Systems for sustainability and transparency of food supply chains - Current status and challenges

Food chains need to become more sustainable to regain and retain consumer trust after several food incidents and scandals that have taken place in the past. Consumers increasingly wish to be informed about the safety of their food, its origin, and the sustainability of the processes that have produced and delivered it. Sustainability comprises environmental issues ('Planet'), social issues ('People'), and expected returns ('Profit'). With this paper we aim to explore the current status of information systems to support sustainability in food supply chains and communication towards essential stakeholders. In particular we identify current technical and organisational solutions and developments that aim to retrieve and provide information to consumers as well as decision makers concerning sustainability and transparency issues. Empirical research shows that information provision mainly regards the single isolated business actor. We explore the possibilities to extend the scope of information exchange towards sustainable supply chains. We explore the possibilities to upgrade present information systems to improve triple-P transparency by means of e-instruments. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.