In recent years, the food sector has undergone a significant transformation driven by the rising in customer expectations, regulatory pressures and also more complex supply chains that have led to an increase in quality, safety and sustainability concerns increasing the certifications’ importance as relevant tools for companies looking for compliance, product integrity and competitive advantage. In this way the agri-food sector is facing a wide adoption of standards such as ISO 9001, ISO 14001, BRC or IFS not just as instruments for quality assurance and compliances, but also as strategic tools that bring internal and external improvements for the companies. In this context my thesis investigates the impact of quality and sustainability certifications on business performance within the food sector focusing on large Italian enterprises and explores the motivational mechanisms beyond the certifications’ process.