Digitalization and Future Agro-Food Supply Chain Management: A Literature-Based Implications

The concept of food waste and food loss prevention and measuring tools

Food waste (FW) has become a global concern, with an estimated 1.3 billion tonnes lost annually, costing about $1 trillion. Environmental and social consequences of FW are significant, contributing to 6% of European Unions' greenhouse gasemissions and affecting global food security. FW occurs is a complex issue occurring at various stages of the food supply chain (FSC) and is influenced by multiple factors such as infrastructure, available knowledge and socio-economic conditions. Developed countries FW is more prevalent at the consumption stage, whereas in the developing countries losses occur in agricultural production, post-harvest and distribution stage. Accurate quantification of FW across the supply chain is crucial and monitoring key performance indicators helps identify areas for improvement. The European Union mandates FW measurement, aligning with sustainable development goals, emphasizing the need for effective waste prevention measures. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses approach was utilized to conduct a systematic literature review on FW key performance indicators (KPIs) and monitoring tools. The research identified 22 KPIs, categorized into three levels of the FSC: primary, secondary and tertiary. The most common KPIs included FW per capita, FW per portion and FW percentage. The study further discusses FW prevention measures and essential monitoring tools for addressing FW throughout the supply chain.

A Longitudinal Analysis of the Impact of Digital Technologies on Sustainable Food Production and Consumption in the European Union

In today's landscape, digital technologies hold immense potential in tackling challenges associated with food sustainability. This study aims to contextualize a broader investigation of food sustainability and digitalization within the agricultural sector. Its objective is to explore the influence of digital technologies on sustainable food production and consumption, particularly examining relationships among digital technologies, municipal waste, agricultural output, nitrogen emissions, methane emissions from agriculture, and Goal 12 Responsible Consumption and Production (SDG12). Through the use of Structural Equation Modeling, the empirical investigation scrutinizes the relationships between digital technology use and critical variables linked to food sustainability in a longitudinal analysis. The results highlight the significant impact of extensive digital technology use on municipal waste, sustainable production, and consumption, indirectly influencing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Empirical research findings reveal a negative influence of digital technologies on responsible consumption and production (path coefficient -0.349, p values < 0.001), suggesting an impact of digital technologies on diminishing sustainability in consumption and production. The relationship between digital technologies and municipal solid waste is also negative (path coefficient -0.360, p values < 0.001), suggesting that the use of digital technologies can contribute to reducing the amount of municipal solid waste. Digitalization has the potential to improve the sustainability of supply chains by reducing resource consumption and greenhouse gas emissions associated with production and distribution operations.

Digital economy structuring for sustainable development: the role of blockchain and artificial intelligence in improving supply chain and reducing negative environmental impacts

In the current global context of environmental degradation and resource constraints, the pursuit of sustainable development has become an imperative. One avenue that holds promise for achieving this objective is the application of digital technologies, which have the potential to decouple economic growth from its carbon footprint. However, it is crucial to ensure that these technologies are designed and governed in a prudent manner, with a strong alignment to environmental priorities. This study focuses on exploring the potential roles of blockchain and artificial intelligence (AI) in supply chain coordination and impact mitigation. Furthermore, they have the capacity to incentivize recycling and circular business models, as well as facilitate carbon accounting and offsetting. To fully realize these benefits, it is essential to deploy these technologies within inclusive collaborative frameworks that take into consideration social and ecological considerations. The study also offers policy recommendations that highlight key leverage points for digital innovation, enabling countries to embark on smart and green industrial transformation pathways. By harnessing the potential of blockchain and AI in supply chains, governments can promote transparency, traceability, and accountability, thereby fostering sustainable practices and reducing environmental impacts. Incorporating blockchain and AI technologies into supply chain approaches leads to a substantial improvement in efficiency, as demonstrated by a numerical analysis. In conclusion, the integration of innovative digital technologies offers significant opportunities to optimize production systems and economic activity while prioritizing sustainability objectives for the betterment of society and the environment. These technologies have the potential to mitigate environmental externalities by addressing information imbalances within global supply chains. However, it is essential to prioritize inclusive governance that emphasizes democratic participation to mitigate any unintended negative consequences, especially for vulnerable communities. By ensuring inclusive decision-making processes, we can maximize the positive impact of these technologies while minimizing potential harm.

