Green strategic orientation, innovation, and government support: drivers of sustainable performance in the Indian food processing sector

With regard to mounting global environmental challenges and urgent demand for sustainable practices, there exists a struggle for food processing firms to adopt green innovation, given the sectors’ substantial contribution towards food waste and institutional challenges. Addressing this gap, the current study aims to examine the influence of green strategic orientation (GSO), green innovation (GI), and government support (GS) on the sustainable performance (SP) of the food processing sector in India, drawing on NRBV and Stakeholder theory. The present study considers the collective influence of green entrepreneurial orientation and green market orientation as key dimensions of green strategic orientation. Using stratified random sampling, the study collected data from 541 respondents during the period of March to June 2025 through a survey method. To enhance methodological rigor, the study employed structural equation modelling using SMART PLS along with discriminant analysis. The findings from discriminant analysis identifies effectiveness of each government support factor to distinguish varying levels of green innovation in the food processing sector. As per PLS-SEM observations, both dimensions exhibit significant influence on GI ( R 2 = 72.5%), while government support emerges as a strong predictor for SP, explaining 85.8% of its variance. These outcomes highlight the strategic importance of GEO, GMO, GI, and government support in transforming intangible resources into tangible sustainability outcomes, by offering actionable thoughts for policymakers and industry leaders to strengthen environmental resilience and long-term sustainability in the food sector.