A systematic literature review food supply chain resilience: stakeholder, strategic, and regional analyses and future directions

The article examines the primary meanings of 'supply chain adaptability' and 'supply chain resilience'. The aim is to assess the resilience and adaptability of retail food supply chains during the declaration of martial law in Ukraine. Supply chain adaptation is focused on responding to specific changes or challenges, while supply chain resilience encompasses a broader range of measures and strategies to ensure the continuity and efficiency of the supply chain during stressful or crisis situations, such as times of civil emergency. Supply chain adaptation is the process of modifying supply chains to address specific challenges or conditions, such as changes in market conditions, technological progress, or changes in consumer demand. In situations where martial law is in effect, supply chain adaptation may include changing suppliers, revising logistics processes, seeking alternative sources of supply, and taking other measures to ensure continuity of the supply of goods and services. Supply chain resilience refers to the capacity of a supply chain to endure challenging situations and sustain operations, even in the face of adverse impacts, such as military conflict. It is important to acknowledge that supply chains can face diverse challenges, and it is crucial to maintain efficiency and productivity, irrespective of external circumstances. The main problems of implementing resilience and adaptability of the food supply chain in Ukraine during the declaration of martial law are identified to ensure the reliability and food security of the country in the context of military conflict. It suggests that studying the resilience of the food supply chain is crucial for ensuring its smooth and efficient functioning, particularly during times of crisis and stress, to maintain the country's food security. Under such conditions, there may be a risk of supply disruptions, transportation issues, reduced production, and higher food prices. It is important to consider developing and implementing strategies and measures to ensure stability and food security under martial law. This could include crisis response planning, the exploration of alternative supply routes by retailers, the organization of food reserves, and the coordination of efforts between various sectors and governing bodies. The methodology proposed by the author assesses the factors that affect the resilience of food supply chains during the declaration of martial law in Ukraine.

The future of the food supply chain: A systematic literature review and research directions towards sustainability, resilience, and technology adoption

With the development of globalisation, countries such as the United Kingdom (UK) heavily rely on shipping for food imports and supplies. With the unpredictable impacts of black swan events, such as the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak and the armed conflict between Ukraine and Russia, which are traditional food export countries, global freight supply chains could dramatically change, which significantly affects the global food supply chain (FSC) resilience, requiring new solutions to be found. Therefore, it is vital to assess a country’s food importing system by sea to ensure its FSC resilience. However, it is challenging to analyse different food supply resilience levels on a national scale given the high uncertainties in the key relevant elements (e.g. food supplies and transportation) influencing FSC resilience. This paper aims to develop a new method to assess FSC resilience at a country level by pioneering the combination of the two most relevant attributes, its production-to-supply ratio and shipping transport connectivity, used to present food supply security separately in the current literature. Within this context, food production and import distance affecting the connectivity of various food supplies are selected to estimate FSC resilience in this study. The findings, including a new index framework to assess national food resilience, significantly contribute to a country’s food security and the rational development of countermeasures and policies when necessary. To demonstrate the significance of the findings, the resilience of the UK FSC is first evaluated in a real case study, followed by a comparative study with Canada, Australia, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the FSCs of different countries. The findings of the studies can be used to monitor FSC resilience of the countries and provide rational policies for enhancing FSC resilience.

This study aims to investigate the sources of resilience for logistics operations as it relates to food supply chains and their responses during natural disasters and other disruptions. The literature tends to treat inherent and adaptive resilience as somewhat separate constructs. Thus, this study also aims to provide some insights into the relatively underexamined area of how inherent resilience synergistically works with adaptive resilience to maintain flows for food supply chains in a developing economy context. To address the research aim, two supply chain wide case studies were used to investigate the contribution of logistic activities toward the resilience of foods supply chains in two different South Asian regions. This context was selected as these regions are prone to frequent natural disruptions and other disruptions, and these food supply chains also play a crucial role in economy and providing relief supplies to their communities. Logistics operations play a key role in achieving overall supply chain resilience. The sources of inherent resilience are the network structure, buffer capacity, and strong social connections among the actors. Adaptive resilience is derived from transportation flows, storage, information sharing, and demand management processes. Surprisingly, resilience in this context is achieved despite the relatively low level of integration, an unsophisticated technological landscape and compromised logistics infrastructure. Still, resilience can be enhanced further. This study contributes to the sparse literature that examines logistics activities that influence the resilience of food supply chains in the context of natural disasters and other disruptions. Furthermore, uncovering the substructure of logistics resilience activities, and surprisingly, the synergies between inherent and adaptive resilience, adds to the emerging body of literature.

