Agri-food supply chains (ASCs) are becoming increasingly complex, and its actors are in need of sophisticated planning tools to remain competitive in an industry that have been moving away from small individual actors towards large multi-national, highly vertically integrated cooperatives. This case study views reality from an objectivist point of view and utilises a positivist approach to study this reality. It combines qualitative and quantitative methods to study an ASC operating in the Kingdom of Sweden. This ASC’s planning processes are investigated in order to identify processes that are applicable to simulation by considering model verification, validation, and credibility.    The simulation model allowed for system analyses from a strategic perspective and, hence, simplified the planning process of evaluating different scenarios. The model was intrinsically verified and validated in consultation with the supervisor and subject reader and was thus able to accurately imitate the real-world system. The simulated scenarios comprised changes to the ASC’s infrastructure or design. The changes, in turn, comprised decommissions of one or more port-site storage facilities (HPs). Questions that were asked during the evaluation of the experiment results included what happens to the inventory levels of the non-decommissioned HPs when certain ones close? will the demand still be met? and if, then where, will queues arise in the system? It is shown that the non-decommissioned HPs will manage the closed HP’s volumes, but only to a certain extent. One closed HP does not cause severe problems, while two closed ones can create queues, which, in turn, will result in lower than desired inventory levels at the end of the harvesting period. Queues will arise from the closing of just one HP, although this queue is practically negligible, but as two are closed, the queues will create problems. The demand was able to be met even though an HP was closed, but to meet it while two HPs are closed, one of the non-decommissioned ones’ capacity must be increased. This, ultimately, generated or achieved for the host organisation a so called proof of concept (this is argued to generate credibility in the model). Some of the identified characteristics of their ASC are considered generic, while others can only be claimed to be specific the studied ASC. The study thus claims to have initiated a framework for the differentiation of strategic, tactical, and operational planning levels in an ASC.

Background: COVID-19 has brought so many changes in the business environment and in the ways of doing business. Food retail companies in Sweden have been trying to cope with the changes and challenges and have made necessary decisions to become resilient. It is in their urge to become resilient; however, the implementation is arduous at times. Purpose: The purpose of the thesis is two-folded. One is to know the supply chain inefficiencies, and the other is to understand how the inefficiencies can be mitigated through the actions of the supply chain professionals. Method: Semi-structured questions have been asked in the interviews to gather in-depth insights from the industry expert. The interviews were taken from the branch managers of food retail stores in Sweden. The analysis has been done based on the content analysis. Findings: Content analysis assisted the emergence of the factors. It was done by analyzing the quotes from the branch managers. Therefore, the relationship between the characteristics and the RBV theory has been scrutinized. Conclusion: The purpose of the thesis was to find the inefficiencies of the food retail supply chain in pandemic times. Also, it was to find the solution about how the supply chain inefficiencies can be tackled to ensure supply chain resilience in the food retail stores in Sweden. For that purpose, data have been collected right from the field where the action takes place, and therefore, the data have been analyzed. Hence, the problems have been found, and the solutions have been recommended.

At the end of the 2019 year, the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic changes human life. People have to change their way to be more safer for working and producing. For most industries, the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic is huge. The number of active labor and the order is decreased, moreover, the inventory management issues appeared in this time. Hence, The related company must find a new inventory management solution for surviving in the Covid-19 pandemic.  The subject of this research paper is about inventory management in Chinese food supply chains. And the purpose of this study is aim to dealing with the inventory management dilemma for the most company which related to the food industry during the Covid-19 pandemic. This study uses multi cases study to help readers understand the challenges and solutions of inventory management in the Chinese food industry during the Covid-19 pandemic deeply. Furthermore, this study uses qualitative research to analyze the interview data.  The analysis illustrates that the resilience supply chain and the inventory costs are important for strengthening the ability of inventory management to face the risks. And this study is significant, and it can help many Chinese enterprises find a direction for the inventory management risk during the Covid-19 pandemic. Moreover, this study can also provide a foundation for the further study of risk management for inventory.

