For various reasons fruits and vegetables are particularly susceptible to quality losses after harvest and do not satisfy the quality demands of the consumers at purchase. The aim of the project is the optimisation of freshness-preserving provisions along the supply chain such that organic vegetables of regional cultivation reach for the consumer a surplus value through the perceived freshness. Therefore, measurement series were planned which enables the examination of the temperature of selected products along the distribution chain considering spatial and time aspects of the processing steps. Investigation of the overall temperature load allows the estimation of respiration losses by what the degree of quality reduction can be described. This analysis of weak points within the distribution chain leads to improvements with respect to quality enhancement. Preliminary results on broccoli production indicate optimisation potentials on the producer side as well as in retail. Reduction of losses in product freshness can be mainly realised by acceleration of the cooling process and by improved product handling