Creating Food Value Chain Transformations through Regional Food Hubs: A Review Article

Abstract

This article synthesizes the evidence on food value chains (FVCs) and regional food hubs (RFHs) through a systematic literature review and suggests future research directions based on the gaps identified in the review. The number of publications on FVCs and RFHs is increasing, indicating that these topics are gaining interest among scholars from different countries and disciplines. Bibliometric analysis and preferred reporting items for systematic review and a meta-analysis (PRISMA) flow chart are used to identify the data from Scopus. The results show that FVCs are an innovative solution to improve the skills and capacity of smallholder farmers through collaborative networks that can match the functions of RFHs. RFHs connect local producers and customers by operating a business based on social entrepreneurship and ecological approaches to increase local economic viability and the sustainability of agriculture products. FVCs and RFHs are designed to respond to supply chain insecurity with value-based approaches in order to achieve sustainable nutrition for the local community. Further research on FVCs and RFHs emphasizes that the business model of regional development in developing countries can improve food security sustainability based on social entrepreneurship, and emphasizes the environmental aspect that it can use to support the sustainability of developing countries local food.

1. Introduction

Food value chains (FVCs) are food networks consisting of the production, logistics, distribution, and marketing of food products and collaboration in the short or long term [1]. The concept of FVCs is often interchangeably based on the entities and activities involved in production and distribution activities across a geographical region to fulfill the value of products [2]. FVCs are not only developed based on economic efficiency but also in consideration of value and sovereignty to maintain the availability of food [1,3]. FVCs are used to develop sustainability by considering social, ecological, and economic integrity [2,4].

FVCs play an important role in achieving food security and food safety [5,6]; therefore, disruptions to FVCs, such as the ongoing shock caused by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and humanitarian challenges, such as war and conflict, climate change, and economic crisis, have uncovered the vulnerability, food insecurity, and missing links of today’s globally dispersed FVCs [7,8,9,10]. These conditions have caused multiple impacts on society, including food poverty and poor health. Hence, preparedness against disruptions to FVCs is essential.

Facing disruptions to FVCs is needed as a future agenda; in particular, adjustments at several stages in the value chain are required to improve the effectiveness of FVC performance in order to ensure it is suitable for today’s conditions. Regarding adjustment of the FVC performance, various technologies and innovations are continuously being developed, including the development of agricultural digitization, such as the development of the Internet of Things (IoT), sensors, and blockchains [11,12]. However, the development of digitalization and innovation in the agricultural sector is a challenge for agricultural supply chain actors, especially for some food systems that are not yet well integrated [13,14].

A process that drives the entire value chain to develop a new FVC strategy is needed to improve the sustainable food system. This value chain-based vision requires a new business model that aligns stakeholder needs with the activities of value chain participants in order to formulate a sustainable and reasonable value proposition [15,16,17]. To address today’s FVC challenges, the development of regional food hubs (RFHs) has become a strategic plan to secure the food system by improving local producers and hubs in order to connect local producers and customers [18]. RFHs are widely used to support local communities, ensure food security, and positively impact the development of the regional social economy [19]. RFHs have become a critical institution for optimizing the FVC network and developing sustainability goals [19,20].

Some research has been conducted on FVC management in various events [21,22,23]. The increase in RFH study has led to an increase in review studies on the introduction, evaluation, and reconstruction of the food hub role. There is a need to provide a comprehensive overview of food hubs from the FVC perspective. This article examines current and contingency practices in RFHs that seek to improve the food system. Research on FVCs and RFHs has increased significantly from 2013 to the present.

This research aimed to conduct a systematic literature review (SLR) on FVC and RFH management. The review complements the existing review articles related to FVC and RFH management (see

Table 1. Differences between relevant literature review and this review.

No	Author(s)	Content Analysis? (Y/N)	Article Time Span (Year)	Food Value Chain? (Y/N)	Regional Food Hub? (Y/N)	Source
1	Soysal et al. (2012)	Y	1987–2012	Y	N	[24]
2	Rota et al. (2013)	Y	1990–2012	Y	N	[25]
3	Wahl and Bull (2014)	Y	1999–2011	Y	N	[26]
4	Berti and Mulligan (2016)	Y	-	N	Y	[19]
5	Deller et al. (2017)	Y	-	Y	Y	[27]
6	Mittal et al. (2018)	Y	2006–2016	N	Y	[28]
7	Manikas et al. (2019)	Y	-	N	Y	[29]
8	Clay and Feeney (2019)	Y	1980–2017	Y	N	[30]
9	This article	Y	2009–2022	Y	Y	-

). Table 1 shows the differences between this review and previous article reviews. The review articles listed in Table 1 were classified based on the analysis content, time spent, and the discussion categories between food value chains and regional food hubs. Y and N symbols, denoting Yes and No, respectively, indicate whether a given article was included in the predetermined classification.

In Table 1, four articles [19,27,28,29] that reviewed RFHs in the context of sustainability are listed. Berti and Mulligan reviewed articles related to RFHs to improve the capability of regional and local food networks based on the shared value strategy [19]. Their article discussed a strategy that involves creating a structural and sustainable agri-food system in order to improve the capability of regional and local food hubs. However, articles in this area have been increasing recently, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic and the rise in global wars and conflict. Furthermore, Berti and Mulligan’s review differs from this article. It focused on developing a conceptual RFH framework as an alternative strategy to improve small family farms through a local food system based on value-based food supply chains. Deller et al. reviewed the literature regarding local and regional food networks to develop community wellbeing. Deller et al. focused on improving local and regional food networks by reviewing earlier literature articles [27].

Further Mittal et al. undertook a systemic literature review (SLR) regarding best practice in logistics for regional food systems to improve the capacity and capability of the logistics system of each local food chains actor [29]. Manikas et al. focused on an agro-food hub paradigm conceptual framework that details the collaboration action involved in developing value-based agro-food hubs, and agro-food hubs’ roles in developing communities [29]. However, these articles do not cover the essential principles of sustainable FVCs needed to develop RFHs as an alternative solution for local food sources.

