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The COVID-19 has had a diversified and dynamic impact on the food and agricultural sector, particularly in the agri-food value chain. Although a good number of articles were published in various countries and continents covering various aspects of the impact of COVID-19 on the agri-food value chain, no significant studies were found related to the mapping of published literature to know about the scenario and current trend research. The study aims to perform a systematic review and bibliographic mapping in the agri-food value chain to provide insights into the same.

Articles included in the Scopus database from January 1, 2020 to July 10, 2021 are considered. After initial screening and inclusion criteria, 41 articles have been selected to perform a systematic review which is published in the agri-food value chain. In addition to this, by considering the growth of the online food market, systematic mapping with the application of bibliometric analysis is performed to know the trend of the publications. Co-occurrence analysis with VOS viewer software version 1.6.16 is used for making network maps and supports the visualization of these maps.

The synthesis of the findings reveals that four broad themes recur in the articles: namely, food security and crisis during the pandemic, food price fluctuations, the impact of COVID-19 and disruption in the agri-food value chain and resilience strategies to strengthen the value chain. Alongside, the synthesis of the findings, this study describes the geographical coverage, methodologies used, sector/industry-specific context of the articles and scope of future research. In co-occurrence analysis with keywords, four clusters are identified related to the online food market and are categorized as “COVID-19 and Online food delivery services,” “Consumer satisfaction to online food delivery services,” “Food delivery system” and “Demographic impact on online food market.”

The study considers only the article from the Scopus database and article published between January 1, 2020 and July 10, 2021. Future studies are encouraged related to impact analysis studies of resilient strategies suggested by various authors by considering multiple databases.

This study will be beneficial for scholars and policymakers to know what is trending in the agri-food value chain and policymakers can implement various resilience strategies as discussed to mitigate the impact. The future research scope highlighted in this paper will encourage scholars and academicians to explore this area and will provide in-depth understanding.

This study aims to explore how sustainable business models (SBM) can be developed within agri-innovation systems (AIS) and emphasize an integration of the two with a systemic understanding for reducing food loss and value loss in postharvest agri-food supply chain.

This study conducted longitudinal qualitative research in a developing country with food loss challenges in the postharvest supply chain. This study collected data through multiple rounds of fieldwork, interviews and focus groups over four years. Thematic analysis and “sensemaking” were used for inductive data analysis to generate rich contextual knowledge by drawing upon the lived realities of the agri-food supply chain actors.

First, this study finds that the value losses are varied in the supply chain, encompassing production value, intrinsic value, extrinsic value, market value, institutional value and future food value. This happens through two cumulative effects including multiplier losses, where losses in one model cascade into others, amplifying their impact and stacking losses, where the absence of data stacks or infrastructure pools hampers the realisation of food value. Thereafter, this study proposes four strategies for moving from the loss-incurring current business model to a networked SBM for mitigating losses. This emphasises the need to redefine ownership as stewardship, enable formal and informal beneficiary identification, strengthen value addition and build capacities for empowering communities to benefit from networked SBM with AIS initiatives. Finally, this study puts forth ten propositions for future research in aligning AIS with networked SBM.

This study contributes to understanding the interplay between AIS and SBM; emphasising the integration of the two to effectively address food loss challenges in the early stages of agri-food supply chains. The identified strategies and research propositions provide implications for researchers and practitioners seeking to accelerate sustainable practices for reducing food loss and waste in agri-food supply chains.

Public food procurement (PFP) plays an important role in establishing agri-food systems. The study explores local food system stakeholders' response to PFP interventions by addressing the question of how PFP transforms agri-food systems and how this new agri-food ecosystem is governed.

This article presents and discusses a unique case study of Jeonbuk, a rural province in South Korea, which successfully transformed its agri-food system into an ecosystem through its sustainability-oriented innovations (SOIs) among born ecopreneur farmers. This case not only offers insights into a novel way to create value chains through legislative, executive and judicial governance but also extends the body of knowledge on agri-food systems by introducing the concept of an agri-food ecosystem.

