Traceability of wine - a criterion of quality and food safety for the consumer

Abstract

In the last decade, several factors have determined an increasing demand for wine supply chain transparency. Indeed, amalgamation, fraud, counterfeiting, use of hazardous treatment products and pollution are affecting the trust of consumers, who are more and more oriented to consider the so-called “credence attributes” rather than price. Thus, consumers demand detailed information on the overall process from the grape to the bottle. In this chapter, we present a system for traceability in the wine supply chain. The system is able to systematically store information about products and processes throughout the entire supply chain, from grape growers to retailers. Also, the system manages quality information, thus enabling an effective analysis of the supply chain processes. Effective wine traceability is based upon the accuracy of the information about the products contained in records held by the various supply chain partners.