Blockchain Technology in Wine Chain for Collecting and Addressing Sustainable Performance: An Exploratory Study

Sustainability standards have not yet been commonly adopted by the whole wine chain, and indicator assessments are not widely spread. A deep understanding of how embedding sustainability into business while controlling costs related to the adoption of sustainability certification standards such as d...

Descripción completa

Guardado en:
Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Gloria Luzzani, Erica Grandis, Marco Frey, Ettore Capri
Formato: article
Lenguaje:EN
Publicado: MDPI AG 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://doaj.org/article/0fc0292669e14169a2236ed4411aaceb
Etiquetas: Agregar Etiqueta
Sin Etiquetas, Sea el primero en etiquetar este registro!
Descripción
Sumario:Sustainability standards have not yet been commonly adopted by the whole wine chain, and indicator assessments are not widely spread. A deep understanding of how embedding sustainability into business while controlling costs related to the adoption of sustainability certification standards such as data collection and management practices could allow one to overcome most barriers relevant to sustainability compliance. Blockchain technology (BCT) may answer these needs. In order to verify BCT potential to be used as a sustainability management tool in the wine industry, with a qualitative triple bottom line research approach, this article explores the connections among BCT adoption in agri-food, issues posed by wine sustainability certification, and whether wine companies that already own a wine sustainability certification are prepared to adopt it. Results show that (1) the blockchain allows collecting data and information that are relevant for monitoring and improving sustainability: Soil and water features, climate conditions, treatment with pesticides and fertilizers, production process, traceability, transparency, labor and human rights, quality and safety, waste reduction, authenticity, relationship with stakeholders; (2) wine companies that already own a sustainability certification have little familiarity with blockchain applications (57.1%, n.21) and only 14% of the respondents support their intention to invest in BCT in the coming years; (3) the case study shows improvements in traceability and transparency along the supply chain and an increase in consumers’ trust that was reflected in sales growth, and the main costs are linked to complexity in data management.