Cheese, Chalk and Channels: New technologies for food safety

(An effort to define a B2B research agenda for the future)

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Amrita Mitra, University of Melbourne *

Elham Ghazimatin, University of Stavanger *

Rehan Khan, McMaster University

Kellilynn Frias, American University

Mrinal Ghosh, University of Arizona

George John, University of Minnesota

Sourav Ray, University of Guelph *

(* Presenters)

Striking figures

• 600 million people—nearly 1 in 10 worldwide—fall ill annually due to contaminated food
• 420,000 deaths occur each year as a result of foodborne diseases.
• US$ 110 billion is lost each year in productivity and medical expenses resulting from unsafe food in low- and middle-income countries.
• Children under 5 years of age carry 40% of the foodborne disease burden, with 125,000 deaths every year.

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(https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/food-safety)

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Our focus on role of:�(The farm to fork) �Food Supply Chain (FSC)

From: Tzounis, Antonis & Katsoulas, Nikolaos & Bartzanas, Thomas & Kittas, Constantinos. (2017). Internet of Things in agriculture, recent advances and future challenges. Biosystems Engineering. 164. 31-48. 10.1016/j.biosystemseng.2017.09.007.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/321331354_Internet_of_Things_in_agriculture_recent_advances_and_future_challenges

Food safety risks can arise at multiple points in the Food Supply Chain (FSC)

Marketing has dominant presence in the entire food supply chain…

Role of marketing in enhancing food safety outcomes?

• Multiple players and transactions in the FSC
• Science and technology
• Pathways to creating, communicating, and delivering value
• Enablers of new and novel transaction architecture
• Marketing designs and implements the transaction architectures along the FSC
• Convergence of science, tech and business
• BIG impact for brand and firm value
• 2015 foodborne illness disaster faced by Chipotle, 42% fall in stock value!

So, what are these new technologies in the FSC that may impact food safety outcomes?

Over to

Amrita Mitra, University of Melbourne 

Sensor-based ecosystem as key enabler in the FSC

Nanomaterial based Optical Sensors

Electrochemical Sensors

Pathogen detecting Biosensors

IoT-enabled Smart Sensors

Blockchain integrated Sensors

Technology-based approaches towards enhanced food safety

Developing and deploying a sensor-based ecosystem is a non-trivial managerial concern

So, what do we know about how sensor deployment in the FSC may impact food safety outcomes?

Over to

Elham Ghazimatin, University of Stavanger

Several conceptual papers and position pieces

Sutar, P.S., Kolte, G.C. & Yamini, S. (2025).

Palazzo, M. and Vollero, A. (2022)

Wahbeh et al. (2022)

Principato et al. (2021) – IMM*

Zhong, R., Xu, X. and Wang, L. (2017)

• Sutur, Kolte, and Yimini (2025) studied how to build resilience in the complex and dynamic FCS to withstand and recover from shocks.
• Palazzo and Vollero (2022) conduct a systematic literature review and show that the reviewed articles did not follow any specific theoretical approach, highlighting a need for a more solid conceptual framework for FSSCM research.
• Wahbbeh et al. (2022) is a systematic literature review, showing numerous factors impacting food security, such as food loss and waste, government policies, technological advancements, … .
• Principato et al. (2021) presents a systematic literature review of household food waste behaviors.

Some papers with a focus on consumer attitudes and response towards food wastage…

Guanqi, Z., Nisa, Z.U. (2023)

van Lin et al. (2023) – JCR*

Cooremans, K., & Geuens, M. (2019) – JPPM*

Block et al. (2016) – JPPM*

Kallbekken, S., & Sælen, H. (2013)

Gruber, V., Holweg, C., & Teller, C. (2016) – JPPM*

Yeung, R. and Yee, W.M.S. (2012)

• Guanqi and Nisa (2023) show that trust in food safety significantly impacts brand evangelism and passion.
• Van Lin et al. (2023 JCR) use field data and controlled experiments to show that multi-unit promotions were associated with less food waste compared to purchasing at regular prices.
• Cooremans and Geuens (2019) examine why consumers are reluctant to buy misshapen fruits and vegetables, which contributes significantly to food waste.

