Aligning sustainable development goals and stakeholders’ needs in food supply chains: a comprehensive review and mapping

Abstract

Up to 30% of food is lost or wasted in food supply chains (FSCs), undermining economic efficiency, environmental sustainability, and food security. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) provide a critical framework for FSCs to address these challenges, while Industry 5.0 strengthens this agenda through its emphasis on sustainability, resilience, and human-centricity. However, existing studies rarely examine how human well-being considerations can be systematically combined with sustainability metrics in FSCs. To address this gap, this study proposes a human-centric framework for FSC sustainability, built on the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) model. The framework integrates Human–Centric Sustainability Indicators (HCSIs) in three dimensions: economic, environmental, and social. These indicators are generated by mapping the needs of managers, workers, and customers to relevant SDGs, using Stakeholder Theory (ST) to identify their distinct sustainability expectations. Theframework enhances strategic management by explicitly linking operational decisions and stakeholder needs to the SDGs, covering financial, customer, internal processes, and learning & growth. It provides both theoretical grounding and practical guidance, supporting strategies such as technological innovation, labour protection, and performance evaluation. This work contributes to bridging the gap between human-centricity and sustainability assessment, supporting more resilient, equitable, and sustainable food systems.