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This study aims to analyse how the adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies can help different types of agri-food supply chains introduce and manage innovations in response to the challenges and opportunities that emerged following the COVID-19 pandemic.

A systematic literature review methodology was used to bring together the most relevant contributions from different disciplines and provide comprehensive results on the use of I4.0 technologies in the agri-food industry.

Four technological clusters are identified, which group together the I4.0 technologies based on the applications in the agri-food industry, the objectives and the advantages provided. In addition, three types of agri-food supply chains have been identified and their configuration and dynamics have been studied. Finally, the I4.0 technologies most suited for each type of supply chain have been identified, and suggestions on how to effectively introduce and manage innovations at different levels of the supply chain are provided.

The study highlights how the effective adoption of I4.0 technologies in the agri-food industry depends on the characteristics of the supply chains. Technologies can be used for different purposes and managers should carefully consider the objectives to be achieved and the synergies between technologies and supply chain dynamics.

This paper aims to provide an overview of the application of blockchain to agri-food supply chains, including key issues and trends. It examines the state of the art and conceptual structure of the field and proposes an agenda to guide future research.

This article performs a bibliometric analysis using VOSviewer software on a sample of 205 articles from the WoS database to identify research trend topics.

The number of publications in this area has increased since 2020, which shows a growing research interest. The research hotspots are related to the integration of blockchain technology in the agri-food supply chain for traceability, coordination between all actors involved, transparency of operations and improvement of food safety. Furthermore, this is linked to sustainability and the achievement of the sustainable development gtoals (SDGs), while addressing key challenges in the implementation of blockchain-based technologies in the agri-food supply chain.

The application of blockchain in the agri-food supply chain may consider four key aspects. Firstly, the implementation of blockchain can improve the traceability of food products. Secondly, this technology supports sustainability issues and could avoid disruptions in the agri-food supply chain. Third, blockchain improves food quality and safety control throughout the supply chain. Fourthly, the findings show that regulation is needed to improve trust between stakeholders.

The paper provides a comprehensive overview of the blockchain phenomenon in the agri-food supply chain by optimising the search criteria. Moreover, it serves to bridge to future research by identifying gaps in the field.

The food supply chain has faced many challenges due to its complex and complicated nature. Blockchain technology is one of the mechanisms used to improve agri-food supply chain processes by evolving organization capabilities. A study is being conducted to scrutinize the adoption of blockchain technology in the agri-food supply chain through the lens of the operational capability approach. It further makes an attempt to identify the capabilities of blockchain to improve supply chain processes.

The qualitative research method with semi-structured interviews was used to gather information from experts and professionals in the food supply chain and blockchain technology. The authors have adopted a systematic approach of coding using open, axial and selective methods to depict and identify the themes that represent the blockchain-enabled agri-food supply chain. The data were collected from 32 interviews of selected participants.

The result shows five critical areas where blockchain can come up to enhance the agri-food supply chain performance by providing traceability, transparency, information security, transactions, and trust and quality. Further, the study reveals that blockchain will provide safety, lower the cost of transactions and can create trust among users to communicate within the whole supply chain without the intervention of a third party. This study demonstrated that the capabilities need to be considered when introducing technology into the practice.

The study implies thought-provoking implications for bridging the theory-practice gap by examining the empirical data to demonstrate how the operational capabilities of blockchain technology further strengthen the agri-food supply chain. Additionally, this study provides some suggestions for utilizing the results and proposes a framework to understand more about blockchain use cases in the agri-food supply chain as well as extend the application of blockchain using an operational capability approach for future academic researchers in this area.

This study presented some more important managerial implications which reveal that the majority of organisations were in the initial stages of adoption process of blockchain technology. Further, the positive influence of managers and IT experts can help the information technology companies (IT) and stakeholders for developing and promoting blockchain solutions in the agri-food supply chain. The important implication of blockchain enabled agri-food supply chain is to maintain information security and incresae supply chain performance.

The study shows the operational capabilities of agri-food supply chain using blockchain technology. Blockchain can contribute in enhancing the agri-food supply chain to increase traceability and transparency and helps to reduce the risk of disruptions.

We conducted a systematic review to explore the potential for the application of blockchain technologies for supply chain resilience in a small-scale agri-food business context.

As part of the research methodology, scientific databases such as Web of Science, Google Scholar and Scopus were used to find relevant articles for this review.