Furthermore, Soysal et al. reviewed sustainable food supply chains (SFSCs) and focused on the improvement of food capacity and capability by enhancing value-added logistics [24]. Rota et al. reviewed the importance of collaboration and relationships from three perspectives, supply chain management, transaction cost economics, and resources-based theory, to design a theoretical framework for sustainable food supply chains [25]. Another review introduced by Wahl and Bull identified the critical aspect of global value chains based on sustainability issues [26]. Moreover, a recent literature review by Mac Clay and Feeney examined the methodologies used to analyze agribusiness value chains [30]. In summary, to date, no SLR study has comprehensively examined the RFH business model from an FVC perspective.

Therefore, given the rapid development of RFH practices, this paper aimed to identify critical issues in this area and shed light on the direction of future research. The study examined research published on RFHs between 2009 and 2021 and updated earlier reviews to identify gaps in the understanding of this research’s development. This literature review featured three research questions (RQ), which are listed below.

• RQ₁: How many publications are there on growth-related FVCs that contribute towards developing the RFH business model?
• RQ₂: What research methodologies are used on FVC and RFH studies?
• RQ₃: What is the research gap with regard to the transformation of FVCs and RFHs?

Finally, this paper provides a new definition that extends the existing definition of RFHs through the FVC approach. In addition, this study also examined studies that focused on the development of RFHs as a potential strategy to respond to uncertain situations, such as those faced by the world today.

2. Systematic Literature Review

This paper used the preferred reporting items for systematic review and meta-analysis (PRISMA) guidelines [31]. PRISMA has provided clear guidelines for systematic literature reviews to improve the quality of reporting and methodology [32,33]. Bibliometric analysis was used to analyze articles. Bibliometric analysis is a systematic literature review process based on statistical measures that assesses the sound knowledge of articles [34]. There are four types of bibliometric analysis: (1) bibliographic linkage, (2) co-citation analysis, (3) co-author analysis, and (4) co-word analysis [35,36].

This article used bibliographic linkage and co-authorship analysis to analyze citations and identify standard references in articles, documents, and journals [35,37]. Co-author analysis analyzes authors, their countries, and affiliations within the same articles [35]. Co-words analysis identifies the conceptual structure of the topic by analyzing the main keywords in a document [35]. Therefore, co-word research is relevant to this discussion, as it can assist in exploring collaboration and relevant keywords. The R package was used in this study to identify the bibliometric analysis.

2.1. Identification of Study

The literature on FVCs and the concept of RFHs covers various topics, such as agriculture, sustainability, supply chains, consumption, innovation, value chains, and business models. The first step is to identify the search terms in order to determine the phenomenon of interest [38]. This study conducted rapid research on FVCs supporting the RFH business model in developing countries to identify the search terms. We identified the following keywords: agricultural value chains, food value chains, alternative food value chains, local food chains, food hubs, regional food hubs, local food hubs, and business models.

A search string was created using these keywords and the Boolean compounds OR and AND. The search engine used the Scopus database on 18 July 2021, to find the relevant articles. Scopus was used because this database is reported to be the largest database, and has a large number of records [39,40]. The Scopus database contains 81 million curated documents and 7000 accessible publishers. Moreover, the Scopus database provides more efficient and faster document management than other databases. Scopus was also selected because this database is the most comprehensive repository of peer-reviewed journals in multidisciplinary sciences. The keywords used in this review were:

((“agr* value chain*” OR “food value chain*” OR “local food value chain*” OR “alternative food value chain*” OR “food hub*” OR “local food hub*” OR “regional food hub*” OR “local agr* food hub*”) AND (“business model” OR “food business model” AND “value chain* analysis”))

There were 1176 items found in this search result. Explicitly, this search was limited to document type articles, source type journals, and English-language journals only. Certain document types, for example, conference papers, book chapters, reviews, notes, books, conference reports, and editorials, were excluded. The source type excluded conference proceedings, books, journals, and book series. The purpose of restricting the journal type was to obtain comprehensive data. Based on the criteria applied, 221 articles from 2009 to 2021 were considered. The 221 articles were then used as a database to be processed at the bibliometrics analysis stage. The results of the data analysis are described in Section 3.1 and Section 3.2.

2.2. Selection of Study

This review used some criteria to eliminate irrelevant articles from the 221 articles obtained, and the elimination was based on the selection of titles, abstracts, and keywords. The criteria for the elimination process are shown in the following table.

2.3. Data Extraction and Analysis

In the data extraction, the PRISMA diagram was used (Figure 1), and four screening phases were performed [41]. The first screening was performed in the Scopus database using restriction data. In addition, this analysis identified 221 articles; these were subjected to the second screening phase based on the corresponding criteria in

Table 2. The criteria for article selections.

Criteria	Decision	Justification
Sector	Agriculture and food sector only	This research is specific to developing food security through the RFH business model.
Scope	Food value chains, regional food hubs, and business models	This research focuses on developing food security to improve local agriculture’s value through developing the RFH business model.
Geographic location	Global	RFHs are widely used in developed countries such as the United States, European countries, and Mexico [19]. The global region can describe the strategies that can be used to overcome an entrepreneurship model for developing countries.
Nature of study	Empirical	Empirical cases were selected because the studies can offer extensive evidence of FVCs and business models.
Time limit	No limit	There is no time limit to receive information about FVCs and RFHs [42].
Method	Quantitative and qualitative	Both quantitative and qualitative methods provide an empirical study of FVCs and RFHs.

, and 71 articles were selected. After checking the availability of the items, we selected 67 items.

Next, the study performed backward and forward citation analyses of these 67 articles using Google Scholar and the Scopus database. The backward and forward analyses bridged the gap between articles related to FVCs and RFHs. When conducting the analyses, the authors researched the keywords and then rechecked the selected database (67 articles). Then, the authors redid the inclusion and exclusion processes based on the criteria in Table 2. If the articles were considered relevant and had not been entered in the previous database, the articles were added as selected references [43]. Furthermore, four articles could not be downloaded because their full text was not available. The final number of articles to be analyzed was 77 articles published between 2013–2022. The final screening step was to read the independently evaluated full texts to obtain more in-depth information about FVCs and RFHs; this step is detailed in Section 3.3, Section 3.4, Section 3.5, Section 3.6 and Section 3.7.