[pt] A COVID-19 foi declarada como uma pandemia em março de 2020 pela OMS (Organização Mundial da Saúde) e até abril de 2022 infectou aproximadamente 490,7 milhões de pessoas, com pelo menos 6,17 milhões de mortes. A pandemia desafiou a segurança alimentar, agricultura e cadeias de alimentos frescos. Pesquisas sobre a análise de cadeias de suprimentos agroalimentares durante a COVID-19 indicam um maior impacto em pequenos fornecedores destas cadeias, principalmente as cadeias mais curtas, que são aquelas que possuem poucos elos. Neste contexto, esse trabalho analisa os efeitos da COVID-19 em cadeias de alimentos frescos. É desenvolvido, assim, um estudo de caso em uma organização de produtores do Rio de Janeiro. Esse estudo cobre uma revisão de escopo que identifica na literatura os principais impactos e políticas da pandemia nessa cadeia. Em seguida, os resultados são avaliados através de uma pesquisa de levantamento (survey) na organização para avaliar se as variáveis encontradas na literatura possuem aderência com as variáveis identificadas pelos respondentes da survey, que são pequenos produtores no estado do Rio de Janeiro. Por fim, o problema é modelado por meio de uma simulação por dinâmica de sistemas. Os resultados mostraram que a cadeia de suprimentos da organização é sensível a variáveis de impacto como aumento do custo de produção e não entrega de produtos, pois ao aumentar o custo de produção e a não entregar produtos, a taxa de vendas é impactada negativamente. A política de investimento em logística mostra que a taxa de vendas é impactada positivamente quando se aumenta o investimento. / [en] COVID-19 was declared a pandemic in March 2020 by the WHO (World Health Organization), and at the beginning of April 2022, it had infected approximately 490.7 million people, with at least 6.17 million deaths. The pandemic has challenged food security, agriculture, and fresh food chains. Research on the analysis of agri-food supply chains during COVID-19 indicates a more significant impact on small suppliers of these chains, especially the shorter chains, which are those with few links. In this context, this work analyzes the effects of COVID-19 on fresh food chains. Thus, a case study is developed in a producer organization in Rio de Janeiro. This study covers a scoping review that identifies in the literature the main impacts and policies of the pandemic in this chain. Then, the results are evaluated through a survey in the organization to assess whether the variables found in the literature match the variables identified by the survey respondents, who are small producers in the state of Rio de Janeiro. Finally, the problem is modeled through a system dynamics simulation. The results showed that the organization s supply chain is sensitive to impact variables such as increased production cost and non-delivery of products. As increasing production cost and not delivering products, the sales rate is negatively impacted. The investment policy in logistics shows that the sales rate is positively impacted when investment increases.

The purpose of this research is to explore how Double Loop Learning (DLL) and Lean Six Sigma tool (i.e. DMAIC-Defined, Measure, Analysis, Improvement, and Control) can be used to reduce Food Waste and Loss (FWL) in the processing and distribution units of the Food Supply Chain (FSC) in the developing countries. This study is motivated base on the identified research problem of which about one-third of every food produce is wasted yearly, which equates to 1.3 billion tonnes of food throughout the entire food supply chain, with up to 50% of FWL occur at the pre-consumption stage of FSC in the developing countries. The economic values of FWL in Sub-Saharan Africa amount to $230 billion yearly. Therefore, the focus has been on how to reduce the magnitude of FWL at the pre-consumption stage of the FSC in the developing countries while promoting continuous improvement practices. Though technological, environmental, and Supply Chain Strategies (SCS) aimed at reducing FWL are effective in some parts of the world but the effectiveness of those strategies in some countries is hindered by poor supply chain activities. This research adopted a qualitative research method through the use of multiple case study strategies, with the aid of semi-structured interviews, observation, and documents to explore the perception, understanding, and experience of the FSC stakeholders on how DMAIC-DLL can be used to reduce FWL. The findings of this study show that with the DMAIC-DLL framework, the root causes of FWL at the pre-consumption stage were identified. The study found that some Lean tools, employee improvisation, learning practices are some of the strategies that could be used in reducing FWL. The findings suggest that experiential learning, collaborative learning, and on-job training are effective learning mechanisms that could be used to promote learning in the adoption of DMAIC-DLL in the FSC. Therefore, this research contributes towards the ongoing debate on how to reduce FWL as well as the wider debate learning mechanisms that support continuous improvement practices. Future research should explore how DMAIC-DLL can be extended to other settings other than the food industry. / Federal Government of Nigeria through the Petroleum Trust Development Fund (PTDF)

