Do All Food and Beverage Firms Benefit From Voluntary ESG Reporting? Evidence From China's Listed Companies

ABSTRACT This study investigates the relationship between voluntary Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) reporting and firm performance—measured by Return on Assets (ROA), Return on Equity (ROE), and Tobin's Q—in China's food and beverage (F&B) sector. Using a fixed effects panel model on a data set of both reporting and non‐reporting listed firms from 2008 to 2023, we find that, overall, the issuance of standalone ESG reports is negatively associated with firm performance across all three measures. However, the results also reveal that this relationship becomes positive when firms exhibit ESG performance above the industry median. These findings suggest that ESG reporting, in isolation, may represent a costly signal in the short term. Nonetheless, firms that effectively implement ESG initiatives and earn superior scores from third‐party agencies can achieve improved outcomes over time. Implications for the F&B sector are discussed.