Exploring how food and drink manufacturing businesses develop capabilities for innovation and resilience

Abstract

This research investigates how manufacturing SMEs in the UK food and drink sector can be resilient to the changing market dynamics to foster sustainable growth by developing resilience capabilities through supply networks (i.e., intra- and inter-firm) learning. Food and drink are a critical infrastructural sector in the UK; however, recent events, such as COVID-19 and the Russia-Ukraine war, have shown that the sector’s supply chains are vulnerable and fragile, affecting the overall performance of food and drink SMEs. This research uses documentary analysis and 24 semi-structured interviews to explore lessons learned from disruptions and design a learning framework for manufacturing SMEs in the food and drink sector to capture lessons and translate knowledge into dynamic capabilities for resilience. It addresses how food and drink manufacturing SMEs can purposefully and systematically capture lessons to make their operations and supply chains responsive and resilient. The research empowers SMEs in the food and drink sector to adapt to dynamic market conditions, continuously meet their customers’ needs, achieve sustainable competitive advantage, and bolster their operations and supply chain resilience