Food tracking and blockchain-induced knowledge: a corporate social responsibility tool for sustainable decision-making

Abstract

PurposeIn the disruptive technologies era, the lack of convincing business cases on blockchain (BC) adoption about food supply chain, the existence of uncertainties and barriers to adoption due to knowledge scarcity on characteristics as well as the potentialities and risks involved in it, have triggered the need to investigate the first multinational BC adoption for food supply chain in Europe, to consider how it can guarantee knowledge for the consumption/purchase decision-making and the creation-mechanism of consciousness for sustainable behavioral choice.Design/methodology/approachThe authors provide a field exploratory analysis based on customers' perceptions and real knowledge about BC (as a knowledge-constructive tool) in the food and beverage sector. This connected with the need for an informed context, favoring sustainable conscious decision-making related to both the food chain and innovation acceptance. This analysis included the use of innovation acceptance as a corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategic orientation through a survey- and interview-based field analysis (80 respondents).FindingsThe findings of this study can be considered as antecedents of innovation acceptance in the sector. The analysis assesses consumers' scarce knowledge and perceptions on the BC system, the scarce usage level and the higher acquiring propensity for traceable foodstuffs generating bi-directional/dimensional value, considering that consumption habits could change through security and certainty antecedents and induced knowledge provided by external technological intervention.Originality/valueBy trying to match innovation and the knowledge-construction need as a vehicle for acceptance, the theoretical contribution would empower the literature on food traceability from the perspective of strategic BC application through a from-knowledge-to-knowledge strategy.

Exploring agricultural entrepreneurship and new technologies: academic and practitioners' views

“…For example, the concept of disintermediation is linked to blockchain technology (Li et al, 2020). Interestingly, whether at the academic level, this technology and its implications in terms of disintermediation are widely analyzed (Rainero and Modarelli, 2021;Rana et al, 2021), we found a unique match with specific patents at the practitioner level. In general, the justification for the reduced presence of results on blockchain by practitioners may stem from the existence of early-stage and not yet patented projects or from the use of platforms that are simpler in terms of management and without the features of automatism, consensus mechanism, decentralization, immutability and irreversibility (Kamble et al, 2020;Massaro et al, 2020a;Secinaro et al, 2021a, c).…”

“…, 2020). Interestingly, whether at the academic level, this technology and its implications in terms of disintermediation are widely analyzed (Rainero and Modarelli, 2021; Rana et al. , 2021), we found a unique match with specific patents at the practitioner level.…”

Traceability for sustainability: seeking legitimacy in the coffee supply chain

“…For instance, Case A, one of the smallest companies in the sample, adopts a blockchain system. This technology ensures transparency and traceability, as several authors explained (Rainero and Modarelli, 2021;Rana et al, 2021;Saberi et al, 2019;Kittichotsatsawat et al, 2021), and brings information depth at its utmost. In these two cases, traceability appears to be synergistic with sustainability.…”

“…For instance, traceability helps reduce foodborne outbreaks (Magalhães et al, 2019), manage risks (Ringsberg, 2015), keep consistency and market-specific product features, efficient recall procedures and keep a chain of custody (Norton et al, 2014;ITC, 2015;Karlsen et al, 2013;Mej ıas et al, 2019). In this line, authors in previous literature also highlight how traceability could contribute to achieving competitive advantages in terms of operational efficiencies, cost reductions, increased productivity, reputational benefits and improved environmental performance along the supply chain (Norton et al, 2014;Karlsen et al, 2013;Canavari et al, 2010;Stranieri et al, 2017;Marconi et al, 2017;Ringsberg, 2015;Rainero and Modarelli, 2021).…”

“…This study aims to address an increasing challenge in food supply chains (SC), that is traceability for sustainability (TfS), considering that consumers around the world emphasize the need for food that is not only safe and healthy but also ethical, organic, generates low carbon footprint, etc., which in turn calls for better and more efficient traceability systems (TS) (Aagerup et al , 2019; Dabbene et al , 2014; Rainero and Modarelli, 2021; Mohammed, 2020) in light of sustainability demands as well. Indeed, the relevance of traceability implemented not only for tracking and visibility purposes but also for sustainability objectives is evidenced in the previous literature.…”