Halal supply chain: a bibliometric analysis

Abstract

Purpose This paper aims to study research performance in halal supply chains. This study identifies the leading scholars, research themes and leading journals. Design/methodology/approach This study adopts the bibliometric method. A total of 228 research publications indexed by Scopus were analysed. The export data are then processed and analysed using the R Biblioshiny application program to find out the bibliometric map of the halal supply chain. Findings Research in halal supply chain has experienced fast growth since 2016, dominated by food-centric research by Malaysian universities. Research gaps are topics: halal procurement, halal clusters and halal value chain; industry: non-food; and countries: beyond Malaysia. Future expected halal supply chain trending research areas are: halal blockchains, halal supply chain management, halal performance, halal risk management and sustainability in halal supply chains. Research limitations/implications This research paper adopts a bibliometric method based on English publications on the halal supply chain theme from the Scopus database collected on November 1, 2021. Publications in local languages, as well as publications in non-academic journals, are being ignored in this research. Practical implications This study shows that halal supply chain management is an emerging requirement, is complex to manage for brand owners and needs new concepts and tools for halal industries to embrace a halal supply chain and value chain approach. Originality/value This study provides an objective evaluation of the research progress in halal supply chains; this study highlights the achievements and the research gaps and discusses the contribution to the scientific community.