Food supply chain resilience has become a priority for policymakers in recent years. Prompted by several systemic disruptions and the increased likelihood of future shocks, significant attention and public financial investment have been devoted to preparing supply chains to be more able to absorb shocks and more nimbly respond in the future. Food and agricultural supply chains have been particularly scrutinized due to widespread shortages and food price inflation of key staples in recent years. Varied perspectives have emerged about the factors that contribute to the resiliency of food supply chains and the interventions that will be most effective. This article reviews the perspectives on food supply chain resilience generally. Furthermore, we attempt to synthesize the methodologies that have been used to study resilience and offer some guidance for economists studying the topic moving forward.

PurposeFood supply chain resilience is a critical aspect in ensuring the continuous and reliable flow of food, particularly in the face of disruptions. This study aims to address specific gaps in the existing literature by conducting a bibliometric analysis. The primary objective is to identify key areas of concern and lacunae related to disruptions and resilience within the food supply chain. The study also strives to contribute to the field by developing a comprehensive framework that evaluates the factors influencing resilience. Furthermore, the research intends to propose effective strategies for mitigating and recovering from disruptions, emphasizing the urgency of these measures in light of identified gaps in the current body of literature.Design/methodology/approachTo achieve these objectives, the authors extracted the most relevant papers from Scopus and Web of Science (WoS) databases. The analysis parameters included a comprehensive review of current food supply chain practices and an exploration of trending research topics, such as sustainability, adaptability, circular economy and agility. Notably, the study recognized the pervasive impact of COVID-19 on food supply chain disruptions, with a high occurrence in the literature. Using advanced analytics tools like VOSviewer and Biblioshiny, the research delved into the role of modern technologies, including Industry 4.0, the Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML) and blockchain in addressing disruptions and enhancing resilience.FindingsThe research reveals a significant impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on food supply chain disruptions, underscoring the critical need for strategies to bolster resilience. Notably, the study identifies the pivotal role of modern technologies (Industry 4.0, IoT, AI, ML and blockchain) in mitigating disruptions and enhancing resilience in the food supply chain. The bibliometric analysis conducted through VOSviewer and Biblioshiny provides valuable insights into research trends and focal areas within the literature.Practical implicationsThe observed importance of Industry 4.0, IoT, AI, ML and blockchain implies a practical need for integrating these technologies into food supply chain operations. Moreover, the paper discusses strategies for reducing the impact caused by disruptions, providing practical guidance for resilience planning in food supply chains. Researchers can leverage the findings to direct future efforts toward areas with identified gaps and opportunities, fostering advancements in the field and offering practical insights for real-world applications.Originality/valueBy amalgamating insights from bibliometric analysis and the developed framework, this study contributes to a holistic understanding of the challenges and opportunities in fortifying the resilience of the food supply chain. The identified factors and strategies offer valuable insights for researchers and practitioners seeking to address disruptions in food supply chains. The study’s unique contribution lies in bridging theoretical perspectives with practical applications, enhancing the relevance of business-to-business/industrial supply chain theories.

The article explores the significance of strategic stakeholder analysis in the preparation of integrated corporate reporting in the context of increasing social responsibility. It highlights the necessity of addressing the multidimensional interests of stakeholders to enhance the relevance and transparency of reporting. The study proposes a comprehensive approach to stakeholder analysis, comprising identification, assessment of influence, and development of interaction models. Integrated reporting, which combines financial and non-financial data, serves as a vital tool for fostering trust and communication between businesses and stakeholders. The research emphasizes the dynamic nature of stakeholder analysis, which must account for changes in both the external environment and internal business structures. This dynamic approach ensures the adaptability of companies to evolving challenges and improves the quality of reporting to meet the expectations of various stakeholder groups. Furthermore, the study identifies key challenges in implementing stakeholder analysis, including data collection, managing conflicting interests, and a lack of awareness about modern analytical tools. Practical recommendations are offered to enhance the efficiency of integrated reporting through regular updates of stakeholder information, adoption of advanced technologies, and active stakeholder engagement in reporting processes. The findings underscore that strategic stakeholder analysis not only improves corporate reporting but also strengthens trust and collaboration with stakeholders, contributing to long-term business sustainability and competitiveness. The paper concludes by proposing a roadmap for improving the integration of stakeholder analysis into corporate reporting practices, ensuring alignment with modern standards of corporate social responsibility and sustainable development. The study demonstrates that an effective stakeholder-oriented approach can serve as a critical driver for building resilient and transparent corporate practices in a globally competitive environment.

