Supply chain food crime: can behaviours of supply chain actors affect food integrity?

Purpose: There is a growing awareness by holistic supply chains to comprehend the challenges pertaining to food fraud and crime. In order to achieve a cross-functional understanding of the topics connected to supply chain food criminality academia and industry need to understand the landscape of research against common perceptions, in order to build robust frameworks that can work toward mitigating risk and building supply chain resilience. Further, the research will review how these topics pertaining to food crime and fraud are related to the softer side of human behaviour within supply chains and the potential effect this has on overall resililence. Research Approach: This research utilises a qualitative and quantitative methodology to explore the challenges faced by cross functional business operations in combating food crime and fraud. The methodology leverages a triangulation approach that provides a robust literature review pertaining to the research area, which is further correlated against interviews undertaken with industry professionals to provide an analysis of gaps within the current food supply chain thinking, working toward building a theoretical framework for risk and resilience with food fraud and supply chain criminality. Findings and Originality: We expect that the research will deliver valuable insight into the challenges faced by holistic supply chains, identifying areas of focus that academia and commercial operations can collaborate on to build greater resilience into food supply chain operations. Research Impact: This research presents food supply chain criminality and fraud from the aspect of the holistic chain, in particular reviewing cross thematic areas between supply chain actors and will provide a platform of identification for future research in the field of UK supply chain risk and resilience. Practical Impact: This research has an important implication across food supply chains, due to their [supply chain] need to support not only the current state but support the continual development and growing need for food in the UK, which is reliant on importation of food stuffs and therefore intrinsically entwined with the supply chain. Therefore, this research has identified thematic areas for academia and commercial operations to develop research and understanding to support future research in this area