The Potential of Blockchain Technology in the Transition towards Sustainable Food Systems
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Theoretical Considerations
2.1. Sustainable Food Systems
2.2. BCT and Sustainable Food Systems
2.3. Conceptualising a Sustainable Food System Framework in the Context of BCT
2.3.1. Resilience and Resource Efficiency
2.3.2. Sustainable and Healthy Diets
2.3.3. Circular Economy
2.3.4. Profitability and Efficiency
2.3.5. Sustainable Supply Chains and Fair Trade
2.3.6. Transparency, Traceability and Trust
3. Research Approach
3.1. Data Collection and Analysis
3.2. Quality of Collected Data
4. Results and Discussion
4.1. BCT and Its Applications in Food Systems
4.1.1. Resilience and Natural Resource Efficiency
4.1.2. Sustainable and Healthy Diets
4.1.3. Circular Economy
4.1.4. Profitability and Efficiency
4.1.5. Sustainable Supply Chains and Fair Trade
4.1.6. Transparency, Traceability, and Trust
4.2. BCT and the Transition towards a More Sustainable Food System
4.3. Implications for Practice
4.4. Limitations and Future Research
5. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Code | Function | Firm/Code | Details | Country |
---|---|---|---|---|
R1 | Project and Marketing Manager | C1 | C1 is a tech start-up offering customisable blockchain-based technology that can be implemented in existing (food) supply chains to improve transparency and traceability, food safety and efficiency | Germany |
R2 | Former Manager, now self-employed | C2 | C2 is a BCT solution for all food supply chain players, enhancing transparency via real-time shared data. R2 is now developing a start-up around ecosystem services certificates, helping farmers who provide ecosystem services with an additional income from trading certificates. | Netherlands |
R3 | Co-Founder, CEO | C3 | This start-up is a technology provider creating a more agile, efficient and certain supply chain for food. It captures data using IoT sensors, secures the data with BCT and uses AI to create real-time supply chain visibility, apprising all supply chain partners of issues as they arise and predicting issues before they occur. | USA |
R4 | Functional Expert | C4 | C4 is a company by and for the commodities trading and shipping industry. It was established by some of the largest corporations worldwide in agricultural commodities trading, e.g., in grain and soy. The platform aims at modernising and increasing efficiency in agri-food supply chains based on BCT. | Switzerland |
R5 | Head of Projects and Impact | C5 | C5 is a social enterprise and a merger of two start-ups. It is providing smallholder farmers with mobile technologies to access information, financing and the global market, thus strengthening their position in the food chain. It uses cloud, AI and BCT. | India |
R6 | Chief Marketing Officer | C6 | C6 is a start-up that digitises fresh food produce. It works with digital IDs to track products along the supply chain and to share the information with the actors in the supply chain and consumers via QR codes. It is based on AI and BCT and aims at collaborative commerce and increased visibility of supply chain actions. | Singapore |
R7 | International Business Developer | C7 | C7 is a fast-growing start-up that uses BCT as end-to-end tracking solution to increase internal supply chain traceability and to provide transparency for consumers via QR codes on products. | France |
R8 | Co-Founder | C8 | C8 is a young tech company working with a combination of technologies in order to increase visibility in agri-food (especially seafood) supply chains. | USA |
Food System Framework Category | Importance in Food System Transformation | Use of BCT |
---|---|---|
Resilience and resource efficiency | Food systems contribute substantially to climate change Highly reliant on functioning ecosystems Food insecurity as consequence of climate change | Store and share data from agricultural precision technologies Prevent waste through individualised perishability dates More efficient planning via increased transparency |
Sustainable & healthy diets | Plant-based diets are more environmentally friendly Consumer education and preferences are crucial for rethinking the food system Globally higher demand for energy-intensive foods Environmental awareness in society is increasing Higher demand for sustainable products | Provide the consumer with transparent and verified data for better decision making |
Circular economy | Food waste minimisation Nutrient recycling | Better planning can improve recycling Motivation via crypto tokens Traceability helps to identify flaws in the supply chain and prevent food contamination and spoilage |
Profitability and efficiency | Food waste and GHG emissions are inefficiencies in food systems Lack of digitalisation Long and complex supply chains Opacity/Transparency | Reduced costs (via disintermediation) increase economic sustainability Minimisation of human error Safe data transfer reduces risk Disintermediation of supply chains |
Sustainable supply chains and fair trade | Concentration of power to a few multinational corporations Absence of cooperation and policies on international level | Immutability and reliability of data can detect and prevent corruption and increase trust in the supply chain BCT reduces information asymmetry and improves equality in bargaining power Collusion can be monitored and prevented Verification of ethical working conditions and fair trade |
Transparency, traceability, and trust | Distance between producers and consumers Environmental impacts of food are rarely visible to the consumer Lack of trust in brands and labels Food safety concerns | BCT increases transparency for all supply chain members Transparency increases trust, brand image and decision-making |
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Wünsche, J.F.; Fernqvist, F. The Potential of Blockchain Technology in the Transition towards Sustainable Food Systems. Sustainability 2022, 14, 7739. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14137739
Wünsche JF, Fernqvist F. The Potential of Blockchain Technology in the Transition towards Sustainable Food Systems. Sustainability. 2022; 14(13):7739. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14137739
Chicago/Turabian StyleWünsche, Julia Francesca, and Fredrik Fernqvist. 2022. "The Potential of Blockchain Technology in the Transition towards Sustainable Food Systems" Sustainability 14, no. 13: 7739. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14137739
APA StyleWünsche, J. F., & Fernqvist, F. (2022). The Potential of Blockchain Technology in the Transition towards Sustainable Food Systems. Sustainability, 14(13), 7739. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14137739