Exploring blockchain adoption in the italian wine industry: insights from a multiple case study
From Firenze University Press Journal: Wine Economics and Policy
Livio Cricelli, Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Naples Federico II
Roberto Mauriello, Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Naples Federico II
Serena Strazzullo, Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Naples Federico II
The modern agrifood industry faces key challenges due to its pivotal role in sustaining the growth and development of society. This is exacerbated by globalization, which increased the complexity and risks of managing sup-ply chains, leading to food safety issues and demands for higher quality and accountability from consumers and governments [1,2]. Agrifood companies are also pressured to build more transparent and equitable supply chains [3,4]. The adoption of advanced tracking systems may provide a solution by helping streamline information and product flows, improve coordination, and enhance transparency throughout agrifood supply chains [5,6]. Block-chain-based systems, in particular, may offer greater security, integrity, and accountability compared to traditional ICTs [7,8]. This is crucial in tracking agrifood products, which are espe-cially sensitive to environmental factors, including tem-perature or humidity, and must meet high safety stand-ards [9,10]. From this perspective, a particularly compelling scenario concerns the adoption of tracking systems in the wine industry, which must also contend with seri-ous counterfeiting, imitation, and label adulteration issues [11,12]. Indeed, while many agrifood products are treated as commodities, high-end wines can be consid-ered premium products, enabling companies to focus on differentiation strategies [13–15]. Since the origin and variety of grapes play a crucial role in determining wine quality and inf luencing consumers’ choices, produc-ers and consumers require reliable systems to guarantee product authenticity [16,17]. This is especially true also due to the proliferation of unreliable food certification schemes, which fuel trust and communication issues between companies and consumers [18,19]. Despite this, the diffusion of advanced product tracking systems in the wine industry remains limited and it is essential to investigate the reasons explaining the low adoption rates.However, this topic currently remains under-investigated, as most studies adopt one of two approaches. On the one hand, several articles focus on describing the impact and main advantages of blockchain-based solu-tions for supply chain management compared to tradi-tional tracking systems [20–24]. These inquiries adopt a technology-centric perspective and do not consider spe-cific applications in the agrifood industry. On the other, some papers focus on investigating the potential of advanced tracking systems for a variety of applications in the agrifood industry [5,6,25–27]. However, most studies provide purely theoretical contributions. While offering valuable insights, these articles typically stress the novelty and benefits of blockchain solutions over implementation challenges and business implications. Indeed, it is only recently that the first studies focus-ing on the adoption of blockchain-based systems in the wine industry started to emerge [11,17,28–30]. These investigations suggest that the adoption of blockchain in the wine industry entails significant managerial and organizational complexities which require careful analy-sis. For example, Brookbanks and Parry [30] show how the use of blockchain systems does not remove the need to implement trust-building processes between wineries, partners, and consumers. Galati et al. [29] suggest that effective blockchain adoption depends on wineries’ abil-ity to invest and redefine knowledge management pro-cesses within the organization. Cordeiro and Olsen [31] investigate the differences in the diffusion of blockchain in European and Chinese wine value chains, emphasiz-ing the influence of the environment and the interna-tional context.Despite the contributions, most of the articles focus on isolated success stories [11,17,29]. Due to the limited diffusion of blockchain in the wine industry, this helped provide much-needed evidence of how the adoption of advanced tracking systems may affect wineries’ business models and performances. At the same time, this led to a somewhat biased perspective, emphasizing the benefits and positive outcomes over complexities. This highlights a gap in the literature related to the lack of studies inves-tigating the challenges of blockchain adoption in the wine industry, and the in-depth analysis of the require-ments that tracking systems must possess to meet the needs of actors in wine supply chains. This study aims to help bridge this gap and offer a new perspective by ana-lysing the challenges, drivers and requirements of block-chain-based solutions in the wine industry.Additionally, we note how most studies investigat-ing specific applications of tracking systems in supply chains focus on large-scale projects, involving multina-tionals, tech companies and several partners around the world [32–34]. This approach is not suitable for the wine industry, due to the prevalence of SMEs and local pro-ductions in the sector. Thus, we try to help bridge this gap by providing an empirical investigation of the drivers and challenges of blockchain adoption for SMEs in the wine industry. Ultimately, we aim to answer the fol-lowing research questions:
What are the drivers and challenges of adopting block-chain-based systems for SMEs in the wine industry?
What are the requirements for a blockchain-based system to meet the needs of SMEs in the wine industry?
To answer these research questions, we adopt a multiple case study approach, focusing on the case of the Italian wine industry. Specifically, we investigated companies’ perception of blockchain solutions by performing semi-structured interviews with the managers of 16 Italian wineries. Then, we use thematic analysis, supported by a three-step coding process, to identify overarching themes and develop the results. In selecting the cases, our primary goal was to obtain a detailed picture of the current situation of traceability and blockchain adoption in the Italian wine industry. The originality of the study lies mainly in two aspects. It is one of the first studies to investigate the problem of blockchain adoption in the agrifood indus-try concerning a specific application, namely product tracking in the wine industry. Second, this study does not analyse single cases, but adopts a multiple-case study approach, leading to a nuanced perspective introducing new relevant elements into the debate. Finally, this study has important theoretical and practical implications. From a theoretical perspective, it effectively complements the results of previous literature, by providing an in-depth analysis of key managerial and organizational factors influencing wineries’ deci-sion to adopt blockchain technology. It also advances the theory by analysing the requirements that a blockchain system must possess to meet the needs of SMEs in the wine industry. In terms of practical implications, this study helps wine companies assess the opportunities and implications of adopting blockchain. Furthermore, it provides policymakers and governments with sugges-tions on how to support the diffusion of advanced track-ing systems in the wine industry.The rest of the paper is organized as follows: the next section provides a brief yet rigorous review of avail-able literature. Then, we describe in detail the case study and thematic analysis methodology. Next, we present and discuss the results. Finally, we conclude and provide some useful theoretical and practical implications.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.36253/wep-16278
Read Full Text: https://oaj.fupress.net/index.php/wep/article/view/16278
