Communicating imperceptible productattributes through traceability: A case studyin an organic food supply chain

Companies in the food industry are driven to improve their traceability for several reasons. The primary reasons are foodsafety and quality. Another is the response to the increased interest among consumers in imperceptible product attributessuch as organic, fair trade, dolphin-safe and non genetically modified (non-GMO). Such attributes are hard to distinguishand thus require generally enhanced traceability in order to verify their existence. This has led to an emergent area in whichactors engage in gaining and maintaining traceability and communicating it to the consumers. This paper describes therelations between the actors in a supply chain (SC) in the field of organic food systems. It examines the objectives each actorhas for gaining and maintaining traceability throughout the SC. The focus on organic relates to the challenge for thecompanies to ensure this imperceptible product attribute throughout the entire food system. A single case study wasconducted in an organic food system providing organic ice cream products. The data collection included semi-structuredinterviews, observations, a review of internal documents and a survey among the participating companies. The findingsillustrate and elaborate on the objectives companies have for engaging in traceability. The objectives identified are dividedinto three categories: food safety and quality, managing the SC and internal resources and communication with consumers.The survey confirms the results from the interviews that all actors want to engage in traceability. They prioritize theobjectives differently, however. The study highlights the value of close relations between the actors when addressingconsumer concerns regarding product and process characteristics, such as the imperceptible organic attribute