A hoListic framework in the quality Labelled food supply chain systems' management towards enhanced data Integrity and verAcity, interoperability, traNsparenCy, and tracEability

Project Information

ALLIANCE

Grant agreement ID: 101084188

DOI

10.3030/101084188

Project closed

EC signature date 4 October 2022

Start date 1 November 2022

End date 31 October 2025

Funded under

• Food, Bioeconomy Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment

Total cost

€ 4 408 546,25

EU contribution

€ 3 843 571,25

Coordinated by

PANEPISTIMIO THESSALIAS
Greece

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - ALLIANCE (A hoListic framework in the quality Labelled food supply chain systems' management towards enhanced data Integrity and verAcity, interoperability, traNsparenCy, and tracEability)

Reporting period: 2024-05-01 to 2025-10-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Food fraud – also known as economically motivated adulteration - is becoming a significant challenge, costs costs the global economy an estimated $40-50 Billion annualy. It directly harms consumers through unsafe products, undermines trust in food labels, and distorts fair competition for honest producers. Current protection mechanisms for quality-labelled foods—such as Protected Designation of Origin (PDO), Protected Geographical Indication (PGI), and Geographical Indication (GI)—fail to verify the actual content of products and instead rely on packaging and documentation, which can be falsified. Those mechanisms are limited to track and trace the packaging and not to validate the food product content itself. In addition, quality-labelled food products are more susceptible to fraud as the financial motivation for the fraudsters becomes larger to that type of products. ALLIANCE addresses this gap by enabling direct verification of food authenticity and origin throughout the supply chain. The project reduces fraud risk, shortens detection time, and strengthens consumer confidence in quality labelled products across the European Union. Instead of focusing on isolated tools, ALLIANCE delivers measurable outcomes: i) Faster detection of fraudulent products before they reach consumers, ii) Reduced number of undetected fraud cases, iii) Improved response time for regulators and authorities, and iv) Stronger market position for authentic producers. ALLIANCE represents a paradigm shift in the Food Supply Chain Systems’ management for the combat against Food Fraud, distinguishing from the traditionally approaches that leverage monolithic digitalized logistic solutions and standalone FSC interoperability protocols. The project establishes a unified system where producers, regulators, and consumers can rely on verified product data rather than declarations.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

ALLIANCE has delivered capabilities that translate into clear operational benefits across the food supply chain:
• Food claims for authenticity can be verified rapidly at multiple checkpoints, allowing producers and inspectors to detect adulteration on-site rather than relying on delayed laboratory testing.
• Fraud risks are identified earlier, enabling preventive action instead of reactive investigation, which significantly reduces economic losses and product recalls.
• Regulators and authorities gain immediate access to actionable intelligence, allowing faster interventions and more targeted inspections.
• Supply chain actors share trusted, tamper-proof records, which reduces disputes, increases accountability, and builds confidence across the market and the food value chains\.
• Stakeholders access a structured knowledge base, enabling faster identification of fraud patterns and more effective mitigation strategies.
These outcomes result from combining advanced verification methods, automated data analysis, and secure data sharing into a single operational framework, including next-gen portable DNA sequencing for verifying the geographic origin of products, advanced spectroscopy for analyzing foods, an AI early warning system for real-time fraud detection, predictive analytics for forecasting risks, and a digital knowledge base for sharing information. Data integrity is ensured through secure, verifiable record-keeping, allowing every transaction and verification step to be trusted and audited. Finally, the project produced targeted policy recommendations grounded in real-world validation and stakeholder engagement.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

ALLIANCE advances the current state of the art by shifting from passive traceability to active fraud prevention. Instead of simply tracking products, the system identifies risks before fraud occurs. Thus, leading to i) Fewer fraudulent products entering the market, ii) Earlier detection of suspicious activity, iii) Reduced reliance on manual checks and paperwork and iv) Efficient and targeted enforcement actions.
Establishing a resilient ecosystem for quality-labeled food supply chains requires a holistic framework for early warning and proactive threat identification and management, vulnerability risk assessment, and enhanced data monitoring. The utilization of the blockchain technology in the food supply chains does not only aim to the digital transformation of the chains, but it also is utilized to strengthen the security and trustworthiness of the data exchanged within the platform. Automated data collection and verification reduce human error and manipulation, while real-time insights enable faster, evidence-based decisions across the supply chain. This means stronger brand protection and fairer competition for producers. For regulators, it means more efficient monitoring with fewer resources and last but not least for consumers, it means greater trust in the authenticity and safety of food products.