Bridging the Gaps in Traceability Systems for Fresh Produce Supply Chains: Overview and Development of an Integrated IoT-Based System

Abstract

Traceability, namely the ability to access information about a product and its movement across all stages of the supply chain, has been emerged as a key criterion of a product’s quality and safety. Managing fresh products, such as fruits and vegetables, is a particularly complicated task, since they are perishable with short shelf lives and are vulnerable to environmental conditions. This makes traceability of fresh produce very significant. The present study provides a brief overview of the relative literature on fresh produce traceability systems. It was concluded that the commercially available traceability systems usually neither cover the entire length of the supply chain nor rely on open and transparent interoperability standards. Therefore, a user-friendly open access traceability system is proposed for the development of an integrated solution for traceability and agro-logistics of fresh products, focusing on interoperability and data sharing. Various Internet of Things technologies are incorporated and connected to the web, while an android-based platform enables the monitoring of the quality of fruits and vegetables throughout the whole agri-food supply chain, starting from the field level to the consumer and back to the field. The applicability of the system, named AgroTRACE, is further extended to waste management, which constitutes an important aspect of a circular economy.

Ambient Parameter Monitoring in Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Supply Chains Using Internet of Things-Enabled Sensor and Communication Technology

“…Even if actors are willing to share the information, simple data exchange along the chain is not always possible. Standards regarding data formats, data exchange and technical equipment are missing or mismatching [ 78 , 91 , 120 , 121 ]. Providers have generally been more interested in selling their proprietary solution than in investing in open standards [ 91 , 117 ].…”

“…Standards regarding data formats, data exchange and technical equipment are missing or mismatching [ 78 , 91 , 120 , 121 ]. Providers have generally been more interested in selling their proprietary solution than in investing in open standards [ 91 , 117 ]. Compatibility and integration of the multiple heterogenic devices and communication technologies are a big challenge for IoT-based systems [ 10 ].…”

“…An emerging communication technology for use in an IoT context are low power wide area networks (LPWAN). LPWAN technologies provide low cost, low power, low data rate, large coverage and long distance data transmission connections [ 81 , 91 ]. Technologies that are often used are for example LoRa and narrowband (NB)-IoT.…”

“…This results in a guaranteed Quality of Service for NB-IoT because no duty cycle limits hinder the data throughput [ 80 , 90 ]. Key advantages of LoRa are its lower costs for connecting end devices and no operating costs for data transmission [ 80 , 91 ]. Additional smaller differences in for example the maximum number of end devices, payload length and latency might be important to consider when choosing the right technology for a certain application.…”

“…Wireless communication is a crucial part of IoT applications and therefore technologies will further develop (e.g., transformation to 6G) and new technologies will emerge. Unfortunately, interoperability is limited and establishing corresponding standards remains a challenge [ 83 , 91 ]. Additionally, various privacy concerns hinder actors from adopting these technologies on a large scale [ 3 , 39 , 78 , 92 ].…”