Ungefär en tredjedel av all mat som produceras runt om i världen går förlorad eller slängs, vilket resulterar i negativ påverkan på klimat och miljö, ekonomiska förluster samt bortfall av mat som annars kunnat tillgodose människor med mat. Att förebygga matsvinn har således flera positiva synergieffekter, men det behövs mer kunskap om orsaker till varför det uppstår samt ett fortsatt arbete för att företag, myndigheter och organisationer gemensamt ska kunna arbeta med svinnproblematiken. Ett aktivt samarbete mellan aktörer i livsmedelskedjan har internationellt och nationellt lyfts som viktiga förutsättningar för att kunna minska matsvinnet. I Sverige startades i fjol den frivilliga överenskommelsen Samarbete för minskat matsvinn (SAMS). Detta examensarbete ämnar att kartlägga var matsvinnet uppkommer i värdekedjor för två livsmedel, nötkött och potatis, samt identifiera orsaker till varför det uppstår. Vidare syftar rapporten till att bistå SAMS i sitt fortsatta arbete för att minska matsvinn genom att identifiera möjliga förebyggande åtgärder till de identifierade orsakerna. Tillvägagångssättet bestod av fyra huvuddelar: kartläggning av värdekedjan och dess förluster, hotspot-analys för att identifiera orsaker som SAMS kan påverka och som bidrar till stora mängder svinn, rotorsaksanalys för att identifiera rotorsaker och till sist lösningsplanering för att föreslå förebyggande åtgärder. Arbetet genomfördes via en systematisk litteraturstudie, semistrukturerade intervjuer med aktörer i livsmedelskedjan samt workshop-tillfällen med SAMS-medlemmar.  Resultaten visar att flertalet orsaker uppstår i minst två av leden i värdekedjorna och att orsaker kopplade till nötkött och potatis inom primärproduktionen och industrin skiljer sig från varandra. Samtidigt har orsaker kopplade till de senare leden av värdekedjorna från grossist och framåt mer liknande karaktär, som till exempel utgånget hållbarhetsdatum. Av de kartlagda orsakerna gjordes en bedömning kring orsaker som har stor påverkan samt orsaker som kan påverkas av ett samarbete mellan aktörer, vilket resulterade i hotspot-orsaker. För både nötkött och potatis erhölls 17 hotspot- orsaker som analyserades vidare i en rotorsaksanalys med hjälp av fiskbensdiagram. Utifrån fiskbensdiagrammen och vilka orsaker som var vanligt förekommande under arbetets gång applicerades fem-varför-metoden på orsaker kopplade till utgånget hållbarhetsdatum. Sju rotorsaker identifierades vilka berör avtal, förpackningar, riktlinjer, förvaring, kundpreferenser och beställningar. Lösningsförslagen adresserar förändrade avtal och förpackningar, underlättning av nedfrysningsmöjligheter, medvetandegörande av konsument, samt förändrad förvaring i butik och beställningsrutiner. Det visade sig att många rotorsaker grundar sig i flera hotspot-orsaker vilket indikerar att åtgärderna som föreslås har potential att förebygga fler hotspot-orsaker än utgånget hållbarhetsdatum. / Nearly one third of food produced for human consumption is lost or wasted globally, which results in negative impact on the environment and climate, economic losses and people who are undernourished. Therefore, preventing food losses and food waste has several positive synergy effects. However more knowledge is needed regarding the causes of losses and waste as well as continued work for companies, authorities and organizations to be able to work effectively with the waste problem. Active cooperation between stakeholders in the food supply chain has proven to be one of four important prerequisites for successful work to reduce food waste. In Sweden, a voluntary agreement called Samarbete för minskat matsvinn, SAMS was initiated last year. This thesis aims to map where food losses and waste arise in the value chain of two products, beef and potatoes, and to identify causes why it occurs. Furthermore, the report aims to contribute to SAMS in their continued work to reduce food losses and waste by identifying opportunities to prevent the identified causes. The aim is answered through an approach that consists of four parts: mapping the value chain and its losses, hotspot analysis to identify causes SAMS can impact and that contribute to the most wastage, root cause analysis to get down to the root causes and lastly solution generation to propose preventive measures. The study was carried out through extensive literature review and interviews, as well as workshops.  The results show that most causes occur in at least two of the links in the value chain, whereas the causes for beef and potatoes differ within the primary production and industries. Meanwhile, causes within retailers and forward towards the value chain are of similar characteristics. Of the identified causes, an assessment was made of which have a major impact and can be improved by SAMS, resulting in hotspot causes. For both beef and potatoes, 17 causes were obtained which were further analyzed in root case analysis using fishbone diagrams. Based on the fishbone diagrams and often occured causes during the work process, the five-why method was applied to causes correlated to expiration date. Seven root causes were identified which are related to contracts, packaging, guidelines, storage, customer preferences, and orders. Solution proposals presented to the root causes encompass contract changes, packaging solutions, freezing options, changing consumers’ behaviors, storage opportunities and different ordering routines. It showed that many root causes are based on several hotspot causes, which indicates that the proposed solutions have potential to prevent several causes than only passed expiration date.

