Adding value of food traceability to the business: a supply chain management approach

The food industry is under pressure of managing food safety ‘from farm to fork’. Food traceability has become an essential task for the food industry in supplying food products with adequate quality and safety assurance. However, it could be a daunting task if the effort on traceability systems is separated from profitable strategies of managing supply chain operations, as traceability will add extra costs for producers and for the food sector as a whole. This paper aims to develop an effective strategy for the integration of traceability initiatives with supply chain operations and create competitive advantages. Two industrial cases are presented to illustrate the proposed applications. It provides the insight into the value of food traceability and its relationship with supply chain management and helps food organisations choose an appropriate traceability solution.