3. Results

3.1. The Number of Publications on Growth-Related Food Value Chains and Regional Food Hubs

A total of 221 articles related to FVCs and RFHs from 2009 to 2021 were analyzed (see Figure 2). The significant growth in articles began in 2015, with the first articles from 2009 authored by Wiskerke, Ismail, and Noordin et al. The Wiskerke article on food systems was titled, on Place lost and Places Regained: “Reflections on the Alternative Food Geography and Sustainable Regional Development.” The article emphasized the emergence of an alternative paradigm in response to the problems associated with agro-industrial logic to mitigate food insecurity and promote agribusiness sustainability [44]. Ismail published an article on food centers titled, “Technical Efficiency, Technical Change, and Demand for Skills in Malaysia Food-Based Industry.” This article discussed the types of technical efficiency and changes in halal food centers that could affect demand [45].

Furthermore, Noordin et al. also discussed the value chains for halal certification in the Malaysia Halal Food Hub in “Value Chain of Halal Certification System: A Case of The Malaysia Halal Industry” [46]. Articles related to FVCs and RFHs are continuously increasing, and from 2017 to 2020, there was a significant increase in the number of items. In 2017, twenty-eight articles were published, and in 2020, the number of articles related to FVCs and RFHs was about 57. In 2021, scholars discussed the FVCs in the context of smallholder collaboration, value-added commodities, and economic scale-up. Meanwhile, more authors addressed RFHs to design sustainable food networks and improve facility locations.

As seen in Figure 3, developed countries were found to have published the most articles on FVCs and RFHs, recording 180 articles in 2009–2021. The countries that published the most articles on FVCs and RFHs were the USA, Canada, Italy, Australia, UK, and European countries. The US was the country with the most articles about RFHs. This result is not a surprise, as the US is the leading country in the development of the RFH model. Meanwhile, only 41 articles on FVCs and RFHs between 2009 and 2021 were published in developing countries. Some of these articles, from India, Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia, describe alternative food networks and FVCs. Authors from the African continent have also contributed to analyzing issues related to FVCs.

The most common theme contributed by developing countries concerned shaping smallholder farmers by improving the value of farmers and products. Several authors from developing countries have contributed to journals that address RFHs [45,46,47]. Perdana et al. (2020) discussed RFH location issues using a mathematical model and considered the COVID-19 pandemic era.

Several developed countries have discussed RFHs and alternative food networks to improve their capacity and capabilities for food sustainability. Our study conducted an additional growth curve analysis, because developing countries are concerned with food security and competitiveness. We determined the proportions of publications on FVCs and RFHs authored in developed and developing countries. Authors from developed countries dominated, and further analysis of these publications from the perspective of authors from developing countries is needed.

3.2. Overview of Food Value Chains and Regional Food Hubs Based on the Bibliometric Analysis

This section discusses the bibliometric analysis in order to present an overview related to FVCs and RFHs. Co-occurrence was used in this section. The co-occurrence network identifies the association of words based on their pairwise occurrence in a given text unit. The conceptual structure helps authors to create a map to illustrate co-occurrence networks system of the Scopus database.

Co-occurrence analysis is a valuable tool for clarifying research limitations. In a co-occurrence map, the size of a given word node reflects the number of co-occurring phrases. The proximity of the nodes indicates the degree of intellectual relatedness. Close words often occur together, and vice versa for distant words. The lines connecting the word nodes represent the agreement of these phrases with those of other scholars. The colors of the frequently cited phrases represent the “school of thought” that comprises the knowledge structure of the field or research discipline (in this case, FVCs and RFHs).

Figure 4 shows that only two clusters were identified in the database for FVCs and RFHs. The most popular keywords were food supply (cluster 1) and human (cluster 2). In the papers from 2009 to 2021, words related to food supply, such as sustainability, marketing, supply chain management, food production, and rural were frequently used. In contrast, Cluster 2 mainly used words related to humans, such as catering service, farmworker, consumer behavior analysis, perception, human experiment, and rural population.

The thematic analysis assessed core issues related to the 2009–2021 FVC and RFH periods. This section also identified critical thematic areas for research, composition, relationships, and development during the analysis period [48]. The thematic development steps aimed to capture the main topics addressed, their relationships, and the evolution of FVCs and RFHs from 2009 to 2021. The map of thematic development is divided into four types of themes. The map is defined according to the quadrant in which the theme is classified [49].

• Fundamental themes are divided into the high centrality and low density categories. Fundamental topics are essential to the field of study and refer to general topics that cross different fields of study.
• Motor topics are divided into the high centrality and density categories. Motor topics are essential to the development of the field.
• Isolated or niche topics have well-developed internal connections or high densities. However, these topics are categorized as non-essential external links with low centrality, and their subject matter is of limited importance.
• Emerging or declining topics are characterized by low centrality and high density. Emerging topics are categorized as underdeveloped and marginal.

Bibliometrics uses thematic maps to outline conceptual structure. The network of common occurrences of words defines what scholars in the field are talking about, including major themes and trends. Thematic maps use keywords plus to capture an article’s content in more depth and diversity.

Figure 5 shows eight topic clusters related to the FVC and RFH database. The driving themes included two themes, marketing and sustainability. The marketing themes were related to farmers, cropland, nutrient content, economics, and gender. The sustainability themes were related to sustainable development, alternative agriculture, rural areas, and adaptive management. These concept themes related to local agricultural development, alternative food development, and marketing strategies with various approaches that help improve local agriculture.

The upper-left quadrant shows topics with high density but unimportant external links and limited importance to the field (low centrality). The destination theme can be found in this quadrant because the unit of analysis was the destination in most cases. At the same time, businesses and people were closely related to sustainability. The human concept in this quadrant consisted of food security, social change, and experiences. On the other hand, the business theme was associated with industrial enterprises. People and business were classified as a concept to maintain food sustainability for future generations.

The lower right quadrant shows the primary and transverse themes. These themes related to general topics that were transverse to the various research areas of the field. The United States, food supply, and Canada appeared in this area. The United States theme was related to food production, food and agricultural markets, consumer behavior, decision-making and agricultural policy, and economic development. The food supply theme was related to supply chain management, economic, organizational, and community resource management, and competitiveness. The Canada theme was related to food safety, governance approach, and food security.