The findings indicate the importance of the ecosystem governance and knowledge exchange among internal and external ecosystem stakeholders. In particular, PFP institutions play a crucial role in facilitating the operation of public meal centers and cooperation among actors.

Taking an ecosystem lens to agri-food systems may offer agricultural cooperatives a wider perspective and better understanding of the governance structures necessary to successfully execute public interventions. Lastly, the Korean case differs from other developing countries, but its role model qualities could help to implement successful school meal programs elsewhere.

This paper reviewed and applied a conceptual framework aimed at identifying the role of PFP institutions in the value chain governance by studying a case study of a South Korean local school meal program. The study further extends the agricultural cooperatives research and contributes to a better understanding of the role of a municipality and an agri-food intermediary in the governance process involving producers and kitchens.

The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to formulate an exhaustive list of the issues, gaps, and barriers at each level of the agri-food value chain in North Carolina (NC), and second, to identify the issues of greatest importance to its members.

This research employed the Delphi technique in two stages of input. The first round of input was designed to create a comprehensive list of issues for each of nine “stages” of the agri-food value chain. In round two, the issues were prioritized.

The top ten responses of each stage were aggregated into themes that represent the most critical issues identified by respondents: connectedness within the value chain, access to markets and marketing, affordability/availability of food and food distribution, farm profitability, societal awareness, and education about healthy, local food, and supporting institutions.

The findings could be used by practitioners to inspire innovation in food-related products, programs, processes, organization, and marketing. The findings can help farmers, institutions, food distributors, policy makers, and other members of the agri-food value chain to make decisions about food distribution and access in NC and in other states facing similar issues and circumstances. The findings of this research also have further reaching implications, such as the connectivity of members along the agri-food value chain, the impact of a strong agri-food value chain on agritourism and the potential value of state marketing initiatives.

The purpose of this paper is to strive to close the current research gap pertaining to potential implications of the blockchain (BC) for sustainable business models (SBMs) in the agri-food industry.

To answer the research question, the authors utilised the Value Triangle framework by Biloslavo et al. (2018) in order to explore the potential innovation of BC for SBMs in the agri-food industry. Then, the authors apply it to an in-depth exploratory case study of the Placido Volpone winery. The authors draw data from strategic plans, annual reports, corporate website and a semi-structured interview with the winery's founder.

The authors show how BC technology could be a source of SBM innovation in the agri-food industry.

BC technology has the potential to significantly change SBMs. Given the huge set-up investments by the industry, academic research investigating potential implications and supporting companies in their application of BC is needed. This paper explores how the implications of BC as source of innovation on SBMs can be investigated.

The research results of this study can be used by company leaders and managers to support the development of SBMs through the introduction of BC technology in their business activities.

The paper is novel because it investigates the relationship between SBM innovation and BC providing theoretical justification to SBM technological innovation in an agri-food setting. Additionally, the paper provides an empirical application of the framework by Biloslavo et al. (2018) for understanding the development of SBM through BC in the agri-food industry.

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.

Blockchain technology can overcome many complicated problems related to confidentiality, integrity and availability of fast and secure distributed systems in the agri-food supply chain. In emerging economies like India, blockchain application in the agri-food supply chain is still new, and their adoption is underdeveloped. This paper aims to investigate the drivers of blockchain technology adoption and their effect on the behavioral intention of stakeholders in adopting blockchain technology among various stakeholders in the agri-food supply chain. The study also develops a framework to enhance understanding of blockchain adoption in the agri-food supply chain as well as the stakeholders' motivation in seeking blockchain solutions.

Considering the most significant aspects of blockchain adoption in the agri-food supply chain, this study attempts to develop an adoption model by using the extended unified theory of acceptance and technology model with interfirm trust and transparency as additional factors. Data was collected from a sample of 200 stakeholders in the North Indian state of Punjab. The empirical analysis was carried out using structural equation modeling in Smart PLS3.

The findings supported the developed framework and the results of SEM indicate that all the paths are supported. In particular, the findings of the study reveal that performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, facilitating conditions, interfirm trust and transparency are the drivers of blockchain adoption and have a significant impact on the behavioral intention of stakeholders. Cumulatively, the results positively impact the performance of agri-food supply chain. From this study, it is found that the adoption of blockchain technology in agri-food supply chain enhances their performance.