The systematic review of articles (n = 57) found that the use of blockchain technology in the small-scale agri-food business sector can reduce the risk of food fraud by assuring the provenance of food products.

Only a few papers were directly from a small-scale agribusiness context. Key challenges that limit the implementation of blockchain and other distributed ledger technologies include concerns over the disclosure of proprietary information and trade secrets, incomplete or inaccurate information, economic and technical difficulties, low levels of trust in the technology, risk of human error and poor governance of process-related issues.

The application of blockchain technology ensures that the risks and costs associated with non-compliance, product recalls and product loss are reduced. Improved communication and information sharing can increase resilience and better support provenance claims and traceability. Better customer relationships can be built, increasing supply chain efficiency and resilience.

The present study is aimed at developing a multi-level framework for assessing circularity in agri-food industries by providing the user with a step-by-step approach and selecting a customized set of indicators capable of accurately assessing the circular economy (CE) level.

The framework is composed of four stages. In the first stage, a CE theoretical model based on operations, product and services, culture, organization and ecosystem criteria has been implemented and adapted to the agri-food sector. In the second stage, users are required to collect a set of indicators capable of measuring each criterion. In the third stage, a weight is assigned to each indicator using analytical hierarchy process (AHP). Lastly, a geometric multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) model, called axial distance-based aggregated measurement (ADAM) model, is used to normalize, assess and aggregate the results and produce final scores for the different alternatives to be ranked based on their final circularity scores.

The model can be a useful tool to support corporate decisions in the CE, making entrepreneurs aware of their starting level. It indicates the extent to which companies are implementing circular business models across different dimensions and, thus, where they are still lacking.

Beyond the attempts to measure the circularity of corporate performance from a purely environmental perspective, the study adopts a holistic view, considering the complexity and disruption of all the principles of the CE.

Despite its crucial role in ensuring food safety, traceability remains underutilized by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), a vital component of China’s agricultural supply chain, thereby compromising the integrity of the supply chain traceability system. Therefore, this study sets out to explore the factors influencing SMEs’ adoption of traceability systems and the impact of these factors on SMEs’ intent to adopt such systems. Furthermore, the study presents a model to deepen understanding of system adoption in SMEs and provides a simulation demonstrating the evolutionary trajectory of adoption behavior.

This study considers the pivotal aspects of system adoption in SMEs, aiming to identify the influential factors through a grounded theory-based case study. Concurrently, it seeks to develop a mathematical model for SMEs’ adoption patterns and simulate the evolution of SMEs’ adoption behaviors using the Q-learning algorithm.

The adoption of traceability among SMEs is significantly influenced by factors such as system attributes, SMEs’ capability endowment, environmental factors and policy support and control. However, aspects of the SMEs’ capability endowment, specifically their learning rate and decay rate, have minimal impact on the adoption process. Furthermore, group pressure can expedite the attainment of an equilibrium state, wherein all SMEs adopt the system.

This study fills the existing knowledge gap about the adoption of traceability by SMEs in China’s agricultural supply chain. This study represents the pioneer study that identifies the factors influencing SMEs’ adoption and examines the effects of these factors on their traceability adoption, employing a multi-methodological approach that incorporates grounded theory, mathematical modeling and the Q-learning algorithm.

The purpose of this study is to increase awareness of current supply chain (SC) security-related issues by providing an extensive analysis of existing SC security solutions and their limitations. The security of SCs has received increasing attention from researchers, due to the emerging risks associated with their distributed nature. The increase in risk in SCs comes from threats that are inherently similar regardless of the type of SC, thus, requiring similar defence mechanisms. Being able to identify the types of threats will help developers to build effective defences.

In this work, we provide an analysis of the threats, possible attacks and traceability solutions for SCs, and highlight outstanding problems. Through a comprehensive literature review (2015–2021), we analysed various SC security solutions, focussing on tracking solutions. In particular, we focus on three types of SCs: digital, food and pharmaceutical that are considered prime targets for cyberattacks. We introduce a systematic categorization of threats and discuss emerging solutions for prevention and mitigation.

Our study shows that the current traceability solutions for SC systems do not offer a broadened security analysis and fail to provide extensive protection against cyberattacks. Furthermore, global SCs face common challenges, as there are still unresolved issues, especially those related to the increasing SC complexity and interconnectivity, where cyberattacks are spread across suppliers.

This is the first time that a systematic categorization of general threats for SC is made based on an existing threat model for hardware SC.