This section presents the ten most popular keywords and the thematic evolution research on FVCs and RFHs. By comparing the keywords plus of each cluster (Figure 4) and the thematic evolution research (Figure 5), bibliometric analysis identified the research areas and gaps between FVCs and RFHs. The missing research related to the keywords on FVC and RFH was related to food business models that demonstrate how food systems can be developed by promoting local community sources for sustainability in an uncertain world.

3.3. Analysis of Research Methodology Used in Food Value Chain and Regional Food Hub Studies

This subsection describes the standard methods used by researchers to analyze FVCs and RFHs. A research method is a specific procedure or technique used to identify, select, process, and explore a topic. Both qualitative and quantitative methodologies have been used in FVC and RFH research, as shown in

Table 3. Thematic evolution and methods of identified articles.

Methods	Thematic Evolution
	Business	Food Hubs	Marketing	Sustainability	Food Value Chains	Grand Total
Action Research		1			2	3
Case Study		2		1	1	4
Ethnographical		1			1	2
Grounded Theory		2				2
Integer Programming		1			2	3
Mixed Methods	1	3		1	6	11
Modelling	1				2	3
Optimization		4				4
Phenomenology	5	10	2	3	12	32
Simulation		1		1		2
Statistics	2	3	2	1	3	11
Grand Total	9	28	4	7	29	77

. The data in Table 3 were analyzed based on the Scopus database referencing FVCs and RFHs. Scholars used three popular methods: phenomenology, mixed methods, and statistics.

Most scholars used qualitative analysis to establish their cases. A qualitative study uses ethnographic research to assess the real-world setting that the scientist observes. This research aims to identify the keywords or construct of the conceptual framework based on real-time data [50,51]. Phenomenology was a popular method used by scholars to identify various themes. Phenomenology is a qualitative method for objectively evaluating and describing a phenomenon that begins without hypotheses or assumptions. The popular tools used by scholars to analyze their data were NVivo (in different software versions), Maxqda, and Atlas.ti. The phenomenology used to evaluate in-depth qualitative data described the framework or terminology of food value chains and food hubs (both in terms of local and regional food hubs) [52,53,54,55,56].

Some authors used the causal loop diagram tool to trace cause and effect chains in several case studies of agricultural value chains in terms of collaboration in and the improvement of their food supply [57]. The authors collected data through interviews [57]. Porter’s Five Forces Model and Business Model Canvas criteria were used by Mihailović et al. (2020) to explore differences in business strategies in the alternative food network in Serbia [58]. Another analysis used Participatory Action Research (PAR) to develop strategic food security issues from the perspective of informants [59]. Some work used SWOT analysis to develop FVCs and business strategy [60,61]. The stakeholder matrix and value chain map were used to identify the collaborative role in FVCs [62].

The second popular method used by authors was a statistical analysis to evaluate strategies for improving FVCs, RFHs, and alternative food distribution networks. Statistical analysis was used to understand gender perspectives on FVCs, economic and social sustainability, farmer regeneration, and consumer perspectives on local food [63,64,65,66,67,68,69,70,71,72]. The tools commonly used for statistical analysis were SPSS and the software ANOVA. Data collection was used to collect secondary data, particularly for analyzing potential economic and geographic populations and population density.

Mixed-methods was the third methodology used by researchers. This was used to answer the research question through qualitative and quantitative analysis and to explore the potential growth of FVCs and RFHs to improve sustainability [73,74,75,76,77,78,79,80]. Data were collected using a structuring questionnaire, a closed-ended questionnaire survey for quantitative analysis, and an open-ended questionnaire survey. Some authors also conducted focus group discussions and workshops. All papers used case study methods to conduct their analyses. Researchers used standard techniques, such as the binary probit model, the two-stage Heckman model, and statistical analysis using SPSS software. Quantitative analysis combined with the analysis of qualitative techniques used explanatory research, narrative research, and thematic analysis.

Several researchers used mathematical methods to provide a comprehensive analysis. Perdana et al. (2020) used an optimization model to determine the optimal location of RFHs given the COVID-19 pandemic, called the Multi-Objective-Many-to-Many Location Routing Problem Model [47]. Other authors used optimization models to analyze the RFH business environment and the optimal location for RFHs, and also used Mixed-Integer Linear Programming (MILP), and an optima regional product aggregation that used MILP [81,82,83,84]. These papers used secondary data to obtain a complete result.

Some authors used Discrete Event Simulation (DES), Agent-Based Modeling (ABM), and System Dynamic for modeling and simulation [85,86]. A simulation model based on ABM and DES was developed to determine the impact of incorporating various efficiency improvement practices into food center warehousing [86]. System dynamics was used to evaluate local food network’s last-mile logistics and distribution strategy [85], validating these modeling and simulation models through real-world data collection. Case studies also described and measured the causal relationship between related parameters.

According to Table 3, the most popular methods used by scholars, to evaluate and analyze the FVCs and RFHs were phenomenology, statistics, and mixed methods. With the increase in designing RFH business models based on the local environment, there is a need to use simulation and mathematical methods, such as optimization, integer programming, and linear programming, to improve the optimization of RFHs and thereby improve RFH practices. Scholar also used the grounded theory to design RFH business models, especially for developing countries, as a reference for an alternative food network in uncertain situations. Finally, there was a lack of strategy in the planning process to develop or improve the capacity of RFHs based on the FVC perspective.

3.4. Food Value Chains and Their Relationship with Sustainable Local Agriculture

The food value chain (FVC) is a set of value-added activities within a business that provides value to customers [87]. These value-added activities are broadly classified into three categories: production activities (inbound logistics, operations, and services), marketing activities (outbound activities, marketing, and sales), and support services (infrastructure, technology, procurement, and human resources management). The value chain activities concern customer benefits, and the interrelated activities create value and increase the performance of the whole FVC activities.

Table 4. Article of food value chains based on sustainability perspective.

