Blockchain as a Facilitator of Sustainability and Circular Economy in a Food Bank Supply Chain

Jamilya Nurgazina (), Sana Rouis Skandrani and Gerald Reiner
Additional contact information
Jamilya Nurgazina: University of Applied Sciences St. Pölten
Sana Rouis Skandrani: Karlstad University
Gerald Reiner: Vienna University of Economics and Business

A chapter in Pedagogical Case Studies in Purchasing and Supply Management, 2026, pp 387-407 from Springer

Abstract: Abstract The teaching case (TC) describes existing food bank operations and the supply chain of the Fondazione Banco Alimentare ETS (FBA), the food bank network in Italy. The TC describes the existing food bank operations, digital transformation and circular economy initiatives of FBA. The educational aspect of the TC addresses how systems thinking and business model innovation can help address existing food bank supply chain (FBSC) challenges and to achieve sustainability and circular economy goals. Literature findings suggest the great potential of blockchain technologies to address FBSC challenges, such as sporadic and uncertain supply and demand, supply and demand gap, food loss and food waste (FLW), the lack of transparency, and capacity limitations. For that purpose, the TC explores how to estimate the impact of new technologies (e.g., blockchain) and digital transformation on the existing food donation process and donation management given the great potential of such innovations. The impact of digital transformation in the FBSC is investigated by means of system dynamics and data-layered causal loop diagrams based on the example of FBA and its operations. In addition, alternative solutions, value creation and business model innovation are integrated into the TC to assess potentials of innovations and alternative solutions to increase sustainability and circular economy of the FBSC and food bank operations of FBA to reduce FLW and food insecurity in the local community. Despite the extension of the food bank operations, constant development of partnerships with suppliers and non-profit organizations, and extensive investment in technological solutions, only 60% of active donors of FBA are active in circular economy initiatives, and only 25% of non-donors are involved in recycling and recovery practices in 2023, thus suggesting potential for improvement.

Keywords: Blockchain; Food bank; Sustainability and circular economy; System dynamics; Business model innovation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:sprchp:978-3-032-12235-3_21

Ordering information: This item can be ordered from
http://www.springer.com/9783032122353

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-032-12235-3_21

Access Statistics for this chapter

More chapters in Springer Books from Springer
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().