Blockchain: case studies in food supply chain visibility

Abstract

Purpose This paper aims to investigate how blockchain has moved beyond cryptocurrencies and is being deployed to enhance visibility and trust in supply chains, their limitations and potential impact. Design/methodology/approach Qualitative analysis are undertaken via case studies drawn from food companies using semi-structured interviews. Findings Blockchain is demonstrated as an enabler of visibility in supply chains. Applications at scale are most likely for products where the end consumer is prepared to pay the premium currently required to fund the technology, e.g. baby food. Challenges remain in four areas: trust of the technology, human error and fraud at the boundaries, governance, consumer data access and willingness to pay. Research limitations/implications The paper shows that blockchain can be utilised as part of a system generating visibility and trust in supply chains. Research directs academic attention to issues that remain to be addressed. The challenges pertaining to the technology itself we believe to be generalisable; those specific to the food industry may not hold elsewhere. Practical implications From live case studies, we provide empirical evidence that blockchain provides visibility of exchanges and reliable data in fully digitised supply chains. This provides provenance and guards against counterfeit goods. However, firms will need to work to gain consumer buy-in for the technology following repeated past claims of trustworthiness. Originality/value This paper provides primary evidence from blockchain use cases “in the wild”. The exploratory case studies examine application of blockchain for supply chain visibility.

The Effect of Blockchain Technology on Supply Chain Sustainability Performances

“…This is because blockchain is a decentralized record-keeping system [8,9]. Many industries, such as the food industry, employ this function to their supply chains based on blockchain technology [13,14]. Particularly, blockchain technology can manage inventory appropriately while tracking cargo and recording and managing cargo history.…”

Blockchain adoption in food supply chains: a review and implementation framework

“…The dichotomy of stages is found to vary between models. According to Rogers Everett (1995), the adoption of innovation unfolds in five stages: knowledge, persuasion, decision, implementation, and confirmation. Drawing on the technological diffusion perspective, Kwon and Zmud (1987) and Cooper and Zmud (1990) constructed a model for IT implementation comprising six steps: initiation, adoption, adaptation, acceptance, routinization, and infusion.…”

Perspectives on “Good” in Blockchain for Good

“…Data stored or verified by a ledger may be of poor quality or lack accuracy (Thompson, 2019), due to both fraud and human input error (O'Leary, 2017). Blockchain has been described as the "trust machine," but this "halo of truth" may lead to a "lack of questioning of the data" (Rogerson and Parry, 2020). There is a need to develop technical understanding and confidence in individuals, so they work with the technology, neither directly accepting or rejecting data, but questioning what it says and why (Brynjolfsson and McAfee, 2012).…”