Including the reefer chain into genuine beef cold chain architecture based on blockchain technology. (20th August 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Jo, Jisung; Yi, Sanghyuk; Lee, Eon-kyung
• Is Part Of: Journal of cleaner production. Volume 363(2022)
• Publication Date: 2022-08-20
• Subjects: Reefer chain -- Cold chain -- Blockchain -- Beef -- GHG emission -- FLW; Factory and trade waste -- Management -- Periodicals; Manufactures -- Environmental aspects -- Periodicals; Déchets industriels -- Gestion -- Périodiques; Usines -- Aspect de l'environnement -- Périodiques; 628.5
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2022.132646
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0959-6526

Abstract

Abstract: Improving the cold chain system for perishable foods would both increase food safety by maintaining quality and reduce business operation costs by minimizing food loss from inappropriate management. This has led to various attempts to apply blockchain technology (BCT) to the food cold chain, such as IBM's FoodTrust and Alibaba's Food Trust Frameworks. This system is expected to guarantee food traceability and sustainability. In this research, we focused on the importance of maritime and aviation transportation in the entire supply chain, and we established the BCT-based beef cold chain system, which includes the reefer chain. Specifically, we raised the monitoring and physical infrastructure issues at the port (or airport) and maritime (aviation) transportation node and took these into consideration. Additionally, we conducted scenario analysis to investigate the effects of the suggested system. The amount of food losses and the associated greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are calculated by different scenarios in accordance with the recall recovery time and node where a recall occurrence is recognized. For both import and export models, when the proposed BCT-based beef cold chain platform is applied, the number of discarded reefer containers and the associated GHG emissions go down by 42.1% and 21.8%, respectively. Interestingly, when we assumed the recall recognition stage was right after the defects occur, the largest effects of improving performance of the proposed platform were 48.3% in import (IM) node of the port level. These results will provide a needed solution for cold chain management at the government level and affirms the essential role of the port/airport in the cold chain.