A year into the COVID‐19 pandemic, this paper reflects on the changes that occurred in agrifood supply chains in Canada and the United States. The sudden shift in food consumption patterns from food service to food retail required realignment of food supply chains. For the most part, food supply chains have performed remarkably well during the pandemic. Cross‐border food supply chains have continued to function effectively. The most significant disruptions emerged from workforce outbreaks of COVID‐19 in the meat processing sector and in fruit and vegetable production. The paper discusses supply chain resilience and argues that agrifood supply chains are characterized by several important differences that need to be taken into consideration when evaluating resilience. Economies of scale and scope offer economic efficiency advantages in normal times, while investments in adaptability and flexibility can enhance resilience for abnormal times. Potential long‐run changes within supply chains include increased automation and digitalization in food supply chains, while investments in infrastructure for online delivery services have permanently altered the food retailing landscape.

PurposeCorona Virus Disease (Covid-19) is a global pandemic that emerged at the end of 2019 and caused disruptions in global supply chains, particularly in the food supply chains that exposed the vulnerability of today’s food supply chain in a major disruption which provided a unique research opportunity. This review explores the current research direction for food supply chain resilience and identifies gaps for future research in preparing for future major global pandemics.Design/methodology/approachThis article presents a review of food supply chain resilience followed a systematic literature review of the business and management-based studies related to the food supply chain in Covid-19 published between December 2019 and December 2021 to identify the immediate issues and responses that need to be addressed in the event of future disruptions in food supply chains due to new global health threats.FindingsThe study revealed the need for more literature on food supply chain resilience, particularly resilience to a major global pandemic. The study also uncovered the sequence of events in a major pandemic and identified some strategies for building resilience to potential future risks of such an event.Research limitations/implicationsThe limitations of this study are apparent. Firstly, the selection of databases is not comprehensive. Due to time limitations, authoritative publishers such as Springer, Emerald, Wiley and Taylor & Francis were not selected. Secondly, a single author completed the literature quality testing and text analysis, possibly reducing the credibility of the results due to subjective bias. Thirdly, the selected literature are the studies published during the immediate event of Covid-19, and before January 2022, other research studies may have been completed but were still in the state of auditing at this time.Originality/valueThis paper is the first study that provides a detailed classification of the immediate challenges to the food supply chain faced in both upstream and downstream nodes during a major global disruption. For researchers, this clearly shows the immediate difficulties faced at each node of the food supply chain, which provides research topics for future studies.

Climate change exerts significant and multifaceted impacts on food supply chains, disrupting operations from production to consumption. This study investigates how climate-related vulnerabilities such as extreme weather events and climatic variability affect the efficiency, cost structure, and overall resilience of food supply chains, with a particular emphasis on disruptions that pose risks to the stability of food supply under uncertain climate conditions. These dimensions remain insufficiently explored in the current literature. To address this gap, a novel multi-objective optimization model is developed, incorporating Climate Vulnerability Indices (CVI) into the strategic planning of food supply chain networks. The model is formulated and solved using GAMS with the CPLEX solver, drawing on parameters derived from prior research in sustainable supply chain management. Results illustrate that integrating the CVI into supply chain decision-making enhances the model's ability to account for climate-related risks, enabling more informed trade-offs among economic, environmental, and social objectives. Moreover, through its adaptive structure, the model promotes the long-term sustainability of food supply chains and supports continuity under climate-induced operational challenges. This study offers an innovative, resilience-focused modeling framework that supports sustainable and adaptive supply chain configurations. The findings underscore the critical need for climate-aware optimization approaches to enhance the resilience and sustainability of food systems amid escalating climate risks.

Resilience and adaptation in food supply chains are critical considerations in ensuring food security during times of disaster. This review investigates the challenges and opportunities that arise in the face of natural and man-made disasters by examining their impacts on the stability and functionality of food supply chains. The purpose of our research is to facilitate the development of more sustainable and resilient food supply chains that can navigate through the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic and other potential disasters in the future. By analyzing case studies and empirical data, the review highlights the importance of proactive measures in building a resilient supply chains and adaptability that increases the export volumes to raise national economy wealth in profit motive as well as the implementation of robust contingency plans, the development of adaptive strategies and the integration of technological innovations can boost a food supply chain. Furthermore, it explores the role of stakeholders, policymakers and international organizations in fostering a collaborative framework for mitigating risks and enhancing the capacity of food systems to withstand and recover from adverse events. The findings underscore the need for a comprehensive approach that prioritizes risk management, fosters sustainable practices and promotes inclusive decision-making to ensure the long-term resilience of food supply chains in the face of diverse and evolving challenges.

The COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine have negatively affected the sustainability of the food market and contributed significantly to the increase in agricultural prices. The goal of this article is to present the results of a European Delphi study on enabling factors and barriers to developing robustness within food distribution networks. The paper also aims to identify ways to ensure food security and build resilience in supply chains for European Union (EU) citizens, as well as strategies to protect the agricultural sector. The Delphi theses, the expected timing of their implementation and their impact on selected stages of supply chains were assessed. The paper employs a literature review, the Delphi method and STEEPED analysis to identify factors for increasing the robustness of European food distribution networks. The research findings highlighted crucial factors in enhancing food supply chain resilience, including financial aid to farmers, the use of advanced technologies (like AI, remote sensing, GIS, VR, or drones), and the encouragement of conscious consumption practices. The study revealed that severe weather, inadequate financial support for farmers and insufficient favourable legislation at the national level are the main barriers to achieving resilience in food supply chains. The main recommendations for building food resilience include encouraging localised food supply chains and, advocating for eco-friendly, sustainable production approaches and small-scale agriculture and reducing unnecessary food losses. The originality of the study is reflected in the presentation of the opinions of international experts on developing robustness within food distribution networks in view of the disruption caused by COVID-19 and the geopolitical situation.

COVID‐19, which is a global problem, affects the all supply chains throughout the world. One of the supply chains most affected by COVID‐19 is food supply chains. Since the sustainable food supply chain processes are complex and vulnerable in terms of product variety, it has been negatively affected by the operational effects of COVID‐19. While the problems experienced in the supply chain processes and raw material constraints caused stops in production, the importance of new business models and production approaches came to the fore. One of the issues of increasing importance is the adoption of reverse logistics activities in sustainable food supply chains and increasing the resilience of food supply chains by integrating blockchain technology into processes. However, adapting blockchain technology to increase the resilience of reverse logistics activities in the food supply chain has advantages as well as risks that need to be considered. Therefore, it is aimed to determine these risks by using fuzzy synthetic evaluation method for eliminating the risks of blockchain adaptation for flexible reverse logistics in food supply chains to increase resiliency. The novelty of this study is that besides discussing about the benefits of BC‐T, it is to identify the risks it can create, to eliminate these risks and to guide the establishment of resilience in reverse logistics activities of SFSCs. According to results, the risks with the highest value among the subrisks are determined as data security risks. Data management risks are calculated as the risk with the highest value.

This study analyzes the relationship between digital transformation and food supply chain resilience(FSCR). First, it identifies 10 factors that affect structural changes in FSCR. These factors are selected from organizational, social, and technological aspects. The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) is used to hierarchically classify and analyze the factors influencing FSCR and their mechanisms of action. Then, Interpretive Structural Modeling (ISM) is established to study the interactions among the factors of FSCR, with digital technology as an external manifestation of digital transformation. Through those methods, the study gets the identification of the interrelationship and intrinsic connections between digital transformation and FSCR, and helps us to have a better understanding of how digital transformation affects FSCR. The study provides valuable insights for decision-makers in improving FSCR, emphasizing the importance of digital transformation. Digital technology plays an intermediate role in the factor system of FSCR. It acts like a bridge linking the causal factors, such as government macro-control, and result factors, such as environmental protection. While the study offers some guidance for the improvement of FSCR, the study has some limitations in methods and regions. Future research should focus on integrating advanced techniques and looking for more specific solutions.

In the post-pandemic era, food supply chains and firms therein are facing unprecedented severe challenges, because once infection is detected, numerous products must be recalled or abandoned, and both suppliers and retailers in the supply chain suffer enormous loss. To survive under the pandemic, retailers have adopted different sourcing strategies, such as contingent sourcing, which, in turn, affect the upstream suppliers and hence the resilience of the whole supply chain. With the rapid development of digital technologies, retailers nowadays can utilize blockchain as a reliable and efficient way to reduce product risk and hence advance the resilience of food supply chains by improving product traceability and inspection accuracy, and making sourcing transparent. In this paper, we develop a game-theoretic model to investigate the interrelation between the retailer’s decisions on blockchain adoption and sourcing strategies. We consider that a retailer originally orders from a risky supplier while conducting an imperfect inspection to detect infected products before selling. The retailer may speculatively keep on ordering from the risky supplier or adopt contingent sourcing by ordering from an alternative safe supplier. The retailer also has an option to implement blockchain to improve the inspection accuracy and product traceability. We derive the optimal retail prices under different sourcing strategies with and without blockchain adoption and then analyze the incentives for sourcing strategy and blockchain adoption. Then, we identify the conditions of an all-win situation for food retailer, supplier, supply chain resilience, and consumers with/without government subsidy. Finally, we extend to consider the situation that some consumers have health-safety concerns and preferences for blockchain adoption.Electronic Supplementary MaterialSupplementary material is available in the online version of this article at 10.1007/s42524-022-0232-2 and is accessible for authorized users.