Smart packaging adoption in fresh fruits and vegetables supply chains

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify the influencing aspects behind the decision of smart packaging (SP) adoption for fresh fruits and vegetables and what improvement directions facilitate such adoption. Design/methodology/approach Empirical data are collected from interviewees who are active in the supply chain of fruits and vegetables and have expertise about their packaging. The data are analysed using the Motivation–Opportunity–Ability framework coupled with relational diagrams. Findings The paper provides empirical insights about the influencing aspects (categorized into motivations, opportunities and abilities) and improvement directions of SP adoption for fresh fruits and vegetables. Key motivations to adopt SP are reduced food loss and waste, increased supply chain efficiency and increased employment in developing countries. Important opportunities relate to the possibility of exploiting longer supply chains and contextual barriers that reduce SP necessity, unclear consumer purchasing preferences for SP and legislative barriers. The supply chain actors’ abilities identified are collaboration and stakeholders’ awareness. The improvement directions identified relate to actions for increasing the ease of using SP and reducing the associated costs. Originality/value Despite the extensive knowledge available in the literature, SP adoption in practice is still quite limited, especially on fruits and vegetables. This research’s empirical findings contribute to closing this gap and suggest improvement directions for SP adoption on fruits and vegetables, thus minimizing loss and waste along the supply chain.