The food industry is one of the main drivers of climate change, with serious impacts on the living and working conditions in developing countries. Due to these sustainability issues, consumers, governments, and non-governmental organizations are pressuring food companies to rethink their current business concepts of food production. Food companies rely on supply chain governance and its mechanisms to implement sustainability standards across all tiers of their supply chains. This study examines the sustainability governance at all stages of a cocoa supply chain, from the raw material production to the retailer, by using a qualitative case study approach. The results show a differentiation of the sustainability governance according to the different supply chain stages. At the raw material production stage, sustainability is mainly improved using contracts, extensive and frequent knowledge sharing, and audits. After the raw material production stage, environmental and social sustainability is almost exclusively coordinated by certificates, while other governance mechanisms are used to foster long-term economic business relationships. This study gives detailed insights into the application intentions and the functioning of sustainability governance mechanisms and provides propositions on how to efficiently improve sustainability in food supply chains.

Det finns många olika anledningar till varför konsumenter köper närproducerat livsmedel. Vissa konsumenter köper närproducerat för att livsmedlet producerats i närheten där de bor medan andra köper närproducerat för att de anser att livsmedlet har producerats på ett miljö- och klimatvänligt sätt. Vissa konsumenter köper närproducerat för att det smakar bättre eller att de anser att det håller en högre kvalitet än andra livsmedel. Syftet med denna förstudie är att undersöka vilken relation och attityd gymnasieelever i Polhemsskolan i Gävle har till närproducerad mat, samt vilken attityd de har till förpackningar för närproducerad mat. Man vill även undersöka hur närproducenter i Gävleborgs län jobbar idag med marknadskommunikation och förpackningsdesign. För att genomföra denna förstudie har en kvantitativ studie använts. Den kvantitativa studien baseras på två stycken enkätundersökningar som gymnasieelever i Polhemsskolan i Gävle och närproducenter i Gävleborgs län fått ta del av. Enkäterna behandlade samtliga teoriområden. Teorikapitlet inleds med en bakgrundsbeskrivning om MatVärden som är en förening som arbetar för att Gävleborgs invånare men även besökare ska kunna ta del av den mat och dryck som produceras i Gävleborg. Därefter beskrivs Livsmedelsstrategin 2017, om närproducerat livsmedel, konsumenternas efterfrågan, förpackningsdesign och marknadskommunikation. Varje del har en koppling till studiens syfte som ska ligga till grund för slutsatsen. I empirin presenteras det material som samlats in i samband med den kvantitativa enkätundersökningen. Man har sett att det finns en kunskapsbrist bland gymnasieelever om närproducerat livsmedel. Det framkommer också i resultatet att de anser att en färgad och mer rolig förpackning attraherar mer än en vanlig och enkelfärgad. Närproducenter har idag svårt att ta sig ända ut till butik eftersom att det brister i både kunskap och kommunikation. De har begränsade förutsättningar att jobba i enlighet med de traditionella modeller som finns och har påvisat ett intresse för att öka sin försäljning och nå ända ut till butik. / There are many different reasons why consumers buy locally produced foods. Some consumers buy locally produced food nearby, while others buy after-production because they consider that the food has been produced in an environmentally and climate-friendly way. Some consumers buy after-production because it tastes better or that they consider it to be of a higher quality than other foods. The purpose of this pilot study is to investigate the relationship and attitude to food that is produced locally, and the attitude they attach to packaging for local food of high school students in Polhem school in Gävle. Also, investigate how local manufacturers in Gävleborg County work today with market communication and packaging design. To carry out this study, a quantitative study has been used. The quantitative study is based on two surveys conducted by high