complementarities, tensions, and trade-offs shaping the relationship between digitalization and ecological objectives at the firm level. METHODOLOGY: Adopting an exploratory qualitative design, the study draws on 21 semi-structured interviews with representatives from SMEs and adjacent ecosystem actors in the European food sector. Using the Gioia methodology, data were analyzed inductively through first-order coding, second-order themes, and aggregate dimensions, enabling the development of empirically grounded insights into strategic priorities, organizational barriers, and managerial practices.

Findings

The results reveal a conditional and reciprocal relationship between digital transformation and sustainability. Digital technologies, such as IoT monitoring, traceability platforms, and precision agriculture systems, are widely perceived as enablers of sustainability by enhancing efficiency, transparency, and regulatory compliance. Sustainability commitments, in turn, shape digital adoption by directing investment toward technologies that support ecological objectives. However, resource scarcity, fragmented regulations, skill deficits, and organizational resistance act as significant barriers, often forcing companies to prioritize one agenda over the other. Moreover, digitalization can introduce new ecological risks, such as electronic waste or higher energy consumption, complicating the assumption of automatic complementarity. IMPLICATIONS: Theoretically, the study advances an exploratory map that positions digital transformation and sustainability as mutually influential but contingent processes shaped by institutional pressures, sectoral structures, and resource availability. For practice, it highlights the importance of strategic leadership, cross-functional collaboration, stakeholder engagement, and workforce training to overcome barriers and realize synergies. ORIGINALITY & VALUE: The originality of this research lies in its specific focus on European food sector and adjacent ecosystem actors, offering preliminary but empirically grounded insights into the “twin transition” under resource-constrained conditions in a relatively conservative sector.