Digitalization as driver to achieve circularity in the agroindustry: A SWOT-ANP-ADAM approach

In the last decades, the agroindustry is facing environmental issues due particularly to food loss and waste, requiring a strong orientation towards sustainability and the circular economy (CE) paradigm. This study carries out an investigation of the role of digitalization in serving as a driver to achieve circularity in the agroindustry. A SWOT analysis was performed to assess the strengths and weaknesses (internal factors) and opportunities and threats (external factors) of digitalization in boosting circularity within agroindustry systems and identifying critical factors (CFs). Through the Analytical Network Process (ANP), an evaluation of these CFs was provided, while the Axial-Distance-Based Aggregated Measurement (ADAM) method allowed for the ranking of the strategic alternatives to better inform management decisions. This study provides valuable results that reveal the crucial role of digitalization in boosting circularity within agroindustry, highlighting the most impactful strategies driving the transition towards a circular economy. Linking the high sustainability performance of products to incentives and increasing consumer inclusion and awareness in business dynamics were found to be the most relevant strategies for making agro-industrial supply chains more circular. This study provides recommendations to lead managers' and practitioners' decisions towards the adoption of strategies, aimed at making the agro-industrial sector more adherent to the principles of circular economy and sustainability.

Application of blockchain technology in shaping the future of food industry based on transparency and consumer trust

Food Industries, at this moment, are moving towards a new phase, and this phase will be governed by consumers and not by the industry leaders. The report shows that claims on sustainability, health, wellness, and transparency would govern the future trends in the food industry. Currently, there are several cases of misleading and false claims which hamper consumer trust. So, to uphold consumer trust, authentication of claims through transparency in the food supply chain is required, and blockchain technology can bring transparency at relatively low transaction costs. Once in a blockchain network, data is very difficult to manipulate, with no single point of authority to mess and collapse the system. Though we see mostly the financial systems using blockchain's decentralized functionality, there is a growing trend of innovative applications being built in the supply chain area for contracts and operations. With effort in the right direction and over time, blockchain will recast how operations and processes are done across the industry, including public sectors. The paper reviews the opportunity for the blockchain in enabling food industries for future-readiness, empowering the consumers in verifying the product claims and thus prevent themselves from food fraud. In doing so, the paper considers the future trends in the food industry, identifies current food fraud cases, and outlines the various applications in the agri-food chain and challenges associated with it.

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Food traceability 4.0 as part of the fourth industrial revolution: key enabling technologies

Food Traceability 4.0 (FT 4.0) is about tracing foods in the era of the fourth industrial revolution (Industry 4.0) with techniques and technologies reflecting this new revolution. Interest in food traceability has gained momentum in response to, among others events, the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, reinforcing the need for digital food traceability that prevents food fraud and provides reliable information about food. This review will briefly summarize the most common conventional methods available to determine food authenticity before highlighting examples of emerging techniques that can be used to combat food fraud and improve food traceability. A particular focus will be on the concept of FT 4.0 and the significant role of digital solutions and other relevant Industry 4.0 innovations in enhancing food traceability. Based on this review, a possible new research topic, namely FT 4.0, is encouraged to take advantage of the rapid digitalization and technological advances occurring in the era of Industry 4.0. The main FT 4.0 enablers are blockchain, the Internet of things, artificial intelligence, and big data. Digital technologies in the age of Industry 4.0 have significant potential to improve the way food is traced, decrease food waste and reduce vulnerability to fraud opening new opportunities to achieve smarter food traceability. Although most of these emerging technologies are still under development, it is anticipated that future research will overcome current limitations making large-scale applications possible.

Truths and myths about superfoods in the era of the COVID-19 pandemic

Nowadays, during the current COVID-19 pandemic, consumers increasingly seek foods that not only fulfill the basic need (i.e., satisfying hunger) but also enhance human health and well-being. As a result, more attention has been given to some kinds of foods, termed "superfoods," making big claims about their richness in valuable nutrients and bioactive compounds as well as their capability to prevent illness, reinforcing the human immune system, and improve overall health.This review is an attempt to uncover truths and myths about superfoods by giving examples of the most popular foods (e.g., berries, pomegranates, watermelon, olive, green tea, several seeds and nuts, honey, salmon, and camel milk, among many others) that are commonly reported as having unique nutritional, nutraceutical, and functional characteristics.While superfoods have become a popular buzzword in blog articles and social media posts, scientific publications are still relatively marginal. The reviewed findings show that COVID-19 has become a significant driver for superfoods consumption. Food Industry 4.0 innovations have revolutionized many sectors of food technologies, including the manufacturing of functional foods, offering new opportunities to improve the sensory and nutritional quality of such foods. Although many food products have been considered superfoods and intensively sought by consumers, scientific evidence for their beneficial effectiveness and their "superpower" are yet to be provided. Therefore, more research and collaboration between researchers, industry, consumers, and policymakers are still needed to differentiate facts from marketing gimmicks and promote human health and nutrition.

