Food production and supply chain management

continuous improvement [4] .Our food system is also facing a multitude of shared challenges that need to be managed simultaneously:• increasing dependence on a global supply chain to source raw materials and partially processed food products, • growing pace and volumes of food trade

Food security and waste minimisation are the main concerns for the management of food supply chains (FSC), as >33 % of global food production is wasted or lost due to mismanagement. Stakeholders must address the ongoing issues, such as resource scarcity, climate change, waste creation etc. to create an environment conducive to sustainable production and consumption (SPC) and to promote economic sustainability. Resource efficiency and waste minimization are necessary for SPC in the FSC. Technologies from the Industry 4.0 era have demonstrated their ability to address these problems effectively. However, there are barriers to the adoption of digital technology because of internal or external issues. Therefore, it is necessary to examine the challenges faced by the food industry while applying digital technology to attain SPC. The current study has adopted an integrated methodology of Best-Worst-Method (BWM)-Level Based Weight Assessment (LBWA) and Combined Compromise Solution (CoCoSo) methods to analyse the barriers in implementing digital technologies to achieve SPC in FSC. Strategic measures to overcome these barriers are suggested. The BWM-LBWA-CoCoSo technique is used for the first time in this study to evaluate the barriers and determine the most effective strategies. According to the BWM-LBWA research, “organisational barriers” are the main impediment to the adoption of digital technology for SPC in the FSC. According to CoCoSo findings, the best way to overcome the major barriers is to “focus on improving commitment from senior management towards SPC.” The study gives decision-makers information about the major barriers in utilizing advanced digital technology to achieve SPC in FSC.

Digitalising food manufacturing

There is a need to understand food supply chain management (FSCM) with the help of a process-oriented comprehensive definition and consider complex tasks involved therein. The study identifies FSCM and supply chain management’s basic definitions and focuses on a systematic literature review. None of the identified previously proposed definitions of FSCM has comprehensively covered all the significant operational issues in FSCM. Thus, the study further undertook the mapping of identified definitions with six key focusses in FSCM identified through the literature survey. This study systematically proposes a comprehensive definition of FSCM. Findings suggested that “Quality management” includes safety and traceability of the food product and “Sustainable Management,” including proper waste management as the most critical focus in FSCM. This study proposes a comprehensive FSCM definition comprising key managerial that focuses on the food supply chain (FSC). The literature survey is done with 160 selected papers and has subjectivity in mapping and analysis. This definition seems essential for theory building, as none of the available definitions has included all the dominant characteristics of FSCM. A comprehensive definition of FSCM would act as a reference point for supply chain-based research on the food sector.

Rising population, growing food demand, inefficient resource utilization, and food wastage at different stages of food supply are demanding a paradigm-shifting toward more sustainable practices in the agri-food sector. With the adoption of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the scientific community also took their research interest toward the espousal of Circular Economy (CE) in the farming sector. This study has performed a systematic review in order to identify how the past studies applied CE in the agri-food sector and also whether the existing literature evaluated the role of CE in different segments like food production, food consumption, and food supply chain or not? The review identified the shifted research interest of the researchers toward the implementation of CE models in the agri-food sector for the last 5 years. However, most studies focused on the application of CE in food waste and supply chain management, and rare attention was put on the adoption of the CE approach in food production and consumption. This study directs that future investigation may be focused on the efficient integration of the CE approach across all stages, i. e., production, consumption, and distribution of the agri-food supply chain to support the sustainability in the entire food and agrarian system.KeywordsCircular economyAgriculture and food sectorSustainable growthFood production and consumptionSystemic review

