Purpose This study aims to investigate the dynamic capabilities of wineries, focusing on sensing and its role in enabling digital innovation. Furthermore, it explores the role of blockchain technology (BCT) in validating credence attributes of wine, emphasising blockchain as a strategic asset that enhances the ability of wineries to innovate and respond to changing market conditions. Design/methodology/approach The study adopts an exploratory approach based on a longitudinal, single-case study of the Argentinian Costaflores Organic Winery. Findings Findings reveal that integrating digital disruptive innovations such as blockchain can strategically position wineries to better meet emerging consumer preferences and market trends. Blockchain simultaneously acts as both a mediator and a moderator. As a mediator, it facilitates the validation of credence attributes of wine such as authenticity and sustainability, enhancing customer trust and loyalty. As a moderator, it influences the strength and effectiveness of the relationship between sensing and innovation capabilities. This enables wineries to more effectively respond to changing consumer requirements and market trends and improve operational performance. Research limitations/implications The study was limited by its focus on a single case study of the Argentinian Costaflores Organic Winery, which may affect the generalisability of the findings. However, the study provides valuable insights into the strategic adaptation and competitive positioning of wineries in response to the continuing market challenges. It significantly contributes to the understanding of integrating digital disruptive innovations as strategic assets in the agri-food sector, particularly in the wine sector. Originality/value This study addresses a significant research gap by exploring how BCT facilitates the organisation of sensing capabilities. It contributes to the understanding of how the wineries’ sensing capabilities both influence and are influenced by the adoption of BCT, particularly in the context of innovation enabling and improved operational performance.

A recent publication reports that the number of active Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) in self-custodial wallets has grown exponentially in the past years across several industries. This study analyzed 65 token-based use cases in the wine sector. It was found that most current applications revolve around the downstream part of the supply chain. The research has also demonstrated that the various solutions involving fungible tokens and NFTs can be classified into three categories. Consequently, a taxonomy has been introduced. Furthermore, it was identified that digital tokens can solve current challenges in the wine industry related to provenance, proof of origin, authenticity, and fraud prevention. At the same time, the utilization of tokens enables an extended consumer interaction with the product. Managers potentially considering connecting their physical products and services with digital tokens can obtain insights towards their use in the web3 economy.

Wine fraud and counterfeiting is a problem that spans from entry level wines to cult bottles. It poses significant challenges such as impacting consumer trust and causing financial losses. The study explores potential blockchain-based applications used to prevent wine fraud. Responding to the research questions regarding how blockchain technology can help prevent wine fraud and what potential benefits and limitations may exist in this context, we performed a literature review and conducted an exploratory use case analysis of over 100 solutions. Our findings unveiled that only a few operationalized use cases exist. These are predominantly based on non-fungible tokens (NFTs), which are employed for verification of authenticity purposes. We also found that the adoption is at an early stage. While the benefits of using blockchain are promising, further research should be performed to address its potential limitations within the organizational, technical, as well as legal and regulatory realms.

Firms in the agri-food sector have started implementing blockchain technology to both provide transparency over the supply chain transactions and to make trust attributes visible to consumers. Besides the well-known public blockchains such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, private- and consortium-type blockchain platforms exist. The latter ones are being operated in the agri-food ecosystem contributing to the vertically cooperated supply networks that are coordinated by a focal firm. Stakeholders’ attitude and behavioral intentions toward the use of the blockchain technology impact their use behavior. The results show that permissioned blockchain governance mechanisms with consensus and incentives to motivate stakeholders are lacking in private and consortium blockchains. This study closes a research gap as understanding how the stakeholder management approach can compensate for the lack of consensus mechanisms can provide managerial guidance toward the development of an effective stakeholder management strategy, which eventually can be provided for a competitive advantage. As there is little research on the role of blockchain as a novel governance mechanism, this research will contribute to the scholarly discussion toward a common understanding.

Hierarchically organized businesses have been dominating our economy for centuries. We follow this structure for so long now because it is very efficient to allocating resources, performing coordination activities, and building relationships. However, potentially disruptive technologies such as Blockchain Technology (BCT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Internet of Things (IoT) have the potential to transform the centralized agri-food supply chain networks (SCN) into decentralized digital ecosystems, which will impact business processes and workflows alike. Still today the traditional agri-food SCN is characterized by a pyramid-hierarchic structure where decisions are being made by a central authority. It is typically headed by a focal firm which is responsible for the coordination of the network while determining the strategy and goals of the SCN. We investigated BCT use cases both in the agri-food industry and across several industries. Our literature- and use case-based research unveiled that supply chain use cases which have significantly higher operational implementations compared to their peers exhibit predominantly the following characteristics: they operate in a vertically coordinated ecosystem, they are dominated by a focal firm, and participation of suppliers is mandated by a central authority. The use cases displaying the mentioned characteristics have been found predominantly with consortium type of BCT platform implementations. As agri-food SCNs operate in vertically coordinated ecosystems we suggest that solutions such as provenance or traceability in agri-food SCNs should be implemented based on consortium BCTs as those seem to support best the traditional agri-food SCN structure.

Blockchain is an emerging meta-technology and considered a new institutional technology with the potential to change the governance of vertically integrated food supply chains. This paper investigates the effects on coordination mechanisms in vertically cooperating agri-food networks that result from the implementation of different blockchain technology platform types (BCTPT). The research is based on an extensive literature overview and exploratory use cases of BCTPT implementations in the agri-food industry which are presented to illustrate the applicability of the findings. Our analysis shows that BCTPT predominantly differentiate through the coordination mechanisms exerting of power, information sharing, decision-making, and collective learning benefits. We also reveal that blockchain use cases with high success rates typically operate in a vertical ecosystem where a focal firm assumes the responsibility for coordinating the activities in the supply chain network. These use cases are typically operationalized in tracking and tracing applications as well as in provenance-based information provision, which either operate in vertically coordinated private blockchain or consortium-type blockchain platforms. We conclude that the choice of a specific BCTPT with its respective coordination mechanisms is a key determinant of the economic success of the intended use case, the efficient management of the supply chain network, and eventually for the chosen digital business model. This paper will close a research gap, as the potential impacts of different blockchain technology platform types on digital agri-food business models and its supply chain management have scarcely been researched.

Coffee is the second most important commodity in terms of global trade value, with its global market value exceeding $460 billion in 2020. Its supply networks, which encompass multiple stakeholders, are complex and nontransparent. Blockchain is a trust technology, and some coffee firms have embraced this technology to provide trust attributes to consumers while making their supply chain more transparent. For businesses to gain the expected productivity advantages, a technology must be adopted and used. As theoretical and empirical research on blockchain technology adoption is scarce, this article attempts to identify behavioral intentions of stakeholders in the supply network toward its adoption. Based on exploratory interviews, this article develops a blockchain technology adoption model based on factors relevant to individuals' use behavior. The results provide evidence that a normative stakeholder management approach positively impacts use behavior. Managers can use the model to benchmark and improve their corporate social responsibility strategy to obtain better returns on blockchain investments. This study closes a research gap as, to the best of the authors' knowledge, no research has been conducted so far on the impact of an instrumental stakeholder management approach on blockchain technology adoption behavior. Understanding how stakeholder management can compensate for the lack of consensus mechanisms in private and consortium blockchains, as well as understanding the factors influencing behavioral intentions toward the use of a technology, can provide for managerial guidance toward the development of an effective stakeholder management strategy, which eventually can result in a competitive advantage.