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

Abstract

In recent years, our food supply chain facing various disruptions shows a need for higher resilience and sustainability. To better prepare for future uncertainties the food supply chain may encounter, it is imperative to understand the status quo of the food supply chain resilience literature, which focuses on deploying digital technology and integrating sustainability in supply chain management. Motivated by this, our study critically reviews the literature on food supply chain resilience against different types of disruptions, identifies research gaps, and provides a reference for the food supply chain to respond to uncertainties more effectively through digital technology and sustainability integration. To fulfil this objective, we perform a systematic literature review of academic journal articles from 2010 to 2020. Our study is novel in investigating different potential strategies to respond to various disruptions, emphasising the role of digital technologies and sustainability. The findings complement existing literature on supply chain resilience and serve as guides to supply chain practitioners facing disruptions. In addition, we investigate possible ways of adopting and optimising digital technologies to enhance food supply chain resilience and indicate areas where a sustainable future can be achieved through a more resilient food supply chain powered by digital innovations.