PurposeThe purpose of the paper is to present research trends in the food supply chain in the context of changes in food systems due to globalization, urbanization, environmental concerns, technological changes and changes in food consumption patterns in the world.Design/methodology/approachThe present investigation was performed by bibliometric analysis using the VOSviewer software, visualization software developed by Nees and Waltman (2020). In this work we performed co-citation, bibliographic coupling and keyword evolution analyses.FindingsThe results show that research in the food supply chain is rapidly changing and growing. By applying co-citation analysis, The authors found that the intellectual structure of the food supply chain has evolved around six clusters, namely, (a) collaboration and integration in the supply chain (b) sustainable supply chain management, (c) food supply chain management (FSCM), (d) models for decision-making in the food supply chain, (e) risk management in the supply chain and (g) quality and food logistics in the supply chain. However, based on bibliographic coupling analysis, The authors find that new or emerging research niches are moving toward food supply market access, innovation and technology, food waste management and halal FSCM. Nevertheless, the authors found that the existing research in each of the thematic clusters is not exhaustive.Research limitations/implicationsThe limitation of the research is that the analysis mainly relates only to the bibliometric approach and only one database, namely, Scopus. Broader inclusion of databases and deeper application of content analysis could expand the results of this research.Originality/valueThere are limited studies that have examined research trends in food supply chains in both developed and developing countries using bibliometric analysis. The present investigation is novel in identifying the thematic research clusters in the food supply chain, emerging issues and likely future research directions. This is important given the dynamics, consumer demand for quality food, technological changes and environmental sustainability issues in food systems.

Food and drink supply chains are complex, continually changing systems, involving many participants. They present stakeholders across the food and drinks industries with considerable challenges. Delivering performance in food supply chains offers expert perspectives to help practitioners and academics to improve their supply chain operations. The Editors have identified six key challenges in managing food and drinks supply chains. Each section of the book focuses on one of these important issues. The first chapters consider the fundamental role of relationship management in supply chains. The next section discusses another significant issue: aligning supply and demand. Part three considers five different approaches to effective and efficient process management, while quality and safety management, an issue food companies need to take very seriously, is subject of the next section. Parts five and six review issues which are currently driving change in food supply chains: the effective use of new technologies and the desire to deliver food sustainably and responsibly. With expert contributions from leaders in their fields, Delivering performance in food supply chains will help practitioners and academics to understand different approaches in supply chain management, explore alternative methods and develop more effective systems. Considers the fundamental role of relationship management in supply chains including an overview of performance measurement in the management of food supply chains Discusses the alignment of supply and demand in food supply chains and reviews sales and operations planning and marketing strategies for competitive advantage in the food industry Provides an overview of the effective use of new technologies and those that will be used in the future to deliver food sustainably and reliably

This review paper examines the technological advancements in food supply chain management, drawing a comparative analysis between the United States (USA) and Africa. The global food supply chain plays a critical role in ensuring the efficient and effective distribution of food products from producers to consumers. In recent years, technological innovations have revolutionized various aspects of the food supply chain, impacting areas such as production, distribution, traceability, and sustainability. The paper begins by providing an overview of the key technological trends in food supply chain management, encompassing the adoption of Internet of Things (IoT) devices, blockchain technology, artificial intelligence (AI), and data analytics. These innovations have the potential to enhance transparency, reduce waste, improve traceability, and optimize overall supply chain efficiency. A comparative analysis is then conducted, focusing on the disparities and similarities in the adoption and implementation of these technologies between the USA and Africa. The USA, as a technologically advanced region, has witnessed extensive integration of cutting-edge technologies in its food supply chain. This includes the utilization of IoT sensors for real-time monitoring, blockchain for transparent and secure transactions, and AI for predictive analytics and demand forecasting. In contrast, Africa, characterized by a diverse range of economies and infrastructural challenges, faces unique opportunities and obstacles in embracing advanced technologies in its food supply chain. The review explores initiatives and case studies that highlight the successful integration of technology in various African countries, shedding light on the potential for leapfrogging certain stages of traditional supply chain development. The discussion encompasses the role of government policies, private sector involvement, and international collaborations in shaping the technological landscape of food supply chain management in both regions. Furthermore, attention is given to the social and economic implications of technological advancements, emphasizing the need for inclusive approaches that address the specific needs of diverse communities. This review provides valuable insights into the current state of technological advancements in food supply chain management, offering a comparative perspective between the USA and Africa. By understanding the challenges and opportunities faced by each region, stakeholders can develop targeted strategies to enhance the resilience, sustainability, and inclusivity of global food supply chains in the face of evolving technological landscapes.

BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the fragility of the global food supply chain, strengthened consumers' awareness of the traceability system throughout the supply chain, and gradually changed consumers' consumption concepts and consumption patterns. Therefore, the aim of this study was to analyse the relevant literature on food safety in the food supply chain, examine its current status, hot spots, and development trends, and provide some suggestions for academics and relevant government departments in food supply chain safety research.MethodsWe collected the literature on the food safety research of the food supply chain from the Scopus database, used BibExcel to count the subject categories, published journals, geographical distributions, research institutions, authors, and keywords in the literature, and used Pajek software to analyse the keywords in the literature, perform co-occurrence analysis, draw related knowledge maps, and perform cluster analysis on primary keywords. Finally, to study the development trend, we used CorTexT software to illustrate the theme evolution path map in this research field.ResultsThe keyword visualization network revealed the following key research topics: (1) food safety at the consumer end of the food supply chain, (2) food safety management in the food supply chain, (3) risk management of food safety in the food safety chain, and (4) food safety at the production end of the food supply chain.ConclusionsAfter comprehensive discussion and analysis, we concluded that food supply chain management may be a hot topic in the future, especially in traceability management combined with the blockchain. It is necessary to explore in-depth how the blockchain can affect the food supply chain to provide a theoretical basis for managing the latter.

The different pandemics that humanity had experienced, such as the Spanish Flu, Asian Flu, Hong Kong Flu, HIV/AIDS, SARS, Ebola, and Swine Flu, had a great impact on the global economy, the environment , social lifestyle, agricultural sector, manufacturing and service industries, hospitality and tourism, education sector, aviation industry etc. Currently, humanity is facing another pandemic, the infection of the new coronavirus known as COVID-19. The objective of this paper is to present a theoretical review of supply chain disruption due to COVID-19 impact, analyze and discuss the effects of this turbulence in global food supply chain management. For the analysis, various contents from published articles, blogs, reports, newspaper publications have been collected. There was sufficient evidence to affirm that the pandemic caused by the COVID-19 has an important effect on global supply chain management process. The purpose of this paper was to highlight the reasons of disruption in global supply chain management especially in food supply chain management. This paper also has depicted the long term impacts of COVID-19 in food supply chain management. By analyzing various documents, few policies and steps were suggested to apply for managing global supply chain management in post pandemic era. Finally it was suggested to implement digitalization in the platform of block chain technology to build-up a robust and sustainable global supply chain management to handle any such situation arise in the future. Keywords: Supply chain management, COVID-19, Global food supply chain (FSCs), Digitalization, Block chain technology DOI: 10.7176/EJBM/12-17-08 Publication date: June 30th 2020

PurposePresented work gives comparative review of food supply chain (FSC) under various notions related to its conceptualisation, operationality and technological advancements in lieu with Industry 4.0 revolution. In Indian scenario, the impression of FSC seems in a scattered way that cannot be directly useful for an organisation, to overcome this scattering, a framework has been developed to consolidate the previous research works and exploration of new trends in food supply chain management (FSCM) in context to Indian scenario.Design/methodology/approachThis article encapsulates the essence of various research articles and reports retrieved from databases of Emerald and Elsevier's Science direct, clustering the various notions related to FSC in Indian context. To visualise the one-sight view of related works, a pictorial representations have also been appended.FindingsThis article explains the general aspect of FSC and its linkage in context to Indian system. Presented work outlays both empirical and theoretical approaches trending from last 15 years. As research count in context to Indian FSC is lacking, so this work will be a road map for expedition in direction of FSCM, in era of research.Practical implicationsFindings and suggestion in this work can expanded in various industries related to food, helping to turn their fortune and enrichment of Indian FSC.Social implicationsFood is binding word for all the commodities, and its effective supply chain management is a big boon for economy of country along with large employment generation for people directly/indirectly associated with this industry. This article covers a generalise approach from ground level framework to a level of advancement which fulfil technological aspects, future needs and upcoming trends in lieu to need of developing nation.Originality/valueAs limited research is done in Indian FSCM, this work to bridge this gap along with a well-defined framework which going to explore FSC. This work is going to be facilitation for researchers of this area as no major review for Indian context has not been published.

The Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) that underpins various crypto currencies may have a profound impact on the global economy. The Supply Chain Management (SCM) is one of the areas where the DLT is currently being used. By using the Distributed Ledger Technology, blockchain has the potential to vastly enhance different supply chains by facilitating faster and more cost-effective delivery of products. The main benefits of using blockchain in SCM is that it provides an enhancement technique for products traceability, improves coordination among the producer, manufacturer, distributor, retailer and consumer. Also, facilities easier access for funding. In the recent years, the Food Supply Chain (FSC) has been using the blockchain to utilize the benefits of SCM and provide better results for the Food Supply Chain. In this paper, a model is proposed, FARMSUPPLY, which uses blockchain in a Food Supply Chain to provide a better view of farmers, products and retailers. In this model, a Ethereum blockchain method and smart contract for the verification and validation of various attributes at each stage of the food supply chain is presented.

Food supply chains are highly distributed, collaborative, heterogeneous, diverse, and varied by product, process, and destination. The global food supply chain (FSC) objective is to maintain a good balance between supply and demand and move products from producer to market. However, sustainability of the FSC has become a major concern as limited resources and increasing population pressure threaten its existence. Supply chain management is an important issue for FSC due to information flow throughout the supply chain. Industry-specific characteristics and extensive integration among multiple actors in an entire supply chain exacerbate this situation. The agri-food sector has one of the lowest rates of information technology penetration for innovation. Over the past thirty years, information and communication technology (ICT) has been introduced into the agricultural and food sectors, helping to improve food production and transportation. However, there are various challenges, such as transparency, accountability, food scandal, trust, and inefficient information flow, that the food supply chain is still facing in reaching sustainable goals. The complexity of food supply systems and the opportunities and challenges faced regarding desired sustainability performance need to be examined to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Blockchain is an emerging and disruptive digital technology that can transform governance and sustainability in integrated food supply chains. It provides a transparent, immutable, and traceable ledger that minimizes anomalies and information fraud, making it a potential solution for designing a transparent, traceable food system. Blockchain can potentially improve the sustainability of the food supply chain by providing a transparent traceability system. Food traceability is important for managing the food supply chain and protecting public health. It allows quick and accurate traceability of contaminated food that causes foodborne illness outbreaks, leading to the withdrawal of contaminated food from markets. Blockchain can achieve traceability, provenance tracking, transparency, and reduce environmental impact in the food supply chain. It also helps in achieving sustainable development goals set by the UN. However, there is no scientific research on blockchain’s contribution to achieving these goals in the food supply chain. Therefore, this article presents a systematic literature review and thematic analysis to study the relationship between FSC sustainability, blockchain, and sustainable development goals.

PurposeThis paper aims to identify and systematically analyze the causal-effect relationships among barriers to circular food supply chains in China.Design/methodology/approachGrounded in multiple organizational theories, this paper develops a theoretical framework for identifying relevant barriers to integrating circular economy philosophy in food supply chain management. The study uses 105 responses from Chinese food supply chain stakeholders including food processors, sales and distribution channels, consumers and government officials. It applies a fuzzy decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) method to examine the causal-effect relationships among the identified barriers.FindingsOverall, the results suggest two key cause barriers: first, weak environmental regulations and enforcement, and second, lack of market preference/pressure. Meanwhile, lack of collaboration/support from supply chain actors is the most prominent barrier. The key cause and prominent barriers are also identified for each of the supply chain stakeholder involved.Research implicationsThe study offers practical insights for overcoming barriers to integrating circular economy philosophy in the management of supply chains in the Chinese food sector, as well as in other contexts where similar challenges are faced. It also sheds light on which organizational theories are most suitable for guiding similar studies.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first barrier study on circular food supply chains. The use of multiple organizational theories for the development of the theoretical framework is unique in barrier studies. The study offers insights from multiple stakeholders in the Chinese food supply chains.

24 - Trends in food supply chain management