Abstract
The global Halal food market is expanding rapidly, yet ensuring the integrity, transparency, and traceability of Halal meat supply chains remains a major challenge, particularly in multi jurisdictional contexts where standards, certification regimes, and enforcement capacities vary. New Zealand, a key exporter of Halal-certified red meat, faces vulnerabilities such as documentation inaccuracies, cross-contamination risks, verification difficulties, and institutional fragmentation that threaten consumer trust and market access. Addressing these challenges necessitates a systemic shift from reactive compliance toward proactive assurance, enabling end-to-end transparency and strengthening trust across the supply chain. This doctoral research aims to design, develop, and validate an Industry 4.0–enabled framework to enhance the integrity and trustworthiness of New Zealand’s Halal red-meat supply chain. Guided by a Design Science Research (DSR) methodology, the study uses a mixed-methods approach combining a systematic literature review, semi-structured interviews with 16 stakeholders, and two expert surveys. Reflexive Thematic Analysis identified six key risk domains: animal welfare and biosecurity, Halal compliance, traceability and documentation, cross contamination, post-slaughter logistics, and technology adoption. The study proposes a three layer Industry 4.0 prototype: a Network Layer integrating IoT, RFID, and GPS for real-time data capture; a Support Layer using cloud computing, AI, and blockchain for secure processing, automated certification, and predictive analytics; and an Application Layer deploying digital twins for remote auditing, AR for training, and QR/NFC for consumer verification. Expert evaluation confirmed the model’s value and robustness across technological and operational dimensions. Theoretically, the study embeds Halal governance within supply chain and socio technical systems theory and advances multi-technology convergence. Practically, it offers a scalable roadmap for regulators, certifiers, and industry. Despite limitations such as the absence of field pilots, the research establishes a foundation for proactive, digitally governed Halal supply chains, reinforcing New Zealand’s leadership in global markets.