Distributed Ledger Technology-Based Food Donation Information Sharing Framework: An Outline of Benefits and Perspectives

Existing challenges in food bank supply chain (FBSC) operations associated with the lack of transparency and information visibility, food waste, and the supply and demand gap can be addressed by digital solutions. Despite their great potential, distributed ledger technologies (DLTs) have not been widely investigated or applied in food donation operations. This paper outlines a DLT-enabled food donation information sharing framework and key benefits of its implementation. DLTs have the potential to facilitate critical information sharing in a FBSC, thus enhancing the transparency of supply, demand and resource constraints, facilitating the access to food for beneficiaries, and potentially reducing the supply and demand gap in FBSCs.