Blockchain technology in food supply chain: A state of the art

Abstract

The food industry is highly dependent upon food supply chains. It is highly critical for the quality of the food product that reaches the consumer, that all actors that interact with the corresponding supply chains act responsibly and according to the appropriate regulations. Because of that, monitoring of food supply chains is a necessity nowadays. The main problem of current food supply chain systems is the lack of transparency, traceability, and sustainability as those are required to operate in a complex ecosystem, involving multiple stakeholders across different countries. Blockchain technology has been proposed as the means to enhance existing systems by increasing transparency and traceability, and thus regain customer's trust. This paper aims at providing a state of the art with regards to the use of blockchain technology in the food industry and food supply chains in particular. The survey summarizes all relevant research efforts and concludes with the main findings, while it also identifies existing challenges and limitations.