Challenges and hotspots in food supply chain quality management practices

Food supply chains face many challenges, including those associated with supply chain quality management practices. Supply chain quality management practices are activities and processes adopted to achieve quality goals. The practices can be quite challenging, especially for food supply chains that are sustainability-oriented, such as those found in alternative food networks. This paper introduces a notion of supply chain quality management practice hotspots to capture incidences of quality management practice challenges that manifest in food supply chains. An approach for identifying supply chain quality management practice hotspots is developed in the paper and illustrated with multiple case studies. Findings show that incidences of supply chain quality management practice hotspots exist in practice, and practitioners perceive the notion of supply chain quality management practice hotspots to be valuable, especially in providing insights into supply chain processes and use as a basis for performance improvement. The paper indicates that the severity of supply chain quality management practice hotspots is influenced by the importance placed on supply chain processes, supply chain practices, and the severity of the quality management practice challenges the supply chain faces. Implications of findings and recommended areas of future work are presented.