Enabling chain-wide transparency in meat supply chains based on the EPCIS global standard and cloud-based services

•We presented the current state of chain-wide transparency in meat supply chains.•We identified architectural requirements for future transparency systems.•Based on the requirements we designed a reference software architecture.•The architecture leverages Future Internet technologies and the EPCIS standard.•The need for third-party transparency service providers is explained.

Transparency in meat supply chains is necessary to guarantee the safety, quality and trust of consumers in meat products. However, transparency systems currently in place are often not adequate for sharing transparency data among food operators, providing consumers accurate transparency information, or enabling authorities to respond quickly and effectively in cases of food safety emergencies. Due to major meat crises and scandals the meat sector has in this respect attracted substantial attention. In this paper we identify regulatory, business, consumer and technological requirements for meat supply chain transparency systems and present a reference software architecture that will guide the realisation of these systems. The reference architecture is characterized by three main elements: the EPCIS standard for tracking and tracing, cloud-based realisation of transparency systems, and the provision of transparency systems as services by third-party transparency service providers (3pTSPs). Usage scenarios are presented to explain how the different types of meat supply chain actors can use transparency systems that are based on the architecture.