Unleashing food business's potential: the mediating role of food safety management on the relationship between critical success factors and business performance

Critical success factors (CSF) and its impact on implementation of the food safety management system (FSMS) and business performance are pivotal for firms to sustain and upgrade their current practices. In this study, structural equation model and bootstrapping are used in the analysis of 324 food manufacturing and exporting firms in China and Vietnam to examine CSFs and their impacts on both FSMS and business performance. Twenty-two indicators of six CSFs from the organization, market, and governance levels were identified confirming a more noticeable contribution of the external factors than the organizational factors to FSMS implementation. Interestingly, organizational CSFs could lead to operational performance improvement only, while external CSFs could impact two dimensions of business performance: operational and financial aspects, through the mediating effect of FSMS. The study is the first to emphasize the vital role of external efforts in FSMS implementations by conceptualising the vital role of the collaboration level between food firms with other supply chain players and sources of support. The findings disclose that strengthening CSFs from the multi-level environments to improve FSMS will lead to better operational and financial performances within food businesses. Companies looking to achieve excellence in the food industry can benefit greatly from understanding the role of CSFs and taking steps to improve their FSMS implementation.