The Transparency Trade-off: How Food Companies Balance Tech-Driven Disclosure and Cost Efficiency in Digital Supply Chains

Food safety issues have increasingly become a focal point of public concern, driving supply chain transparency to the forefront as a core competitive advantage for food companies. As a key regulator and system promoter, the government plays an indispensable role in building transparent supply chains. For businesses, reasonable supply chain transparency is not only an effective means of shaping a positive reputation and enhancing consumer confidence and purchasing intent, but also significantly reduces capital costs by mitigating information asymmetry. However, the increased proprietary costs associated with enhanced transparency pose a significant challenge for businesses. Therefore, when making decisions regarding supply chain transparency disclosure, food companies are essentially balancing the benefits of capital cost savings against the potential increase in proprietary costs. Unfortunately, existing research has not yet delved deeply into how food companies precisely quantify and balance the proprietary costs incurred by supply chain transparency against the reduced capital costs, leaving this critical decision-making mechanism as a theoretical gap. Future research urgently needs to focus on revealing the underlying logic and influencing factors of this balancing process, providing a solid theoretical foundation and practical guidance for food companies to formulate optimal transparency strategies in complex environments.