Adapting Open Innovation Practices for the Creation of a Traceability System in a Meat-Producing Industry in Northwest Greece

Abstract

Traceability is becoming an essential tool for both the industry and consumers to confirm the characteristics of food products, leading industries to implement traceability to their merchandise. In order for the Computer Technology Institute and Press “Diophantus” (CTI) to help small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) implement traceability systems based on open innovation, principles were introduced. This paper presents market research that was carried out in order to determine the significant concerns of the Greek consumers about pork meat and pork products, their opinion on traceability information, and their preferences regarding how they would like to receive this information. The survey was conducted online and took place from mid-February to mid-March 2021 on a sample of 224 participants. The market research showed a very high interest concerning traceability, especially on the expiry date of the meat (87.9%), while the way and conditions of transport of the meat products follow (79%). Furthermore, consumers showed that they believe that the quality and safety of pork products would be improved with traceability (70.1%) and (79%) would prefer to buy traceable compared with untraceable pork, signifying the importance of traceability for consumers. Additionally, it was found that consumers and SMEs have common concerns regarding traceability. The information gathered from this market research will be used to adapt the traceability system to consumers’ needs.

Managing the traceability system for food supply chain performance

“…In addition, the study contributes to the evaluation of the information technologies used for mass storage, computation and communication, which were analysed through defined criteria revealing their benefits and disadvantages. Furthermore, this study is in line with Dima et al . (2022), who support the view that traceability is becoming an essential tool for both the industry and consumers.…”

“…Food supply chain traceability is considered as the cornerstone of the increasingly complex, industrialised, global food system. It is useful for customers, producers and manufacturers to track items for the purpose of supply chain management (Dima et al ., 2022). Therefore, value-based food traceability is applied as a tool contributing to the assurance of food safety and food quality in order to ensure consumers' satisfaction (Chen, 2017).…”

Biosensor in smart food traceability system for food safety and security

“…For instance, certain legislation and certification of a reliable traceability system are required to ensure fair practices in food trade and facilitate the free movement of safe food products within the region [ 20 ]. Study by [ 21 ] and [ 22 ] to assess consumer preferences and willingness to pay for traceable food further proves the statement that food traceability can provide customer satisfaction. The rationale behind this is the significant number of potentially substantial disruptions (e.g.…”

Does a Traceability System Help to Regulate Pig Farm Households’ Veterinary Drug Use Behavior? Evidence from Pig Farms in China

“…However, existing studies have not analyzed the influence of a pork traceability system on the safety behavior of pig farm households [42][43][44][45]. Studies have also shown the impact of government's food safety inspection on product quality improvement, traceability related cognition, consumer preference, education level, and other influences on the adoption of a traceability system [47][48][49][50].…”