Traceability in the food supply chain: Awareness and attitudes of UK Small and Medium-sized Enterprises

•Investigation of awareness/attitude towards traceability in the FSC within UK SMEs.•Traceability purposes: recalls cost reduction, rapid recalls, food safety & quality.•Unconfirmed belief that traceability systems can reduce the probability of recalls.•Positive attitude in term of importance of traceability.•Contrasting results on willingness to invest in traceability systems' enhancement.

In this paper the awareness and attitudes towards traceability are examined in the food supply chain (FSC) within UK Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs). The objective of this paper is to test some propositions found in the literature, and understand whether or not SMEs in the UK are aware of the main objectives of traceability and what importance is given in term of relevance and intention to invest in their traceability systems. This study employed a survey strategy by means of a questionnaire that was sent to food and drink companies operating in the FSC. 146 SMEs answered the questionnaire. Answers were analysed by means of quantitative tools (i.e. contingency tables; Chi-squared test; and Spearman's rank correlation). The findings show that UK SMEs are aware of the main purposes of traceability systems such as recall cost reduction, rapid recalls, and the improvement of food safety and quality, while there is a, misguided, belief that traceability systems can reduce the probability of recalls. The attitude towards traceability is found to be positive in term of recognition of its importance but an unwillingness to invest in traceability systems' enhancement is also found. The findings pose a question mark as to whether or not companies see traceability systems as a strategic tool. This study fills the gap found in the literature where few recent academic papers focused attention on SMEs awareness and attitudes towards traceability in the FSC.