Recent advances in the application of Raman spectroscopy for fish quality and safety analysis

Fish is one of the highly demanded aquatic products, and its quality and safety play a pivotal role in daily diet. However, the possible hazardous substance in perishable fish both in pre- and postharvest periods may decrease their values and pose a threat to public health. Laborious and expensive traditional methods drive the need of developing effective tools for detecting fish quality and safety properties in a rapid, nondestructive, and effective manner. Recent advances in Raman spectroscopy (RS) and surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) have shown enormous potential in various aspects, which largely boost their applications in fish quality and safety evaluation. They have incomparable merits such as providing molecule fingerprint information and allowing for rapid, sensitive, and noninvasive detection with simple sample preparation. This review provides a comprehensive overview focusing on the applications of RS and SERS for fish quality assessment and safety inspection, highlighting the hazardous substance and illegal behavior both in preharvest (veterinary drug residues and environmental pollutants) and postharvest (freshness and illegal behavior) particularly. Moreover, challenges and prospects are also proposed to facilitate the vigorous development of RS and SERS. This review is aimed to emphasize potential opportunities for applying RS and SERS as promising techniques for routine food quality and safety detection. PRACTICAL APPLICATION: With these applications, it can be clearly indicated that RS and SERS are promising and powerful in fish quality and safety surveillance, thereby reducing the occurrence of commercial fraud and food safety issues. More efforts still should be concentrated on exploiting the high-performance Raman instruments, establishing a universal Raman database, developing reproducible SERS substrates and combing RS with other versatile spectral techniques to promote these technologies from laboratory to practice. It is hoped that this review should arouse more research interests in RS and SERS technologies for fish quality and safety surveillance, as well as provide more insights to make a breakthrough.

Blockchain Technology toward Creating a Smart Local Food Supply Chain

The primary purpose of the supply chains is to ensure and secure the availability and smooth flow of the necessary resources for efficient production processes and consumption. Supply chain activities have been experiencing significant changes due to the importance and creation of the integrated process. Blockchain is viewed as an innovative tool for transforming supply chain management’s (SCM’s) actual business model; on the other hand, the SCM provides an applicative value of blockchain technology. The research is focused on examining the influence of blockchain technology on the increasing efficiency, transparency, auditability, traceability, and security issues of the food supply chain (FSC), with particular attention to the local food supply chain (LFSC). The main objective of the research is to suggest the implementation of blockchain technology in the local food supply chain as a niche of the food industry. The result of the research is the identification of a three-layers model of a smart local food supply chain. The model provides efficient and more transparent tracking across the local food supply chain, improving food accessibility, traceability, and safety.

The fourth industrial revolution in the food industry-Part I: Industry 4.0 technologies

Climate change, the growth in world population, high levels of food waste and food loss, and the risk of new disease or pandemic outbreaks are examples of the many challenges that threaten future food sustainability and the security of the planet and urgently need to be addressed. The fourth industrial revolution, or Industry 4.0, has been gaining momentum since 2015, being a significant driver for sustainable development and a successful catalyst to tackle critical global challenges. This review paper summarizes the most relevant food Industry 4.0 technologies including, among others, digital technologies (e.g., artificial intelligence, big data analytics, Internet of Things, and blockchain) and other technological advances (e.g., smart sensors, robotics, digital twins, and cyber-physical systems). Moreover, insights into the new food trends (such as 3D printed foods) that have emerged as a result of the Industry 4.0 technological revolution will also be discussed in Part II of this work. The Industry 4.0 technologies have significantly modified the food industry and led to substantial consequences for the environment, economics, and human health. Despite the importance of each of the technologies mentioned above, ground-breaking sustainable solutions could only emerge by combining many technologies simultaneously. The Food Industry 4.0 era has been characterized by new challenges, opportunities, and trends that have reshaped current strategies and prospects for food production and consumption patterns, paving the way for the move toward Industry 5.0.