Managing Fraud in Food Supply Chains: The Case of Honey Laundering

Recent food fraud incidents have highlighted the need to manage fraud risks in food supply chains. However, there is little research on how to manage these risks. Our study helps to alleviate this issue by examining food fraud risk management in the Asia–Pacific honey supply chain. We conducted interviews about existing food fraud risk management practices. We then used the Gioia method to generate a framework of these management practices, which expanded the “Six Ts” framework by adding a seventh dimension of Tolerance to this extant framework. Next, we empirically examined this novel Seven Ts framework. We found that managers treat many of these risk management practice dimensions as substitutes rather than complements. Our findings and managerial guidance are practically relevant for food companies. Lastly, we believe that, by implementing some of these suggestions theoretically generated and empirically validated by our framework, food supply chains may become more sustainable.