Sustainability Category	Study Area	Topic of The Research	Food Value Chain			Sources
			Production Activities	Marketing Activities	Support Services
Economic	Regional	- Smallholder Competitiveness	√	√	√	[58,60,64,74,75,91]
		- Technology and Farming Innovativeness	√			[53,73,92]
		- Management and Business Models	√	√	√	[1,3,53,57,93,94]
		- Financial Policy			√	[67]
	Global	- Business Strategy	√	√		[90]
Social	Regional	- Institutional Analysis	√	√	√	[53,54,76,89,95]
		- Gender Issues	√	√	√	[59,63,68,96]
	Global	- Knowledge and Capacity Building	√		√	[51]
Environmental	Regional	- Improving Knowledge	√			[88]

shows the research related to FVCs. Most articles related to FVCs from the Scopus database discussed sustainability based on three sustainability pillars (economic, social, and environmental), with most focusing on the economic and social perspectives. Meanwhile, discussion of FVCs related to environmental issues was still limited [88]. The problems analyzed were more related to increasing the added value of products and developing the level of competitiveness for food value chain actors (especially for smallholder farmers), specifically for developing countries that are still struggling to improve their FVC competitiveness because of the dominance of smallholders and scattered production areas in various regions [76,89].

The implementation of FVCs is closely related to the development of smallholders and is developed based on the specific cases in a region. Hence, a few scholars discussed FVCs in the context of global issues, such as business strategy, knowledge, and capacity building [51,90]. The review showed that FVCs were seen more as a strategy that can be adopted to develop region’s potential rather than to develop a food network at the global level [64,75,91]. Research topics often discussed by researchers related to FVC were mostly related to the development of upstream food actors. Most articles developed alternative strategies to overcome the problem of competitiveness and the value-adding of food products [74,76,88,92].

Production activities are a critical category in FVC, with these activities involving developing complex and dynamic competitiveness value for smallholders. The development of production activities discussed in articles included smallholder competitiveness, technology, farming innovativeness, management, business, institution-related food networks, gender issues in production activities, and improving smallholders’ knowledge. Meanwhile, studies that involved marketing and support services were more concerned with discussing competitiveness, business, financial policy, gender issues, and improving knowledge.

In general, Table 4 shows that since 2016, FVC articles have been more focused on discussing regional FVCs than global FVCs. FVCs gave become an alternative strategy to improve local agricultural competitiveness and secure national food security in order to reduce global FVCs. Several articles developed FVC models to enhance local communities. The results were considered alternative solutions to overcome the uncertainty of global value chains due to the various disruptions that can affect these, such as war and conflict, and the current unexpected COVID-19 pandemic situation.

3.5. Definition of Regional Food Hubs through the Prespective of Sustainability

The RFH concept has attracted and embraced a variety of different stakeholders in FVCs. The concept has been driven by the USDA’s Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food (KYF2) program, which was launched in 2009. RFHs also continue to evolve to support agriculture, rural development, and healthy eating [97]. The USDA has also stated that conceptual RFHs need to improve infrastructure, services, market access, and knowledge capacity to achieve their sustainability goals. RFHs are designed to improve market access for local producers and are expected to provide high-quality products that meet the product standards demanded by consumers. Therefore, an RFH has been defined as a business or organization that supports the aggregation, distribution, and marketing of agricultural products [97]. In addition, RFHs are intended to help improve the food system by creating a reliable supplier for local producers.

The concept of RFHs has been positive for regional food systems and community development. RFHs are important for connecting local suppliers and buyers and provide various services to support the food system [77]. Berti and Mulligan noted that RFHs were developed based on the value chain system [19]. Christensen et al. stated that RFHs are a business strategy to improve the performance of local food producers and are directly related to the local market. RFHs play a critical role in feeding society through the development of local communities [98]. RFHs provide assistance to small and medium-sized farmers who do not have direct access to the local market. RFHs typically provide a combination of post-harvest, sales, and marketing services, the cost of which allows producers to access the market and aims to increase farmers’ income.

The implementation of RFHs has expanded, and some scholars have also defined RFHs from a broader perspective. An RFH is not only an association of companies that provides services, but is now classified as a strategy for developing sustainable food systems. RFHs are becoming a strategic approach to improving food provider performance in some regions. Morley defined food procurement as a consideration of sustainable practices to respond to current business orientations. To support a sustainable food system, one must consider values, share ideas, and understand a unique food system.

The food sustainability improvement process aims lead to innovative improvements in effectiveness and concrete food business [53,99]. Krejci and Beamon also argued that an RFH is a strategy for developing long-term economic, social, and environmental sustainability [29,100]. To ensure the long-term sustainability of RFHs, organizational-level outcomes must be able to sustain the role of RFHs for this purpose. Blay-Palmer et al. explained that RFHs aim to create a sustainable production and consumption culture for local food [19,20,101]. RFH sustainability must consider effective logistics and distribution processes that can reduce air pollution and cost efficiency, reduce product damage, and mitigate unexpected situations, such as the COVID-19 pandemic [47,81,84,86]. RFHs are linked to sustainable development and community-based organizations that act as market-based organizations to support local producers [19]. RFHs also need to improve local markets’ access to global markets [45,65]. Avestisyan and Ross also provide a comprehensive description of RFHs. An RFH is a social entrepreneurial process to create long-term social and economic value [102,103]. The nature of this process depends on which RFH concept the specific actors use, and the characteristics of the particular food system. Fischer et al. improved the framework in relation to RFHs to propose that an RFH is an organization that combines marketing and sales functions to achieve the goals of its social mission. Social plans within RFHs include supporting the development of local producers, improving nutrition and easy access to food for the community, and positively impacting the local economy [104].

Cleveland et al. noted that an RFH is a business process that motivates local actors to achieve economic goals based on social and environmental approaches [18]. Transforming local producers requires collective action to improve capacity and efficiency and to reduce competitiveness in the global market [54]. According to the definition of RFHs given by different scholars, there are three categories of definitions. There are value-based, sustainable strategy development, and social entrepreneurial approaches (

Table 5. Definitions of regional food hubs.

Approaches	Definition	Authors
Value-Based	An RFH refers to a local aggregator hub that connects local producers and markets, conceptualizing a value-based approach in the chain of activities.	[19,20,77]
Sustainable Strategy Development	An RFH is an innovative business strategy that attempts to empower local producers through social, environmental, and economic approaches, through collaboration with various parties in the food chain.	[47,53,65,81,84,99,101,105]
Social Entrepreneurial	An RFH is a social entrepreneur that enhances the capabilities and capacities of local producers to meet their customers’ need to in turn achieve the long-term competitiveness of local products.	[18,54,102,103,106]

).

