Supply Chain Management and the Changing Structure of U.S. Organic Produce

Replaced with revised version of paper 08/31/06.supply chain, produce, organic, vertical coordination, Agribusiness,

Under which conditions is carrier cooperation possible? A case study in a Seville marketplace

The high volume of traffic originates two well-known problems in many cities: congestion and pollution. In recent years, a social phenomenon is emerging cooperation. This work is aimed at evaluating the circumstances under which transport cooperation is possible between different stakeholders operating in the same geographical area. To this end, a double survey process was conducted in a marketplace situated in the Seville City (Spain) centre. The first survey was designed to know the characteristics of the retailers and their preferences with respect to cooperation and regulations. A relational analysis between retailer features and their willingness to cooperate was carried out. After analysing the motivations for non-cooperation, a mixed proposal was designed and surveyed. Although the research was limited to a marketplace, the relevant data gathered from this double survey process highlights some implications: (a) the importance of personal relations in retailer cooperation; (b) a high volume of freight and the use of vans as on-street warehouses appear as significant motivations for non-cooperation; (c) forcing changes in the statu quo encourages cooperation.Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (España) TEC2013-47286-C3-3-

The Flemish frozen-vegetable industry as an example of cluster analysis: Flanders Vegetable Valley.

frozen-vegetable industry; cluster analysis; high-tech valleys; research triangles; inovative entrepreneurship; knowledge tranfer; cluster formation;

Quantitative description of the fruit industry and fruit supply chains in Poland

The development of consumer-driven, efficient, responsive and innovative supply chains is crucial for the growth of fruit consumption in Europe and for a competitive, sustainable fruit sector. Currently, fruit supply chains are characterized by a relatively low level of consumer orientation and consumer-driven innovations. The awareness of the functioning of supply chains in the European fruit sector should be increased to be able to increase the level of consumer-drivenness, efficiency, and responsiveness of fruit supply chains. This paper presents the results of review of fruit supply chains’ from the fruit industry in Poland. The analysis of supply chains is preceded by a review of fruit consumption, fruit production, trade characteristic and trends. Moreover, the role of different actors in the functioning of fruit supply chains is presented as well as their quantitative characteristics. To present the characteristics of the fruit industry in Poland with particular attention to functioning of supply chains in Poland, desk research was carried out. This type of research includes use of general access sources of information. The following sources were used: literature on functioning of supply chains and role of particular actors in a chain, analyses considering characteristic of fruit industry conducted by various research institutes as well as reports on a current state and development perspectives of fruit market in Poland. In addition, statistical data from the national statistical office were used.fruit production, fruit consumption, fruit industry, fruit supply chains, trade, horticulture, Agricultural and Food Policy, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

Supply Chain Analysis of Fresh Fruit and Vegetables in Germany

With a population of 82.5 million, the German market is the largest in the EU and therefore of special interest for the trade partners. Despite an unsatisfying economic development in the last years (lowest GDP growth in the EU and rising unemployment, see Table 9 in the annex) Germany is still a very attractive market with well funded consumers. Although agriculture has a small and declining contribution to the country?s gross domestic product, in the wider definition of the agribusiness, it is still one of the most important sectors with regard to turnover and employment. Taking consumers? expenditure for food as a proxy for the total turnover of the agribusiness yields a figure of 240 billion – in 2003, nearly as much as the turnover of the car industry in Germany. In total, 4.5 million people are employed in the agribusiness, which is 11.6% of Germany?s total labour force. Among agricultural markets, the market of fruit and vegetables is of special interest for the trade with Mediterranean countries and also of special importance for the food industry and the food consumption. In 2003 consumers? expenditure for fresh fruit and vegetables were more than 10 billion ?. The processing industry of fruit and vegetables generated another 6.5 billion – turnover, demonstrating the importance of fruit and vegetables in Germany. Bearing in mind that the self sufficiency ratios for fruit and vegetables in Germany are low (13% respectively 50%), the extent of market opportunities for the Mediterranean countries become obvious. Against this background it is the objective of this report to analyse the supply chain of fresh fruit and vegetables in Germany. In the second chapter the current market situation is briefly presented with regard to production, consumption and trade in Germany. Other aspects covered in this chapter are the demographic structure in Germany, important consumer trends and food quality issues. The third chapter is devoted in depth to the analysis of the supply chains for both fruit and vegetables. In this chapter the different actors and market channels are described with regard to their task and importance in the supply chain. In the fourth chapter the overall institutional structure is analysed. After the conclusions in the fifth chapter extensive tables and figures can be found in the annex. --

Channel Management and differentiation strategies: A case study from the market for fresh produce

