Get Ready for Industry 4.0 – Tool to Support Food Value Chain Transformation

According to Conijn et al. (2018) current consumption or degradation of most of the food-related resources (e.g., land, freshwater, fossil energy, and nutrients) exceed their global regeneration rate. At the same time, along the food supply chain, 30% of total production is lost. The majority, 46% to 65% of total food waste is generated on the consumer level (Annosi et al. 2021). The main drivers behind waste generations are overproduction due to market uncertainties and consumer behavior. Those drivers reflect the inadequate structure, power distribution, and management of food supply chains, shaped by the fragmented, altered, and slow flow of information needed to make decisions aiming for improving efficiency and effectiveness of the value chains. There is an urgent need for food system/food value chain transformation to keep food production under the planetary boundaries. The different technology known under the common name Industry 4.0 is seen as a promising solution, enabler of a needed transformation of food value chains. Although the benefit of this technology is well known in practice, the rate of its adoption is very low, especially in emerging and transitional economies. Both researchers and experts are focused on technological and technical solutions, profitability, and fragmented application on one chain entry point (e.g., logistic), while neglecting research and deeper discussion about new business opportunities opened up by the Industry 4.0 ability to provide mass customization and ability to support resilience and trust (quality and safety), needed in time of crisis such as COVID-19 pandemic. The main objectives of this discussion are to bridge this gap and to underlay technological ability to promote short value chains development through global, distributed chain networks as a frame in which each food chain will act as an individual and as a part of longer (even global) food chain.