Leveraging on technology and sustainability to innovate the supply chain: a proposal of agri-food value chain model

Purpose Nowadays, the agri-food industry is called to face several sustainability challenges that require the development of new sustainable models. The adoption of new technological assets from Industry 4.0 supports the companies during the implementation of sustainability practices. Several models design the operation management of the food supply chains (FSCs). Because none extant models resulted complete in technological and sustainability elements, this paper aims to propose an innovative and sustainable agri-food value chain model, contributing to extend understating of how supply chains can become more sustainable through the Industry 4.0 technologies. Design/methodology/approach Thanks to a well-structured and replicable systematic literature review and sequent content analysis, this work recognized and compared the extant FSC models, focusing on the interaction of five key elements: activities, flows, stakeholders, technologies and sustainability. The output of the comparison leading in the definition of the proposed model is discussed in a focus group of 10 experts and tested in a case study. Findings Fifteen extant models were recognized in literature and analysed to discover their features and to putt in light peculiarities and differences among them. This analysis provided useful insights to design and propose a new innovative and sustainable agri-food value chain model; an example for the olive oil business case is provided. Originality/value The adding value of the work is the proposed model which regards innovative elements such as recirculation flows, external stakeholders and Industry 4.0 technologies usage which allows enhancing the agri-FSCs operational efficiency and sustainability.