Unraveling critical success factors of local food supply chains: a systematic literature review

Purpose Local food supply chains (LFSCs) are floundering to be viable and grow. Existing studies lack a comprehensive framework of critical success factors (CSFs), that might serve as a checklist for focal firm managers while establishing and expanding such chains. Therefore, this study aims to propose a framework of CSFs for LFSCs. Design/methodology/approach To achieve the research purpose, a total of 80 empirical papers published between 2005 and 2023 were systematically reviewed. CSFs were first identified through thematic analysis; thereafter, these CSFs were ranked and labeled using Pareto analysis. Findings The thematic analysis reveales “11 CSFs” and “12 CSFs” for the establishment and expansion of LFSCs, respectively. While “10 CSFs” are similar, “3 CSFs” differ across phases. Pareto analysis reveals “marketing mix” as first and “engagement” as second “vital few CSFs” for both the establishment and expansion phases. Research limitations/implications The proposed comprehensive framework of CSFs for the establishment and expansion phases of LFSCs adds new knowledge to the extant literature. Moreover, the framework will assist managers of LFSCs in deciding what factors to prioritize over others across the development phases of the LFSCs, consequently minimizing the risk of failure while establishing and expanding such chains. Practical implications The framework of CSFs can assist the management and entrepreneurial decision-making process of varying business models of LFSCs (e.g. B2C, B2B, and B2G). Reporting of subfactors under each critical success factor (CSF) will inform managers about what specific issues they should focus on to attain certain CSF. The clear representation of “vital few” and “useful many” CSFs will solve the managers’ dilemma of which factors to prioritize over others while establishing or expanding LFSCs. Furthermore, the comparison of CSFs between phases will let managers know what factor requires more attention at what phase. By considering the proposed framework, managers of LFSCs thus could minimize their risk of failure while establishing and expanding such chains. Social implications The increased number of viable LFSCs will raise access to local food and create new employment opportunities, thus indicating the social contribution of this research. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper proposes the first comprehensive framework of CSFs for the establishment and expansion of LFSCs based on extensive evidence from diverse geographical contexts.