Trust Makers, breakers and brokers: Building trust in the food system on the island of Ireland - An

• Project start date: 1 July 2016
• Project status: Completed
• Project type: Food safety
• Discipline: Food chain
• Principal researcher/s: Prof John Coveney of Flinders University, Adelaide
• Collaborator/s: Dr Seamus Reilly, UCC

Research objective

The primary objective of this research is to understand how key stakeholders in the food supply chain on the island of Ireland contribute to building, maintaining, and rebuilding trust in the food system. The study focuses on the responses and behaviours of three stakeholder groups – media, industry, and regulators – during critical food incidents. By examining their goals and actions, the research aims to uncover the dynamics of trust formation and erosion within the food supply chain.

Outputs

Research report

• Title: Trust makers, breakers and brokers in the food system
• Publication date: 12 September 2018
• Summary: The study used a vignette methodology inspired by Wilson et al. (2013) to create a hypothetical scenario of a critical food incident, allowing exploration of decision-making processes as the incident unfolds. Regulatory agencies prioritise consumer protection through protocols and procedures based on scientific evidence, with consumer trust emerging as a by-product. The food industry aims to minimise negative outcomes and relies on pre-existing brand trust to regain consumer confidence post-incident. The media focuses on informing the public and attributing blame, often leading to tension with industry and regulators due to differing operational priorities and the need for engaging stories.
• Findings:
  • Organisational goals play a critical role in how stakeholders respond to food crises.
  • There is alignment between industry and regulators' goals during critical incidents, focusing on consumer protection and minimising negative outcomes.
  • Trust rebuilding in the industry is heavily influenced by brand perception prior to an incident.
  • Media representations can conflict with scientific accuracy, creating tension with other stakeholders.
• Recommendations:
  1. Strengthen engagement and relationship building: Support procedural and relational governance mechanisms, particularly for small and medium-sized companies. [Industry Led]
  2. Build on crisis management protocols: Ensure robust crisis management protocols are in place across the supply chain with supportive monitoring and guidance by relevant agencies. [Agency Led]
  3. Be consistent: Apply best practices consistently, monitor the supplier base vigilantly, and pursue continuous improvement to reduce risk. [Industry Led]
  4. Enhance understanding of food system issues: Support inter-regulatory authority activities and knowledge-building networks. [Agency Led]
  5. Improve responsiveness and proactivity: Engage with digital technology experts to build real-time information platforms and investigate the use of big data for supplier behaviour analysis. [Collaborative]
  6. Address transparency, credibility, and education: Assess the value of structured supply chain data to consumers and use digital technologies to make data more accessible and user-friendly. [Collaborative]
  7. Enhance openness and transparency through media engagement: Engage with media outside of crises to familiarise them with food system issues, and ensure agencies have resources to provide information to a diverse media community. [Agency Led]
  8. Protect the consumer and maintain reputation: Establish a voluntary industry-wide code of practice for reporting incidents and sharing intelligence on food fraud and defence. [Industry Led]

Other outputs

Tonkin E, Wilson A, Coveney J, Henderson J, Meyer S, McCarthy M, O’Reilly S, Calnan M, McGloin A & Ward P. Food-system actors’ perspectives on trust: an international comparison. British Food Journal, accepted 10 September 2018.