The study attempts to explore the effectiveness of green supply chain strategies (GSCS) and sustainable practices (SP) in achieving a circular supply chain (CSC) within a business-to-business (B2B) context. The study further investigates the moderating role of green innovation (GIN) on the relationship between GSCS and SP.

The conceptual model was developed by adopting constructs from the existing studies. A self-administered tool was created, and data were gathered from supply chain (SC) specialists in the food, energy, tire, textile and paper industries. The structural equation model was employed to test the hypothesis, analyzing 243 responses obtained.

The findings indicate an affirmative association between GSCS, SP and the achievement of CSC, with SP acting as a partial mediator between GSCS and CSC. Results show that GSCS and SP are crucial for transitioning toward a circular model in the SC, emphasizing resource regeneration and sustainability. The data from our sample suggest that GIN significantly moderates the relationship between GSCS and CSC. These insights underline the importance of green strategies and sustainable practices (SP) in fostering CSCs in a B2B setting. The study’s implications are significant for SC management, suggesting that firms must integrate green and SP to achieve circularity and long-term viability.

This article brings forward a distinctive perspective on sustainability within the field of SC management emphasizing the crucial need for implementing CSC and GSCS in a B2B context.

The countryside population has always been depended on the revenues earned from agricultural yields. These yields often suffer losses in the absence of coordination guidelines in the post-yield supply chains (PYSC). This study aims to identify, address and mitigate the post-yield supply chain impediments (PYSCIs) that lead to enormous amounts of waste and revenue losses. These are the parameters that require government and stakeholders’ attention for alleviation from losses.

Structural equation modelling (SEM) was performed to categorise the identified PYSCIs as “standard measures”. The motive for SEM results is to attract the stakeholders’ attention toward PYSCIs for business sustainability. The PYSCIs were clustered into three “standard measures” (i.e. strategic, tactical and operational measures) for revenue generation and reduced fresh produce spoilage in the countryside.

The SEM results suggest that the focus should be on revising minimum support prices and government support for initiatives, subsidy schemes and incentives at the strategic level. Tactical initiatives focus on linking markets including exports, research and development, attitude towards certification, value addition process adoption and reduced number of stages in the supply chain. The operational initiatives are attitudes towards agriculture and entrepreneurship, transportation infrastructure, supply chain coordination, information visibility, scientific design for packaging and handling and storage space availability for both long and short term at the village level.

This study was performed in India; thus, the research outcomes of this study are restricted to adaption into the developing sub-continents with sub-tropical climates.

The existing level of losses in the PYSC demands introspection and policy changes at the farm level. In the era of cold chains, the Internet of Things, and other advanced mechanisms, a few elementary parameters must be worked upon to reduce PYSC losses. These parameters were identified as impediments to PYSC, requiring public, government and stakeholders’ attention. There is an urgent need for guidelines to be issued to mitigate losses. SEM was performed to attract the public, government and stakeholders’ attention toward impediments to fresh produce spoilage, opportunity generation and business sustainability.

This study uses a novel SEM approach where the PYSCIs were identified and empirically validated in an Indian context. The SEM approach will help in effective decision-making. Similar studies to manage the PYSCIs to reduce fresh produce spoilage with standard measures have not been reported in the literature.

This study aims to evaluate how corporate governance focused on meeting the legal requirements applied in poultry slaughterhouses contributes to the advancement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) within the environmental pillar and identify vulnerabilities in this governance framework.

This research was qualitative and was structured with the following steps: literature review, selection of companies and documentary research on licenses applied to these companies.

The assessment demonstrates that the governance strategy based on legal aspects contributes to progress in indicators related to SDGs such as clean water, climate action, life below water and life on land. However, it falls short when addressing SDG 7 on affordable and clean energy. Another vulnerability of this governance model is that legislation establishes metrics and indicators individually for each link in the poultry industry chain.

Assessment of the corporate governance of poultry slaughterhouses, focusing on legality and analyzing vulnerabilities in the legal aspects of the poultry industry concerning the SDGs that encompass the environmental pillar.

The results provide valuable information for policymakers, regulators and industry stakeholders in the segment, suggesting the need to align legislation with SDGs or adopt incentive policies to encourage the spontaneous advancement of SDGs in the poultry industry.

Considering the need for progress toward a more sustainable world and the trend of organizations focusing their efforts on complying with local legislation, this study aims to contribute to understanding how the legal requirements applied in practice are prepared to support the advancement of the SDGs.