3.6. Designs, Functions, and Development of Sustainable Regional Food Hubs

Many researchers describe RFH functionality as an ever-changing business structure and an innovative business model that cushions changing environments and satisfies local customers [19,97]. Theoretical identification is critical when attempting to create a conceptual framework for RFHs. For this reason, this study examined the RFH literature to determine all the functions that RFHs perform.

An RFH is an aggregator hub based on a community organization whose essential functions are to increase the competitiveness of local farmers and meet the needs of their customers. RFHs target fragmented and decentralized producers and customers by strategically planning food procurement, logistics, distribution, and marketing. As they have evolved, RFHs have become an innovative business model in the agricultural sector that supports the value creation of local products and provides services that improve food sustainability [19,29,101,106]. RFHs are business-oriented and aim to develop local and regional environments [103].

According to the three RFH classifications, i.e., the values-based, the sustainable strategy development, and social entrepreneurship approaches, an RFH is a provider that connects local farmers, markets, and consumers with a unified set of values. Shared value is created that enables economic and social beneficiaries to achieve a sustainable food system for all parties involved in FVCs. An RFH is considered a market actor that allows for the emphasis of multiple aspects in order to aid its development, such as human, material and environmental, local and global policy, production and consumption, and infrastructure aspects. Marketing and food loss and waste are a part of RFH design. RFH design should consider planning strategy, infrastructure, services, and community support strategy (Table 6).

RFHs are interested in improving the food web based on community potential and in solving the complex problems of FVCs, especially in developing countries. To highlight the problem of FVCs, the RFH concept begins with a strategic plan to determine the location of the hub in order to determine the effectiveness of product distribution, minimize production costs, and signify the effectiveness of food supply networks [47,81]. Determining the location of an RFH must be aligned with the evolution of each actor’s value proposition.

The shared values used to build an RFH business model include several factors that leverage localization and geographic location by capitalizing on environmental potential, human or population characteristics, and economic, social, and cultural potencies. The mission of RFHs is to improve food accessibility, nutritional value, the quality of local products, affordability, business transparency, democracy, and fairness to achieve sustainable diets [97]. Business model strategies should consider these points as characteristic features of the RFH model.

Infrastructure is part of the effort to support RFH activity. Physical infrastructure includes warehouses, machinery, and technology. It also includes facilities that support telecommunications and transportation networks. Optimizing the RFH warehouse is a strategy to save time and logistics costs [86]. Warehouses fulfill activities in physical locations that involve storage, sorting, packaging, labeling, and distribution to customers [97]. Infrastructure, logistics, and distribution services are key factors in improving the efficiency of RFH operations. Achieving logistical and operational efficiency is the primary characteristic of large-scale food distribution, as well as targeting inbound logistics and delivery process planning [86].

Infrastructure in RFHs consists of physical infrastructure and human resources. People are among the critical factors involved in improving RFH performance. Jablonski et al. explained the importance of human capital in the business model of the local food industry. Managing human resources can help improve costs and operational efficiency [107]. RFHs are business-oriented and based on social entrepreneurship combined with human resource management. Social entrepreneurship is an innovative process that combines resources to seize opportunities and balance social change and needs [105]. Social entrepreneurs are tasked with improving rural economies based on long-term, sustainable business value [20,94,106].

The range of services offered by an RFH is reflected in RFH services. RFHs include operational services (distribution, aggregation, branding and marketing, packaging, repackaging, and light processing, such as trimming, cutting, freezing, and product storage). RFH services are activities that link local growers to local markets, transportation, production and post-harvest services, business management, value product development, food safety and knowledge sharing, and liability insurance [97]. To support the shared value of RFHs, improving the information system and knowledge will be an integral part of the services provided by RFH. The strategy to improve relevant information and knowledge involves improving the quality of products based on market demand. In one study, the RFH was not able to retain information and knowledge because it was built on a system of transparency and value co-creation with producers and markets [108].

The fundamental challenge of RFHs as an alternative food network is to maintain the economic viability of the food system while achieving social and environmental goals. Marketing strategies are essential strategies for increasing profitability. Marketing strategies for some alternative food networks must consider commercial appeal and economic viability [109]. Marketing strategies also emphasize sociological aspects such as customer behavior, which facilitates marketing segmentation and meeting the needs of the target market. Successful marketing strategies require the consideration of relationships between local producers and consumers [18]. Relationships with local producers assist RFHs in improving local product consistency and quality, and meeting customer needs.

The services provided by RFHs also include community and environmental services. Community services are service programs that improve community performance, such as empowering youth, educating communities on agricultural practices, and raising community awareness of local products [106,110]. Community services also include programs such as food banks to reduce food waste [111]. At the same time, environmental services are provided to support the sustainability of the food system. These services are consistent with FVCs, which support the reduction in pollution and food loss during production [112].

The exchange of information and knowledge is part of the development of local communities (both local producers and local customers). Information sharing and knowledge implementation are consistent with community-based development [78]. Community involvement aims to increase shared value, enhance the viability of local businesses, and improve access to the food market. Community involvement is not only in the interest of local communities. However, connecting with market participants can lead to benefits such as quality products, efficient logistics and distribution, food tracking, and ensuring deliverability [29]. RFHs provide community support to improve the performance of the local community, including farmers and customers.

According to Mejía et al., RFH development strategy should consider an appropriate business model to attract farmers [113]. To make the RFH model attractive to farmers, operating costs, profit margins, and business sustainability should be considered [113]. The RFH business model is used as an alternative design to improve different local food supplies [50]. This model has driven the development of the value of local food supply, supported small farmers to increase economic scale, and supplied large markets. The RFH business model serves to improve the resilience and sustainability of the local food system, and its linkages to direct markets make it necessary to illuminate the role of the food system in economic decision making [19,47,50,102].

According to Manikas et al., the development of an innovative RFH business model is possible as part of the coordination process [29]. The coordination process is part of the RFH service bridge between local producers, suppliers, and customers [106]. RFHs include various characteristics, goals, organizational structures, and types that can be adapted to meet the goals of a particular community. RFH services include, but are not limited to, collection, storage, retail, distribution, food loss and waste management. RFHs help strengthen regional food systems and broader community goals related to sustainability and nutrition [114,115].

Table 6. Functions of regional food hubs based on food value chains perspective.

