Abstract

The food industry in Canada faces many challenges, ranging from labor shortages to fluctuating prices and food safety, compounded by pressures related to climate change, market volatility, and growing sustainability requirements. In this constantly changing environment, companies in this industry must adapt their practices to ensure rigorous performance management and monitoring. This includes consideration of corporate social responsibility (CSR) regarding the economic, environmental, and social impacts of their actions. In that sense, this study examines how Canada's three largest food grocery chains - Sobeys, Metro, and Loblaw - measure and disclose their performance by analyzing the indicators presented in their various reports during the period of historic high inflation in food products for 2022 and 2023. Drawing on the neo-institutional and stakeholder theories, the study employs a qualitative content analysis of performance indicators disclosed in reports. The findings reveal both convergence and divergence in disclosure practices among the three chains. They use a variety of indicators covering several dimensions of performance and place particular emphasis on CSR issues, revealing a certain mimetic behavior in their performance measurement practices. One of the food chains differs from the other two in that it publishes no indicators on cybersecurity and food safety, and more indicators on sustainable sourcing. This study contributes to the literature on performance measurement and CSR disclosure in the food retail sector by providing insights into the indicators prioritized by the three major Canadian grocery chains and highlighting how they disclose performance to various stakeholders, including customers, during a period of economic uncertainty.

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