Mapping research trends on food supply chain: a bibliometric analysis

PurposeThe purpose of the paper is to present research trends in the food supply chain in the context of changes in food systems due to globalization, urbanization, environmental concerns, technological changes and changes in food consumption patterns in the world.Design/methodology/approachThe present investigation was performed by bibliometric analysis using the VOSviewer software, visualization software developed by Nees and Waltman (2020). In this work we performed co-citation, bibliographic coupling and keyword evolution analyses.FindingsThe results show that research in the food supply chain is rapidly changing and growing. By applying co-citation analysis, The authors found that the intellectual structure of the food supply chain has evolved around six clusters, namely, (a) collaboration and integration in the supply chain (b) sustainable supply chain management, (c) food supply chain management (FSCM), (d) models for decision-making in the food supply chain, (e) risk management in the supply chain and (g) quality and food logistics in the supply chain. However, based on bibliographic coupling analysis, The authors find that new or emerging research niches are moving toward food supply market access, innovation and technology, food waste management and halal FSCM. Nevertheless, the authors found that the existing research in each of the thematic clusters is not exhaustive.Research limitations/implicationsThe limitation of the research is that the analysis mainly relates only to the bibliometric approach and only one database, namely, Scopus. Broader inclusion of databases and deeper application of content analysis could expand the results of this research.Originality/valueThere are limited studies that have examined research trends in food supply chains in both developed and developing countries using bibliometric analysis. The present investigation is novel in identifying the thematic research clusters in the food supply chain, emerging issues and likely future research directions. This is important given the dynamics, consumer demand for quality food, technological changes and environmental sustainability issues in food systems.