Function	Process Based on Value-Added	Sources
Planning	- Determining the optimum location of RFHs	[47,97]
	- Determining the uniqueness of the community to improve the value proposition	[47,97]
Infrastructure	- Social involvement - Warehouse to conduct basic processing of food (washing, weighing, sorting, grading, labelling, packing, packaging, and storage) - Human resources management	[86,97,102,106,107,110]
Services	- Operation services - Producer services	[97,108,109]
	- Marketing services	[18]
	- Community and environmental services	[106,110,111,112,115]
Community Support	- Strategy to enhance farmers’ willingness to join RFHs through emphasizing profit margins, information, transparency, and social engagement	[19,29,50,102,106,113]

Table 6. Functions of regional food hubs based on food value chains perspective.

Function	Process Based on Value-Added	Sources
Planning	- Determining the optimum location of RFHs	[47,97]
	- Determining the uniqueness of the community to improve the value proposition	[47,97]
Infrastructure	- Social involvement - Warehouse to conduct basic processing of food (washing, weighing, sorting, grading, labelling, packing, packaging, and storage) - Human resources management	[86,97,102,106,107,110]
Services	- Operation services - Producer services	[97,108,109]
	- Marketing services	[18]
	- Community and environmental services	[106,110,111,112,115]
Community Support	- Strategy to enhance farmers’ willingness to join RFHs through emphasizing profit margins, information, transparency, and social engagement	[19,29,50,102,106,113]

3.7. Research Gap of Regional Food Hubs Based on Food Value Chain Perspectsive

The various approaches and terminology related to the goals of RFH have been discussed. From an FVC perspective, RFHs has been developed using the shared value process. Value chain development is mainly aligned with the rural development strategy for poverty reduction [116,117]. The shared value process aims to improve the competitiveness of local producers based on coordination and integration between local producers, markets, and customers.

The value-chain-based approach also considers the improvement of smallholder farmers and cooperatives in order to achieve their goals. Improving the competitiveness of smallholder farmers is a silent challenge. The development process should evaluate appropriate interventions based on stakeholder needs, identify common problems among chain stakeholders, and find solutions to achieve complete results. Value chain approaches are expected to yield tangible benefits in terms of economic performance and, in some cases, poverty reduction.

The value chain is consistent with the RFH concept. Fischer et al. emphasized that the RFH consists of financially sustainable actors essential for the consolidation and commercialization of local food products [106]. This statement is consistent with the Barham et al. (2012) study, which described RFHs as businesses or organizations that actively manage local food products’ aggregation, distribution, and marketing. They use certificates of origin, primarily from local and regional producers, to strengthen the capacity of local producers and satisfy local customers [97].

The RFH is an alternative strategy to improve the local food system in order to address the various challenges of FVCs [18]. Conner et al. emphasize that the RFH is a strategy to improve the ability of local producers to satisfy local buyers [77]. Mittal and Krejci stated that the RFH is a process mechanism to market local food products that connects small producers and customers by considering the regional and local food system [86].

RFHs, as an alternative food system, provide various services that support the improvement of local producers and customers. Their benefits are provided to support the development of the local community through multiple programs. Manikas et al. explained that RFHs improve the development of local communities through a knowledge-based approach [29]. The knowledge-based approach is considered a process for promoting sharing between RFHs and local producers and RFHs and local clients. Accordingly, coordination becomes a critical issue in developing the knowledge-based approach’s sharing process.

Combining the FVC and RFH approaches strengthens the fairness of agricultural development, and FVCs help to explore the governance approach in developing countries [118]. The value chain approach thoroughly structures knowledge during intervention processes. The value chain approach in RFHs also helps determine and develop value chain competitiveness for small and medium-sized enterprises by creating new value and accountability to help developing countries improve their local agricultural capacity [117,119]. According to

Table 7. Number of articles related to regional food hubs and correlation with sustainability and food value chains.

Sustainability Category	Topic of the Research	Business Model		Food Value Chains			Source
		Commercial	Social Business	Production Activities	Marketing Activities	Support Services
Economic	- Efficiency in Distribution	√				√	[72,98,120]
	- Improving the Logistics Performance	√				√	[47,81,82,83,84,85,86,101,121]
	- Institutional Development	√			√	√	[18,51,65,77,80,103,116,122,123,124]
	- Improving the Capability of Marketing	√		√	√		[70,71,78,115]
	- Innovative Business Model	√				√	[79,113,125]
	- Financial Development	√				√	[106]
	- Collaboration Action	√				√	[126]
Social	- Rural Community Development	√		√		√	[19,55,66,67,68,69,70,71,72,73,74,75,76,77,78,79,80,81,82,83,84,85,86,87,88,89,90,91,92,93,94,95,96,97,98,99,100,101,102,103,104,105,106,107,108,109,110,111,112,113,114,115,116,117,118,119,120,121,122,123,124,125,126,127,128]
	- Institutional Development	√	√		√	√	[56,99,102,111,129,130,131,132,133,134]
Environmental	- Improving the Logistics Performance	√				√	[47,82,83,84,85,86,101,121]

, there are three research gaps regarding RFHs and FVCs.

a. 

Regional Food Hub topics lack integration between the production, marketing, and support services

This literature review demonstrates that most of the literature focuses on support services, with there being a few RFH articles that discuss production and marketing activities (Table 7). The RFH is seen as a support service to increase the value of local products. However, along with its development, the RFH also requires integrated management, from upstream to downstream, especially in marketing activities.

The support services discussed in RFH studies mainly involve infrastructure development, procurement, and human resources management [47,72,103]. Meanwhile, the development of technology supporting the RFH process is still limited to discussion. Support services in RFHs are seen as activities that can increase local economic and social value. Support services are a relatively popular topic of discussion because RFHs have been built and operate, and the majority are in developed countries, such as the United States [77,80,86]. Meanwhile for developing countries such as Indonesia, one study focused more on infrastructure development in developing optimum locations for regional food hubs [47]. Another example is a Malaysian study concerned with creating a global strategy of halal food hubs [65].