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Quite thin on the supply side perspective …

Grewal, D., Guha, A., Noble, S.M., Bentley, K. (2024) – JAMS*

• Grewal, Guha, Noble, and Bentley (2024) introduce a 2x2 typology to show how existing technologies can influence food production, distribution, and consumption, as well as influence the stakeholders in the food production-consumption chain.
• The authors introduce a 2 × 2 typology to identify and examine current technologies aimed at increasing food production and suitably redistributing unused food, as tactics to combat food loss and waste.

Our quick conclusions about the general gap …

• Relatively greater focus on the demand side factors
• Very little on the supply side factors
• Only ONE with a clear focus on the food supply chain and role of technology (Grewal, D., Guha, A., Noble, S.M., Bentley, K. (2024) )

So (at first blush) …

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• BIG SPACE FOR EMPIRICAL WORK.
• SUPPLY SIDE ISSUES RELATIVELY UNDERSTUDIED.
• THIN EVIDENCE ON THE IMPACT OF EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES IN THE FSC.
• UNCLEAR HOW THESE MAY “DISTORT” INCENTIVES AND OUTCOMES.
• MARKETING FOR A BETTER WORLD (SAFER FOOD SUPPLY).

So, what now?�(Engineering a research agenda …)

Over to

Sourav Ray, University of Guelph

First, a broad-brush research agenda for marketing

Regulatory mandates that can tip the balance

Transaction architecture: Formal contracts,

Informal arrangements,

High/low power incentives

Vertical integration

Insurance and Social Norms that support transactions

Next, Sensors in the FSC and Food Safety

One proposal: ��Transaction design in presence of Traceability and Sensor data in the Food Supply Chain.

Two types of data vectors

TRACE-B DATA

• Input oriented
• Suited to tracking behavioral compliance
• Elapsed time
• Source
• Ingredients
• Environmental parameter
• Behavioral transparency reduces moral hazard

TRACE-O DATA

• Output oriented
• Suited to tracking quality outcomes of agent efforts
• Freshness
• Presence of Impurities
• Pathogens
• Food safety outcomes that matter
• Reduces noisy measurement problems and potential disputes

Conceptual framework

Traceability with Sensor Data

Vertical Integration

Low Power Incentives

FSC Outcomes

Control

Monitoring

Costs

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Traceability Data Type:

TRACE-B vs. TRACE-O

(Input vs. Output)

Governance / Transaction design

The road forward …

• Many issues remain to be resolved satisfactorily
• More contextual institutional details (fieldwork and use cases)
• Vertical integration
• Power of incentives
• Other proxies?
• Data – usual challenges of firm data (compounded by FSC focus)
• Measures: Degree of Traceability implemented
• Technology adoption versus actual implementation
• Measures: Extent of Low Power Incentives
• Vertical Integration? (Unclear. May be precluded by regulation, e.g. farmland in India)
• Pricing contracts? (Variation?)
• …
• Food safety outcomes – regulatory reports (selection issue)
• Regardless, exciting.

Not surprisingly, many more researchable questions in the domain

How do sensors impact how FSCs adapt to uncertainty?

(Upstream, Midstream, Downstream)

Managerially relevant characteristics of sensors (data)?

• Product versus Process oriented
• Measures of Input versus measures of Output
• Systems functions versus Component functions …

Boundaries of value creation and claiming using sensor data?

• Transaction hazards
• Externalities
• Measurements

Sensors and regulatory compliance

• Degree of regulatory compliance and disputes
• Voluntary adoption of non-mandated compliance parameters
• Adoption of industry standards

Hope to see more marketing papers in the domain the near future!

Product form strategy and transacting food safety protocols?

• Safety protocols – proprietary or open standards?
• Components vs. Systems vs. Knowhow vs. Solution
• Ingredient market vs. processed vs. packaged markets

Thank you!�Questions?

Amrita Mitra, Elham Ghazimatin, Rehan Khan, Kellilynn Frias, Mrinal Ghosh, George John, Sourav Ray

Plus, A big cheer for the B2B Connect organizers!