*2.4. Food Safety*

Food systems have long been directly concerned with sustainability. Understanding the food system (conservation, processing, production, and storage) can provide insight into the value of local sustainable agriculture and new trends in food supply. In many countries, food control systems have a strong presence in businesses and a significant impact on consumers' lives, with regulations that vary from country to country and within and outside Europe. Improper storage, too high or too low temperatures, or poor air quality can damage the product, create waste and be a big problem for businesses, which fails consumers [46].

In Portugal, one of the main food safety programs certified by Delta is Hazard Analysis of Critical Control Points (HACCP). This certification aims to control good practices of food safety, food quality, preservation, and how waste is managed to ensure consumer

protection. In the case of food companies, goods manufacturing and hygiene practices are essential, as well as controlling the origin of raw materials (agriculture that guarantees the environmental and social sustainability of farms, among other things). Storage, marketing, preservation, and transport must also be controlled, according to rules, to ensure compliance with quality and safety requirements before reaching consumers [46]. The HACCP is a certification with rules and processes implemented by the governmen<sup>t</sup> and may vary depending on the country. The governmen<sup>t</sup> and the entity that represents it are thus responsible for ensuring the implementation and control inspections of these procedures [47].

Other quality assurance standards can and should be combined with the HACCP. Associated with the agri-food topic, we can identify ISO, which focuses on health, safety, and quality. ISO has various legislations and combinations depending on the sector in which the company operates. Having control of all points in the supply chain, guaranteeing product quality and certification by the relevant entities will allow the consumer to trust the brand even more. Controlling the supply chain based on these food safety standards will prevent the occurrence of health problems and increase confidence in the brand and its sustainability. Proper supply chain managemen<sup>t</sup> and ensuring compliance with the standards applied to waste, waste emissions, raw materials (used in both product and packaging), coupled with the control of all inherent processes, will thus increase the sustainability of the process and the environment [46].

#### *2.5. The ARA Model as an Important Tool to Analyze Sustainable Supply Chains and Purchasing Policies*

The ARA model was developed by Håkansson and Johanson [48] and Håkansson and Snehota [22]. This model identifies interactions in business networks according to three elements: actors, resources, and activities (ARA). The three entities relate to each other not only using key aspects of relationships between organizations, but also at all levels inside the organizations, including the relationships among individuals [49]. The ARA model represents a crucial tool for conceptualizing B2B relationships, and it aids understanding of how networks and supply chains may merge or connect at different levels of a company's sustainable purchasing policies. Therefore, it is important to be aware of the main role of each element.

• Actors

Actors can be individuals or collectives of people, such as groups, parts of companies, or companies, and are those who carry out activities or control resources. Actors invest and develop relationships with other actors to access, use, and combine resources to enhance the performance of their activities [50]. These activities are usually performed with other actors involved (due to the relationship developed), with the main purpose of reaching strategic goals to benefit the organization or networks of organizations of which they are a part [49].

• Resources

Resources are available as heterogeneous means used by actors to achieve goals throughout activities [50]. They can be tangible or intangible, meaning they can be raw materials, facilities, human knowledge, experience and skills, operating systems, etc. Combined with other resources, they can be increasingly valuable because the connection to activities (developed by all actors involved that have relationships bonds) leads to new knowledge and more opportunities [50,51]. Because of this, resources can be changed, developed, reused, and recombined in networks, and it is an interaction process that creates value for all parts involved [51].

• Activities

Activities bring life to businesses and their networks They can arise from different departments in an organization, such as producing goods, processing information, paying bills, providing services, etc., aiming to create all kinds of different effects and promote better relationships between all parts involved. The activities are influenced by actors and resources at any level of the organizational network, so any change creates different impacts [49–51]. Hence, the ability of companies or actors to adapt their activities, using their resources, to other strategic organizations or partner structures is crucial. This enables the design of activities that would help achieve the outcomes needed to reach the ultimate goals [50]. Therefore, it is fair to say that activities are interdependent, being part of an interactive ecosystem that involves actors and resources in the business landscape.

In summary, it is important that the ARA model perspective plays a key role in business relationships and commitment between counterparties [22,48]. Applied to our study, this approach aids in understanding how these three entities work together, giving us a holistic view of how the organization works to achieve a sustainable supply chain and green purchasing policy.

#### **3. Research Methodology**

This study relied on case study research. Given the nature of the research questions and despite sustainability being a new topic for some companies, others have already been implementing environmentally responsible and sustainable strategies and, therefore, case study research can be a valuable method to investigate sustainable business actions in value chain and, more precisely for our analysis, to supply chain. Hence, checking the theory against the empirical material is of vital importance as they are interrelated [52]. Then, considering what is discussed in the literature and how the authors relate supply chain strategy to sustainability, it is appropriate to analyze a rich and illustrative case as an example of a company that is putting into practice sustainable practices and recommendations provided by the literature. Moreover, case study analysis and research are ideal for investigations related to the applicability of a contemporary phenomenon in a real-life context [16]. This is an appropriate and suitable method to explore, understand, and discuss how companies are implementing sustainable concerns and practices related to buying and supply chain management. Finally, case study is also a good method to find and show how sustainable buying practices of companies add value to all of those involved and affected by the practices, from suppliers to employees and clients. According to Baraldi et al. [53], in these conditions, it is appropriate and adequate to develop a single case study.

For this research, we used several secondary data and materials collected from diverse origins and sources related to the company and with the business, as well as class and trade associations. In addition, the Delta Cafés Corporate Marketing Manual, and the Grupo Nabeiro's Sustainability Report [54] were crucial sources for collecting data about the organization, particularly to help us understand and clarify the dynamics of the organization and the key factors that were essential to transform the company into a consolidated and sustainable group. Additionally, recent news has been published in the media, highlighting Grupo Nabeiro. The enterprise has received several prizes and public acknowledgements related to its working culture and salaries [55] as well as innovations [14] related to its coffee business through the brand Delta Cafés. The fact that the company is a producer and trader of coffee, made this an interesting topic for analysis, since coffee grain has long represented a challenge for companies, especially those that want to have a responsible attitude in the coffee value chain. After undertaking initial research on the company, we found that it already had in place some programs to help their suppliers in such countries as Angola. In addition, the company is innovating by not only respecting the product (coffee) and the people but by trying to produce coffee in specific regions for the first time, such as the Azores, Portugal [15]. At the same time, this company was developing new solutions to reduce waste materials where coffee is packed (e.g., espresso capsules for home consumption). Here, we identified a major challenge for the company not only in its supply chain strategy, but also in its efforts to transform into a sustainable business. This was possible only because of the work being undertaken on managing relationships,

as discussed in the literature review, and which is of grea<sup>t</sup> importance to this analysis. Finally, to develop this case study, Grupo Nabeiro's availability in giving us secondary data through their sustainability reports was of grea<sup>t</sup> value.

Furthermore, our case study research combines empirical material collected with the application of the ARA model [48]. This approach allows us to understand and show how the three elements of the ARA theoretical model—actors, resources, and activities [48]—are related to each other in the case study we analyzed. The purpose of this investigation was not to find a statistical pattern in our findings [16], nor to find an exception to the norm. Instead, our goal was to find and explore a company where the theoretical background successfully meets the operational processes, constituting a rich and interesting case [16].

Figure 2 shows a flow diagram explaining the entire course of action of our research.

**Figure 2.** Methodology flow diagram.
