Indicators of sustainable development for assessing performance of pineapple canneries: Conceptual framework and application

This paper proposes a dedicated method to assess the performance of pineapple canneries progressing towards sustainable development, by using suitable indicators comprising three basic sustainability dimensions. Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) approach and Weight Average Index (WAI) were applied to outline a basis for comparing sustainability indices of pineapple canneries. It was proposed to demonstrate the application of the developed method through comparison of three sizes of pineapple canneries concerning their relative performances. Nine selected canneries were surveyed out of a total of thirteen in Prachubkhirikhan province, Thailand. The analysis shows that pineapple canneries differed in their performances towards sustainable development among the three sizes. Variation in canneries’ activities directly corresponds to the potential to achieve sustainable development. Most activities of the large size canneries scored the highest performance values, followed by the medium and the small sizes, respectively. Most of the economic and social activities of large are better than those of medium and small canneries. However, medium and small canneries have higher values on some performances than large canneries, especially in term of environmental performances: raw material used and waste management. It should be recognized that irrespective of their size, performances of all canneries need to be studied simultaneously to make a better understanding of pineapple canning industry. This leads to outlining appropriate guideline for improving business towards sustainable development.