Technological advances result in new traceability configurations that, however, cannot always secure transparency and food safety. Even in cases where a system guarantees transparency, the actual consumer involvement and a real consumer-based perspective cannot always be ensured. The importance of such consumer centricity is vital, since it is strongly associated with effective supply chains that properly fulfil their end-users’ needs and requests. Thus, the objective of this paper was to explore the level of consumer centricity in food supply chains under a traceability system. The methodological approach employed a framework of two studies validating subsequently a similar set of variables, using initially consumers data and then supply chain actors data. The supply chain of sustainable tomato was selected to design the studies. The level of agreement between datasets suggested the level of the supply chain consumer centricity. Findings showed health, trust, quality, nutrition, and safety-related values to be significant for the consumers towards accepting a traceability system. The supply chain actors also accepted a traceability system based on the fact that their customers’ needs rely on the exact same beliefs, indicating a high level of consumer centricity. The current work underlines the magnitude of consumer centricity in food supply chains and provides an easy and straightforward framework for its exploration. Key implications suggest the design of more effective supply chain and consumer-based strategies for the food industry. Policymakers could also adopt the concept of consumer centricity to further improve the food industry.

Sustainable food supply chains are complex systems involving several stakeholders, processes, flow of goods/materials and information. The value generated in combination with the contradictory agendas among actors makes any groundwork for future research a challenging endeavor. Hence, an end-to-end mapping of the food supply chain under examination is a vital prerequisite for the design of a comprehensive research framework. This study exemplified such a mapping approach in the Greek sustainable tomato supply chain, providing significant insights for an impactful research agenda. Data were obtained from secondary sectoral sources and open interviews with key players across the supply chain—covering all its main stages, i.e., production, packaging, storing, transportation, wholesaling, and retailing. The findings are summarized in three supply chain maps that illustrate the areas concerning sustainability, value chain and stakeholders. These maps synthesize a bigger picture of the supply chain that reveals the complicated interactions among its actors, the hidden bottlenecks in the flow of information and the areas that need deeper exploration. Its fundamental implication is the design of a targeted research framework, underlying the main priorities of the Greek tomato supply chain and eventually the Greek agri-food sector.