Strategic Actions for a Sustainable Internationalization of Agri-Food Supply Chains: The Case of the Dairy Industries from Brazil and Germany

While facing a growing domestic demand for milk and milk products, the Brazilian dairy industry is far behind in terms of competitiveness and sustainability when compared to other national agricultural sectors. Nonetheless, in Germany, the leading dairy companies are mainly pushed by a saturated domestic market and EU agriculture policy oriented towards the liberalization of markets, as well as increasing political and social demands looking to markets beyond the EU. In the context of the increasing globalization of agricultural supply chains, the issue of sustainability gains particular importance in companies’ internationalization strategies. By using expert interviews, this paper investigates strategies for integrating Brazilian and German dairy supply chains and how both sides can also benefit from this situation in terms of sustainability. The analyses show that problems of the industries in both countries basically complement each other at different levels and positive synergies for both sides exist when it comes to sustainable issues, positioning the two industries competitively for the future and creating a good position for conquering market share in a globally growing milk market. This paper proposes an approach to the challenges of such integration, as well as viable solutions to sustainability issues.