Sustainability leadership and marketing in food and beverage: building bridges between quality standards and sustainability goals

Purpose The total quality management (TQM)–performance, TQM–marketing and marketing–performance associations are conflicting. Green marketing and leadership may offer solutions for enhanced environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance. Drawing on Ghana’s emerging economy context, where ESG scrutiny intensifies amid weak institutional enforcement, this study offers theoretical insights for similar institutional environments. The purpose of this study is to empirically examine the relationship between TQM and ESG performance, exploring the roles of green marketing and sustainability leadership among food and beverage (F&B) companies. Design/methodology/approach The authors used the partial least squares structural equation modelling technique to analyse time-lagged data from 244 managers across twenty F&B companies with multiple International Standard Organisation (ISO) certifications (environmental management system standard: ISO 14001 and social responsibility system standard: ISO 26000) at a 5% significance level and 95% confidence interval. Findings TQM practices enhance ESG performance through the partial intervention of green marketing. When sustainability leadership is high, the relationship between TQM, green marketing and ESG performance is strengthened rather than when it is low. Research limitations/implications Forthcoming studies should use longitudinal or experimental designs, consider data from multiple sources and conduct cross-national replications to understand how institutional contexts moderate findings. Practical implications F&B managers should design TQM initiatives that generate ESG-relevant narratives and data. They should establish and institutionalise cross-functional integration mechanisms that connect quality, marketing and sustainability functions through coordinated team structures, integrated reporting dashboards and shared key performance indicators. They should implement accountability systems that link marketing claims to verified ESG outcomes and pursue multiple sustainability certifications that signal genuine commitment beyond marketing rhetoric. Originality/value This study’s emphasis on ESG shows that TQM’s value creation extends beyond traditional financial performance metrics. This study proposes a communicative mediation perspective, which posits that TQM’s translation to ESG gains requires explicit communication mechanisms. This study resolves TQM–marketing tensions, demonstrating their complementarity. Such that TQM alone generates operational improvements that may remain invisible to stakeholders, while marketing alone lacks substantive content without TQM’s operational foundation. This study uses sustainability leadership to reconcile timing debates in marketing–performance research, extending leadership studies beyond existing paradigms.