Strategic Supplier Partnerships and Operational Performance of Food and Beverage Manufacturing Firms in Nakuru County, Kenya

Kenya's vision 2030 lays emphasis on the growth of the manufacturing sector as one of the key drivers of economic growth. Manufacturing sector contribute an estimated 10% to Gross Domestic Product, create 13% of formal employment and 12.5% of exports in the country. However, food and beverage manufacturing firms face many operational challenges including inadequate supplies of raw materials, high costs and slow development and implementation of policies which are deterrent to their operational performance. The current study sought to establish the influence of strategic supplier partnerships on operational performance of food and beverage manufacturing firms. The study was anchored on relational exchange theory. An explanatory design with a crosssectional approach was employed. The study targeted 50 procurement staff members from 9 food and beverage manufacturing firms operating in Nakuru County. Census technique was applied thus all the food and beverage manufacturing firms were involved in the study. The study used a closed-ended questionnaire to collect data which was analyzed through descriptive and inferential data analysis methods. The study established that there was a strong and positive correlation [r= 0.702**] between strategic supplier partnerships and operational performance of food and beverage manufacturing firms. Regression analysis results revealed that the beta coefficient was [β= 0.459; p= 0.000]. Therefore, the relationship between strategic supplier partnerships and operational performance was significant. This implies that the strategic supplier partnerships influenced operational performance of food and beverage manufacturing firms. Based on the findings, it is recommended that food and beverage manufacturing firms should focus more on establishing and maintaining strategic supplier partnerships to promote cost reduction and efficiency for better operational performance.