Guiding materiality analysis for sustainability reporting: the case of agri-food sector

By materiality analysis, companies identify material aspects, i.e., the most relevant topics that their sustainability report must address. This paper questions the excessive subjectivity that the global reporting initiative (GRI) guidelines grants to companies in identifying their own material aspects, which might elicit opportunistic behaviours. To mitigate the abuse of discretion and prevent its consequences, we present an approach to identify topics to be mandatorily considered as material, and apply it to the agri-food sector. Results are rooted in international standards and rating systems and move from evaluations of an international panel of scholars acknowledged as experts in that sector. By identifying the topics that are at the core of sustainability for the agri-food companies and suggesting them as mandatory for sustainability reporting, the paper helps reducing the chance of relevant topics omitted, and ultimately improves reliability and comparability of sustainability reports.