Third-party certification, food standards and quality assurance in supply chains

Abstract

This paper develops a theoretical framework to address and discuss issues of certifier effort, firm size and cost differences in the provision of credible third-party certification services in vertical food supply chains. The emergence of private and voluntary food standards have opened a fast growing market for the provision of independent third-party certification services for a range of credence attributes from origin, through food quality and safety to social and environmental attributes. This study argues that the quality of certification may be affected by the number of heterogeneous standards a certifier is accredited to verify. Moreover, results suggest that the quality of more complex and costly testing protocols and standards resulting in overall higher certification cost may be better served by smaller certification bodies that on average exert higher effort levels. This finding seems of particular relevance to food chain management given the growing proliferation of highly specialized private standards and contractual arrangements in international food supply.