The use of Internet of Things (IoT) to improve transparency in agri-food supply chains

2021 ◽  
pp. 369-406
Author(s):  
Rounaq Nayak ◽  

Global food production needs to increase by approximately 70% by 2050 to ensure food security and feed the global population which is expected to reach 9.6 billion by 2050. To achieve these objectives in a sustainable manner, there is a need for modernisation and intensification of agricultural practices. There is also an increasing demand for proving sustainability within supply chains with research showing a direct correlation between transparency and consumer trust in agri-food products. This chapter starts out by detailing the impact and need for a globalised food system. It then progresses to discuss existing applications of Internet of Things (IoT) systems and the potential of future IoT systems in helping achieve these targets. The chapter also briefly touches upon the potential for combining Blockchain Technology and IoT systems in helping improve transparency and accountability within agri-food supply chains.

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 751 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wayne Martindale ◽  
Mark Swainson ◽  
Sonal Choudhary

Pressure points in global food supply where resilience in supply chains can be limited or controlled are the equivalent of Critical Control Points in food safety systems. The approach of using critical control in supply chains can provide insights for nutritional improvement, sustainable food trade and food waste reduction. The pressure points determine the provision of a secure and sustainable food system where the outcomes of reducing their criticality are identified in the UN Sustainable Development Goals and other international programmes. These seek to reduce climate change impact and improve public health provision. While policy makers are rightly focussed on these targets, the data analysis methods required to rank and associate resource flow pressure points with commercial food supply chains and nutritional goals remain untested. Here, we show how methodologies can identify where opportunities to tackle future criticality exist, and where they are currently being overlooked for food categories that have the greatest consumer and dietary protein demand. The analysis provides insights that identify where latent restrictions in resilience can occur, so that the future risk of food insecurity is reduced.


2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 143
Author(s):  
Yigit Kazancoglu ◽  
Melisa Ozbiltekin-Pala ◽  
Muruvvet Deniz Sezer ◽  
Banu Y. Ekren ◽  
Vikas Kumar

Recently, it has become an important issue to ensure sustainability, especially in food supply chains, against the rapidly growing population, increasing demand, and sudden disruptions caused by uncertain times such as that caused by COVID-19. Since food supply chains has vulnerable products and processes, it is critical to understand the sustainability factors of food supply chains especially in uncertain times such during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aims to determine sustainability factors of food supply chains. An Interpretive Structural Modelling method is used to state the relations between sustainability factors of food supply chains. As a result of the study, Information Sharing and Managerial Approaches are classified as driving factors; Food Safety and Security, Know-How Transfer, Logistics Networking, Risk Mitigation, Employee Commitment, Innovation, Traceability and Responsiveness are categorized as linkage factors. This article will be beneficial for managers in helping them develop sustainable food supply chains during uncertain times by focusing on traceability, information sharing, know-how transfer, food safety and security.


2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 428-437
Author(s):  
Evangelia Kopanaki ◽  
Asterios Stroumpoulis ◽  
Maria Oikonomou

This paper examines blockchain technology and food waste management in the hospitality industry. Food waste prevention is an important issue for hotels, as food consumption is difficult to estimate, often leading to huge amounts of waste. Food waste occurs at each stage of the food supply chain and represents a big percentage of hospitality waste. Although many studies examine the difficulties of food waste management, only a limited number of studies examine the stages of food waste inside food supply chains. The coordination of food supply chains can be supported by blockchain technology, which can break the supply chain into smaller parts and help managers to better mitigate food control. To address these issues, this paper conducts an extensive literature review, firstly to clarify the concept of food waste management in the hospitality industry and secondly to examine the benefits of the use of blockchain technology in food supply chains. Combining the obtained knowledge, this study aims to analyze the relationship between blockchain and food waste management practices. It also aims to examine how this combination boosts hotels to increase their performance and gain customers’ loyalty. Therefore, this paper analyses food waste management in the hospitality industry makes propositions on how blockchain technology could support food waste management in the food supply chain and forms the base for future research. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.