school students at the Polhem School in Gävle and local producers in Gävleborg County. The questionnaires cover all the theory areas. The theory chapter begins with a background description about MatVärden, an association that works for Gävleborg residents, but also visitors to be able to share the food and drink produced in Gävleborg. Next, the Foodstuffs Strategy 2017 describes food production, consumer demand, packaging design and marketing communications. Each part has a connection with the purpose of the study that will be the basis for the conclusion. The empirical material presents the material collected about the quantitative questionnaire survey. It has been observed that there is a lack of knowledge among high school students about food produced locally. It also appears in the result that they consider that a colored and more fun packaging attracts more than one ordinary and single-colored. Local producers have a hard time reaching out to the stores today because they lack knowledge and communication. They have limited opportunities to work per the traditional models that exist and have shown an interest in increasing their sales and reaching out to the stores.

Background & aims: Prior research has, due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and the resulting supply chain (SC) disruptions, increased the level of investigations in the field of SC resilience strategies. Even though many studies have been conducted within the field, little is known about the effectiveness and efficiency of those strategies. As food SC’s (FSC’s) are among the most important SC’s in our societies, their conservation is of great importance. As the operational purchasing process within the FSC was one of the areas within the SC that was strongly affected by the pandemic, this process will be the focus of the paper. This study seeks to identify the most applied SC resilience strategies for operational purchasing activities in FSC’s for various SC disruptions from a SME food retailers perspective. Furthermore, a framework of how to measure the effectiveness and efficiency of those strategies will be developed. Method: To collect relevant empirical data to answer the purpose of the study a qualitative multiple-interview study is conducted based on semi-structured interviews with respondents of the three different case companies. The case companies were selected and four interviews with one to two respondents per company were conducted. European SME food retailers of long shelf life goods are used as case companies to investigate the research gaps. Results: The study found out that the application of theory revealed the five most applied SC resilience strategies (SC flexibility, inventory management, end-to-end (E2E) SC visibility (SCV), information technology (IT) tools and SC cooperation) in operational purchasing, differences between SME food retailers according to their company size and maturity level. The KPIs identified to measure the effectiveness and efficiency of these SC resilience strategies were found to be applied. The KPIs provided are the basis for measurement opportunities that should be adapted and expanded depending on the business model and complexity of the company as part of the SC design. Contributions: The study adds value through theoretical and practical contributions of the most applied SC resilience strategies within operational purchasing from a SME food retailer perspective and their performance measurement system for measuring efficiency and effectiveness. Limitation & future research: The study is limited to the Covid-19 pandemic as a major reason for the triggering of the investigated SC disruptions. Further limitations can be seen within the selection of the case companies. Future research should investigate the differences between SME within their application of SC resilience strategies for their operational purchasing activities, just like the differences between strategic and operational purchasing. Key words: supply chain resilience strategy, supply chain disruption, Covid-19 pandemic, supply chain effectiveness, supply chain efficiency, performance measurements, key performance indicator, food supply chain, food retailers, purchasing process, operational purchasing

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