Special Issue: Opportunities and challenges of EU farm-to-fork strategy

Abstract

In the context of the Farm-to-Fork strategy towards climate and natural resources neutralization, all players in agri-food value chain actors and stakeholders – citizens, consumers and business – cope with new challenges based on a better understanding of the complex interrelations between public health, ecosystems, value chains, consumption patterns, and planetary boundaries. From a managerial perspective, several dimensions appear crucial. The first one is circularity, i.e. the move from line to circular models which brings opportunities and threats in terms of quality management standards, procurements arrangements and skills for this circular turn. The second dimension is inclusiveness, with the renewed roles of farming systems as part of complete sustainable agri-food chains, with the core topic of social-environmental inclusivity within either existing agri-food companies or business models from scratch. The third dimension is path-dependency for conventional firms, with knowledge, technological and/or organizational lock-in, along with roles for newcomers and startups in this business model transformation, as well as the place and role of innovation ecosystems.The articles of this special issue offer constrasted view of these challenges.