Importance of traceability for sustainable production: a cross-country comparison

Traceability systems are becoming an important tool for tracking, monitoring and managing product flows through food supply chains. Traceability can be used as a method of certifying production, processing and nutritional credence attributes of food products. Environmentally sustainable production is a credence attribute that is gaining in importance in the eyes of consumers. In this research, the importance of traceability in verifying environmentally sustainable production practices is examined. The data were collected in online surveys related to consumer's perceptions and concerns about food safety, trust and reported behaviour related to meat consumption in three countries Canada, the US and Japan. Determinants of traceability in verifying environmentally sustainable production practices include respondents' locus of control about food safety, food purchasing characteristics such as whether they normally buy organic products or shop at supermarkets and general traits such as worry and trust. In comparing across countries, there are significant differences in the interests in traceability to verify environmentally sustainable production practices and in the determinants of level of importance ascribed.