The function of RFHs focuses on support services and provides various services needed by FVC actors to increase the value-added of products, such as product supply services, marketing services, and operational services, to improve the competitive value of local farmers [18,99,104,109,115]. Therefore, RFHs, as aggregator hubs, needs to integrate the production process of local agricultural products, starting upstream until consumers receive the products. Furthermore, in the development process, collaboration and the division of roles are needed to achieve a sustainable business, mainly for RFHs operated for commercial business (market driven).

b. 

The study of Regional Food Hubs lacks terms of environmental research on the sustainability aspect

In this uncertain world, the role of FVCs is increasingly important to ensure the sustainability of the food system, especially in RFHs. Meanwhile, RFH activities, such as food procurement, production, marketing, and support services, are exposed to many environmental changes, including slow-moving changes in general conditions (e.g., climate, nutrient, and water cycles), a wide variety of disruptions to the system, and even more significant, anomalous challenges.

Environmental diversity and disturbance are not limited to floods, droughts, and extreme heat, which are a part of climate change. The environmental aspect also includes the dangers of natural disasters, pest and disease attacks, habitat intrusion, and damage to water, soil, and air, which all affect the components of the food production system. In the context of RFHs, scholars have focused on reducing air pollution through logistics efficiency [47,81,82,101]. Meanwhile, climate change and environmental conditions are expected to have important effects on food security, food safety, humanitarian issues, and nutritional content over the coming decades.

Accordingly, when developing RFHs, attention needs to be paid the environmental aspect, environmental variables, especially extreme one, pose significant risks to the food system. Environmental challenges can also disrupt the social and economic factors involved in improving local agricultural competitiveness, especially for small farmers. On the other side, consumers are faced with high product prices and quality and product supply uncertainty [85].

c. 

Studies on Regional Food Hubs Are Less Concerned with Social Business

Food security faces complex and dynamic social problems, such as poverty, hunger, farmers’ welfare, local food competitiveness, and climate change. These various social challenges require a social approach, such as social business as an alternative solution developed in multiple sectors, including the agricultural industry. Social business balances social and financial goals, which positions business processes between maximizing profits and the non-profit program [127].

Social business is seen as a potential solution to overcoming various social problems to achieve sustainability. Compared to one-time donations, social business is more effective in maintaining, managing, and better understanding the social challenges that occur in the community [19]. Social business is also used to approach small farmer groups to improve long-term cooperation. In addition, social business processes are also believed to increase the competitive value of local products so that the local community can overcome the competitive problems in the local agricultural system. As FVC actors face uncertain situations, a continuous approach is needed.

The RFH Concept, which emphasizes sustainability, value-added approaches, and social entrepreneurship (Table 5), is a potential strategy that can be developed for long-term policies, especially for developing countries. RFHs have emerged as playing an important institutional role in overcoming barriers to the food system, such as assisting small farms in distribution to various potential markets, such as grocery stores, retailers, schools, hospitals, and restaurants. The most fundamental challenge in operating RFHs is how to provide economically viable food to obtain economic benefits while working for social and environmental goals [18,19,123]. The development of the RFH business model can strengthen the implementation of the RFH process. Through these business processes, RFHs can be developed in a hybrid model to balance profit-oriented and non-profit goals, to achieve business sustainability and the competitiveness of the local community.

d. 

Regional Food Hubs studies rarely used simulation and mathematical models

Section 3.3 indicates that research regarding RFH has rarely used simulation and mathematical models (Table 3). Simulations and mathematical models in RFH design are essential in developing a potential construct of RFH models [47,85,121]. For example, mathematical modeling has been used to design an optimum RFH location and as a strategic decision in the logistics network in emerging situations, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Mathematical models help to construct the optimum network between production areas in rural areas and in efforts to meet the food needs of urban communities. Mathematical models are also used to improve the efficiency of food distribution in urban areas, taking into account various conditions that are quite complex and dynamic in urban areas. Moreover, simulations in RFH studies have been used to design strategic governance to achieve the sustainability of food networks.

The use of simulations and mathematical models for system optimization and evaluation of RFH system performance illustrates that research related to RFHs still lack the evaluations of (existing or new) systems. Based on the studies that were been identified, the use of mathematical models and simulations has not led to social and environmental development. It has not fully covered the FVC aspect (especially for production and marketing activities). The results of mathematical models and simulations in RFH studies still emphasize economic and commercial aspects.

3.8. Limitations of the Research and Future Research Direction

A limitation of this research was that a bibliometric analysis was used, as well as only one database. It was possible that some articles that were not in the database were excluded. A bibliometric analysis of articles from different databases is very challenging because the metadata of each database source may differ in structure and content. Accordingly, only the Scopus database was used in this work, which may have led to discrepancies in the analysis of the structure review. It is planned to expand the database to include more publications on FVCs and RFHs and to conduct an in-depth analysis using structural analysis. The databases included in the future research are ProQuest, Web of Science, and Ebsco. Furthermore, another limitation of this study that it was from the point of view of FVCs, so it will be more interesting to explore more deeply certain types of FVCs, for example, business strategy, roles, operation strategy, and the challenges that actors may face.

Research efforts have been devoted to reviewing food value chains and regional food hubs in the literature, especially classification and analysis related to the development of RFHs based on the FVC perspective. This study aimed to determine the research gaps related to this development. However, some areas require further research. Future research needs to shed light on the study of RFH development in developing countries. RFHs should consider integration from upstream to downstream FVC activities. Furthermore, mathematical models and simulations can be used to design optimum RFH networks. This integration allows scientists to create and conceptualize RFHs based on the local potential as part of social business. Meanwhile, little research on RFHs focuses on environmental change. Generally, researchers focus on improving social and economic performance. Additionally, there is little RFH research from developing countries.

4. Conclusions

According to bibliometrics analysis, it was found in this review that marketing and sustainability are essential in developing FVCs and RFHs. Marketing and sustainability are related to improving local competitiveness by managing economic, social, and environmental aspects. Furthermore, the common method used in FVC and RFH studies was found to be qualitative analysis, which uses various tools to obtain a comprehensive analysis.

An RFH is an effective alternative and potential food network developed based on the value-based, sustainability strategy development, and social entrepreneurship approaches. The construction of RFHs can improve shared value creation to increase the competitiveness of local products through knowledge-based development that supports the transparency of RFH businesses. Based on the FVC approach, RFHs are intended to address coordination and collaboration processes and improve the sustainability of their performance.