Trace to Treasure: What’s the role of traceability systems in adding value across diverse agrifood value networks?

The European agriculture landscape is at a pivotal juncture, with policy directives signaling a clear path towards digitalization within the sector (Garske et al., 2021; Brunori, 2022). This transition holds the promise of bolstering efficiency and sustainability throughout agricultural value chains (Finger, 2023). However, despite the optimistic policy outlook, empirical evidence suggests that implementation challenges abound (Ferrari et al., 2022; Rolandi et al., 2021). Many agricultural enterprises find themselves ill-prepared to embrace digitalization, grappling with uncertainties regarding the role and potential impact of various technologies on their operational paradigms, to be not fully prepared to this changing are also some consumers, as pointed out from the interviews done: ‘Consumer is not ready to pay a higher price for that’. A critical examination of extant literature reveals that the journey towards digitalization in agriculture is far from smooth (Ingram et al., 2022). Amid uncertainty, a beacon of opportunity arises: a growing interest in improving product traceability in agriculture. The pursuit of enhanced traceability not only promises greater transparency, as mentioned by the companies interviewed, and market oversight but also serves as a focal point for innovation and value creation along the agricultural continuum. However, despite its significance, traceability remains a relatively underexplored domain, particularly concerning the integration of novel technologies such as digital ledgers. This paper underscores the pressing need for research and exploration in this area, aiming to elucidate the transformative potential of digital ledger technologies in augmenting traceability and reshaping agricultural value chains for the better. The research aims at providing business model insights with guidelines to enable successful value networks for innovative agrifood value network building on the research and analysis conducted in the National Research Centre for Agricultural Technologies (AGRITECH) for the SPOKE 9 “New technologies and methodologies for traceability, quality, safety, measurements and certifications to enhance the value and protect the typical traits in agri-food chains”. In this context, we developed an analysis of innovative use cases for traceability across different supply chain (wine, olive oils, meat, sheep’s cheese and cow’s cheese), where alongside the procuring of farm inputs, are activities that typically occur at the start of a food value chain. This chain can then extend through activities such as distribution and processing through to consumption and even the disposal processes. In each use case we analysis the traceability of the product focusing on the specific entities within its value chain (production, processing, marketing). The analysis then extends beyond the scope of individual agricultural firms to encompass a broader spectrum of stakeholders, including cooperatives, large retailers, and technology development firms, such as developers and ICT consulting entities. Ideally, these stakeholders contribute value across different stages of the value chain, thereby enhancing the overall value of the end-product. However, empirical observations reveal that farmers frequently retain only a modest share, as often mentioned by the companies interviewed, of the final value paid by consumers. Hence the objective of this work is to develop and use a framework to improve our understanding of how value can be created and particularly increased for agrifood companies through traceability systems.