The originality of the study lies in the developed framework, technology adoption will help them focus in the right direction by eliminating manual methods and converting the agri-food supply chain into a digitalization system.

This paper aims at understanding how companies in the agri-food are reconfiguring their competitive strategies to face the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Literature has focused mainly on the effect of the pandemic on the supply chain or in its value chain but little has been said on the competitive strategies adopted to overcome the challenges posed by COVID-19 pandemic.

The study was conducted on Italian companies operating in the agri-food industry from May to September 2020, following a mixed method approach. First, a focus group with experts in competitive strategy and agri-food industry has been organized to identify the most important challenges that companies are facing. Second, through a structured questionnaire, data from 123 companies operating in the agri-food industry were gathered and analyzed with K-means clustering method.

Four clusters of companies were identified, each implementing different strategies to face the COVID-19 pandemic: “the cost fanatics”, “the brand focused”, “the sales centered” and “the strategists”. Furthermore, it was possible to identify new trends in competitive strategies to increase the added value that the Italian agri-food industry can provide to the customer.

The paper answers to the need for an investigation of the competitive strategies that agri-food companies have put in place to face the COVID-19 pandemic; moreover, it provides insights on how companies are adapting themselves to this rapidly changing environment. From a managerial point of view, it gives practitioners and managers useful insights on the different strategies that companies are undertaking to maintain a competitive advantage.

Agriculture and cultivation firms are facing severe competition in the saturated market. Due to the characteristics of heavy assets, low investment return, long cycle and high price fluctuation, agri-food firms require innovations for capital support. The purpose of this paper is to provide valuable insights on how firms in the food/agricultural industry approach innovations and reinforce their advantages through functional and structural innovations by adopting supply chain finance (SCF).

This research adopts a single-case study methodology to investigate the innovations and mechanisms taking place at H Corp Agriculture Group (H Corp hereafter), a Chinese egg company.

The findings of this paper indicate that SCF could have a great impact on supply chain management through functional and structural innovations throughout the supply chain and solve the capital constraint problems in the agricultural development process, promoting the implementation of the integration strategy as well as innovation in the agricultural industry chain. The research also shows that supply chain structural and functional innovations could promote corporate social responsibility (CSR) and creating shared value (CSV).

The research contributes to the application of SCF mechanisms and the realization of CSV and CSR jointly – both in the literature and in firms’ practices. It also contributes to the extension of structural and functional innovations and vertical integration of the supply chain. However, generalizability and universality are insufficient for a single case study in the specified industry. Data collection and quantitative analysis could be extended for further research.

The study addresses the need for comprehensive research on SCF and its applications. It proposes effective and efficient strategies for agri-food firms applying SCF to overcome industry capital constraints and develop competitiveness. It also provides a balanced and positive circulation between economic value and social value, realizing CSR and CSV.

This paper presents the concerns in agri-food supply chain. Further the research investigates the role of information and communication technology (ICT) in agri-food supply chain and determines the impact of supply chain management (SCM) practices on firm performance.

The theoretical framework was proposed for the study on the basis of existing literature. Data for the study was collected with the help of structured questionnaire from 121 executives and officers of the public food distribution agency. Partial least square (PLS)–structured equation modeling was employed to test the framework and hypotheses.

The results indicate that ICT and SCM practices (logistics integration and supplier relationships) have a significant relationship. Furthermore, SCM practices (information sharing, supplier relationship and logistics integration) have a significant and positive impact on performance of the organization.

Further research could be carried out to test the moderation effect of SCM practices between ICT and organizational performance (OP). Extending the research study to the companies operating in other sectors can enhance the external validity of the study and improve the accuracy of parameters examined.

This study can be of interest to the agri-food industry as well as other industry practitioners interested in improving the performance of the organization from the view of supply chain.

The outcomes of this study have important implications that translate into a series of recommendations for the management of public food distribution as well as other agri-food-based supply chains.