Cross-border fresh produce sourcing and blockchain technology adoption decisions considering spillover effects

International fresh brands often sell their overseas fresh produce through domestic retailers, who have introduced their private fresh brands to compete in recent years. Domestic retailers face the practical decision-making problem of whether to source domestically or overseas. Additionally, to promote consumer trust, retailers’ private label produce often adopts Blockchain Technology (BCT), a decentralized distributed ledger that is blockchain-based. In response, international fresh brands should consider whether to adopt BCT for their produce. To address the interactive decision-making problem outlined above, we develop a theoretical framework involving an international fresh brand and a fresh retailer. The results show that under conditions of limited spillover effect, the retailer should source fresh produce domestically (overseas) if the produce competition is weak (intense); under conditions of strong spillover effect, the retailer should source fresh produce overseas (domestically) if the produce competition is weak (intense). Under conditions of high BCT added value, the brand is (not) advised to adopt BCT if the produce competition is weak (intense); under conditions of low BCT added value, the brand is (not) advised to adopt BCT if the produce competition is intense (weak). Fresh produce sourcing strategy and BCT adoption strategy influence each other, and spillover effect affects these optimal strategies. Interestingly, optimal fresh produce sourcing strategy of the retailer is not necessarily harmful to the brand, while optimal BCT adoption strategy of the brand is not necessarily harmful to the retailer.