The paper analyses the current differentiation strategies in the market for fresh produce. First a short review of the literature on channel structure and product differentiation is presented, in order to identify, on a theoretical grounding the incentives for differentiation strategies. Second, a case study is drawn of a UK channel intermediary organisation carrying out differentiation policies in the fresh produce category (on behalf of UK multiple retailer customers) supplied by a dedicated Italian grower. Results show that in the fresh produce industry there is room for product differentiation, but with contradictory welfare effects.fresh produce, product differentiation, channel structure and management, Agribusiness, Marketing,

Food safety requirements in African green bean exports and their impact on small farmers:

"Many African countries have moved into the production of non-traditional agricultural products, in an effort to diversify their exports and increase foreign currency earnings. However, in order to access developed country markets and urban domestic markets, these products must meet food safety requirements, including protocols relating to pesticide residues, field and pack house operations, and traceability. Faced with stringent food safety requirements, companies that establish production centers in low-income countries might exclude poor farmers, thus negatively impacting the poor. We herein study this issue in the case of the green bean export sectors in three African countries: Ethiopia, Kenya and Zambia. In the short-term, stringent food safety standards have screened out smallholders in all these countries, excluding them from the green bean export chain. However, some institutional arrangements have helped support the smallholders who continue to function in the export-oriented green bean supply chains. In particular, public-private partnerships have played a key role in creating farm-to-fork linkages that can satisfy market demands for food safety while retaining smallholders in the supply chain. Furthermore, organized producer groups capable of monitoring their own food safety requirements through collective action have become attractive to buyers who are looking for ways to ensure traceability and reduce transaction costs." from Authors' AbstractInternational food safety standards, Small farmers, Supply chains, Agricultural trade, Public-private partnerships,

Impacts of Agrifood Market Transformation during Globalization on the Poor's Rural Nonfarm Employment: Lessons for Rural Business Development Programs

This paper presents emerging evidence pointing to the transmission to developing countries' rural spaces of the impacts of agrifood market transformation occurring at national and global levels. That transmission takes place via retail chains penetrating intermediate cities and rural towns, and urban-based food manufacturers selling products to those chains as well as to traditional shops. The paper presents and justifies three main hypotheses concerning the impacts of that penetration. (1) The direct effect is that the modern retailers and modern-sector processed products directly compete with, and present potentially major challenges to, the processed foods, farm inputs, and commercial services already being undertaken in the RNFE sector by the rural poor among others. (2) The indirect effects is that modern sector firms tend, once they have "modernized" their procurement systems, to prefer larger suppliers if available, and/or small suppliers that have the requisite levels of capital assets. This further translates to a potential labor substitution bias, in particular of unskilled labor, although it may drive skilled labor demand. (3) The production and consumption linkage effects of the above impacts on RNFE firms, laborers, and farmers, all else equal, probably implies greater demand for non-tradeable goods and services in the RNFE that correspond to the demand patterns of the upper stratum of rural consumers. Faced with the above, what can business development programs do? (1) Given the change in the market context, it will be increasingly undesirable and "un-strategic," except in the most remote, hinterland areas, to maintain the separation between competitiveness and nonfarm employment programs. At least for RNF activities that supply processed products, farm inputs, and retail commerce, RNF enterprises will need to face the same general challenge that exporters in their country face on the global market, and urban firms face, which is to compete on cost and quality. (2) Second, maintaining the analogy to international competitiveness, it will be necessary go beyond a generic competitiveness approach, to employ a "customized competitiveness" strategy (a term used by Reardon and Flores 2006 for export programs, but applicable here). Such an approach focuses on understanding the specific requirements of transformed markets and building the capacity of particular groups to respond to those requirements (as suppliers) or match cost and quality and compete for specific niches. The capital assets that programs should building include market intelligence capital, organizational capital, technology capital, and financial (and risk reduction) capital. (3) In the economic transformation, this time in the rural space, the poorest, those with least assets, are again vulnerable. Special attention should be paid to equipping those households and firms to participate in the increasingly challenging rural nonfarm economy.Community/Rural/Urban Development,

Research on Integration Pattern of Agricultural Product Supply Chain under Electronic Commerce Environment in China: with Zhejiang as an Example

The electronic commerce is a modern emerging agricultural trading pattern, which brings deep influences on the commercial circulation. The traditional agricultural product supply chain consists of the producer, local market of production and sale place, wholesaler and retailer. This pattern features low circulation efficiency and big consumption of the agricultural products. To overcome these problems, the emerging agricultural product supply chain based on electronic commerce seamlessly integrates production, processing, circulation and consumption steps of agricultural products in order to fully share the supply chain information, reduce the trading cost and shorten the trading cycle. By analyzing the current conditions of the agricultural products in Zhejiang province, this paper points out problems in circulation of agricultural products in Zhejiang province, proposes supply chain integration model of agricultural products in Zhejiang province based on electronic commerce, analyzes strengths of the integration model, and proposes the recommended strategy for the supply chain of agricultural products under the electronic commerce environment in China