Developing an organizational typology of criminals in the meat supply chain

•The contemporary food criminal is becoming more organized and sophisticated.•Food crime management requires a holistic approach across a number of academic disciplines Food crime risk assessment needs to consider both the visible and invisible elements of food crime.•Types of food criminal and illicit organisations and networks have been defined.

The European Horsemeat Scandal of 2013 highlighted the increasing organization and sophistication of the contemporary food criminal. This study aims to develop a more sophisticated understanding of the typology of the food criminal in terms of their modus operandi and how individuals and organized crime groups develop criminal business models and networks in the context of meat supply. This research initiates a synthesized literature review across the seemingly disparate academic disciplines of food and agricultural policy, business theory and criminology in order to characterize the modes of operation at work in such networks. A conceptual framework is developed that considers the actors and drivers involved in criminal activity using the meat supply chain as an example.