The shorter food supply chains were the emerging trend in the agro-food system. The characteristic of local food supply chains are regional, freshness, quality products, and health benefits to the consumers. The present study explores the existing local dairy supply chains in the Haryana state. The local dairy supply chains were analysed and found that the shorter milk supply chains were more profitable with reduced intermediaries and higher producer shares in consumer rupees for all dairy products. The supply chains which involved intermediaries had lesser cost per unit of operation in dairy processing but fetched lower prices due to the quality issues and more distance travelled by dairy products. The economic viability and financial position of the processing units exhibited favourable results for both supply chains but it was higher for Supply Chain-I.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ismail Badraoui ◽  
Ivo van der Lans ◽  
Youssef Boulaksil ◽  
Jack G.A.J. van der Vorst

PurposeThis study investigates the impact of agri-food supply chains (AFSCs) characteristics on the antecedents of horizontal logistics collaboration (HLC). Specifically, the study compares the relationship between collaboration activities and outcomes for companies in and outside AFSCs.Design/methodology/approachFirst, a survey was used to collect data from different industries. Second, confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling were applied to compare the measurement and structural models from different industry categories.FindingsThe results support the premise that collaboration improves trust and commitment in the relationship, which in turn enhance satisfaction. The results also show the existence of a minor influence of AFSCs characteristics on HLC antecedents, in the form of an indirect impact of dedicated investments on commitment.Practical implicationsThe factors having a significant influence on the collaboration outcomes and their respective effects are generally similar across food and nonfood supply chains, providing opportunities for interdisciplinary and collaboration experiences.Originality/valueThis research contributes to the body of knowledge on interfirm collaboration by considering the specificities of HLC. It also highlights the importance of conducting contingency research on collaborative experiences, as firms from different industry contexts operate under distinct operational conditions.


Author(s):  
Iman Hussain ◽  
Chloë Allen-Ede ◽  
Lukas Jaks ◽  
Herbert Daly

A pandemic crisis inevitably puts great pressure on different aspects of societal and commercial infrastructure. Paths for information and goods designed and optimised for stable conditions may fail to meet the needs of emergency situations, whether suddenly imposed or planned. This chapter discusses the effects of the 2020 pandemic on food supply chains. These issues are considered as problems of information sharing and systemic behaviour with implications for both people and technology. Based on work in Wolverhampton, UK, the effect of the 2020 lockdown period on local businesses and charities is considered. In response to these observations, the design and development of Lupe, a prototype application to support the distribution and trading of food during periods of lockdown, is described. The aim of the system is to integrate the needs of consumers, businesses, and third sector organisations. The use of blockchain technology in the Lupe system to provide appropriate functionality and security for data is explored. Initial evaluations of the prototype by stakeholders are also included.


2019 ◽  
Vol 91 ◽  
pp. 640-652 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreas Kamilaris ◽  
Agusti Fonts ◽  
Francesc X. Prenafeta-Boldύ

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (17) ◽  
pp. 4800 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gunnar Vittersø ◽  
Hanne Torjusen ◽  
Kirsi Laitala ◽  
Barbara Tocco ◽  
Beatrice Biasini ◽  
...  

The present food system faces major challenges in terms of sustainable development along social, economic and environmental dimensions. These challenges are often associated with industrialised production processes and longer and less transparent distribution chains. Thus, closer distribution systems through Short Food Supply Chains (SFSCs) may be considered as a sustainable alternative. This study explores the role of different types of SFSCs and their contribution to sustainability through participants’ (consumers, retailers and producers) views and perceptions. As part of the European H2020 project “Strength2Food” we conducted a cross-case analysis and examined 12 European SFSC cases from six countries: France, Hungary, Italy, Norway, Poland and the UK. We applied a mixed method approach including primary data collection, via in-depth interviews and customer surveys, as well as desk research. The findings suggest that, irrespective of the type of SFSC, a strong agreement among the participants were found on the contribution of SFSCs to social sustainability. However, participants’ views considerably differ regarding the economic and environmental dimensions of sustainability. These differences relate to the way the SFSCs were organised and to some degrees to regional differences attributed to the significance of SFSC in different parts of Europe. The article concludes that the spatial heterogeneity of SFSCs, including supply chain actor differences, different types and organisational forms of SFSCs as well as regional and territorial characteristics, must be taken into account and further emphasised in future policies aimed at strengthening European food chain sustainability.


Food Policy ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 83 ◽  
pp. 363-369 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amir Heiman ◽  
Ben Gordon ◽  
David Zilberman

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document