Konsumentbeteende påverkas av olika faktorer, oro för kriser är något som kan förändra konsumentbeteendet och ha en stor påverkan på livsmedelskedjan. Under covid-19 syntes dess förändringar tydligt då rädsla och oro fick människor att bunkra. Liknande beteenden märktes även under början av kriget mellan Ryssland och Ukraina. Det har märkts av i form av tomma butikshyllor och att vissa butiker haft problem med beställningar. I nuläget har inte kriget stor påverkan på Sveriges försörjningskedja men det är svårt att bedöma hur det kommer se ut längre fram. På grund av den ökade efterfrågan leder det till variationer i beställningar som ökar längre bak i kedjan, detta fenomen kallas för bullwhip-effekten och startar hos konsumenter. Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka effekter i försörjningskedjan på grund av ändrat konsumentbeteende i en kris. För att uppfylla syftet och svara på frågeställningarna valdes ett kvantitativt förhållningssätt. Vi valde att göra en enkätundersökning för att få en stor representation av befolkningen. Enkäten syftar till att ge en uppfattning om konsumenters val och hur kriget och covid-19 påverkat deras konsumentbeteende och se exempelvis om de köper mer av vissa livsmedel eller bygger lager för att få en uppfattning om hur det påverkar försörjningskedjan.Slutsatsen blev att konsumentbeteendet från covid-19 inte har en stor påverkan på försörjningskedjan idag. Pandemin visade hur viktigt det är att livsmedelskedjan är flexibel och bör resultera i mer kontroll av lagerhållning och delning av information för att mildra bullwhip-effekten. En del respondenter uttryckte känslor av stress när de såg tomma hyllor i livsmedelsbutikerna sedan kriget i Ukraina började. Respondenterna visade också sig mer påverkade från sociala medier än vänner och familj. Trots antagande att de ej känt sig påverkade av kriget har ca 40% köpt extra av framför alltkonserver. Studien påvisade att många respondenter är oroliga för att framtida kriser kommer påverka försörjningskedjan. Om en ny kris skulle uppstå kommer vi förmodligen se liknande konsumentbeteende som i de två föregående kriserna. Detta resulterar i fortsatta störningar i kedjan och bullwhip-effekten. / Consumer behavior is affected by various factors, concern about crises is something that can change consumer behavior and have a major impact on the food chain. During covid19, the changes were seen clearly when fear and anxiety made people start hoarding food. Similar behaviors were also noticed during the beginning of the war between Russia and Ukraine. It has been noticed in the form of empty store shelves and that some stores have had problems with orders. At present, the war does not have a major impact on Sweden's supply chain, but it is difficult to assess what it will look like in the future. Due to the increased demand, it leads to variations in orders that increase further back in the chain, this phenomenon is called the bullwhip-effect and it starts with the consumers. The purpose of this study is to investigate effects in the supply chain due to changes in consumer behavior in a crisis. In order to fulfill the purpose and answer the questions, a quantitative approach was chosen. We chose to do a survey to get a large representation of the population. The survey aims to provide an idea of consumers choices and how the war and covid-19 affected their consumer behavior and see whether they buy more of certain foods or perhaps stockpile, to get an idea of how it affects the supply chain.The conclusion was that consumer behavior from covid-19 does not have a major impact on the supply chain today. The pandemic showed how important it is for the food chain to be flexible and should result in more control over inventory and information sharing to mitigate the bullwhip effect. Some respondents expressed feelings of stress when they saw empty shelves in grocery stores since the war in Ukraine began. The respondents also proved to be more influenced by social media than friends and family. Despite assuming they did not feel affected by the war, about 40% bought extra food, especially canned goods. The study showed that many respondents are worried that future crises will affect the supply chain. Should a new crisis arise, we will probably see similar consumer behavior as in the two previous crises. This results in continued chain disruptions and the bullwhip effect.

The issue of food scandals originating from unsafe food has in recent years caught the attention of the public. Consequently, the number of food recalls has increased, and food retailers and food producers are getting questioned regarding their ability to provide consumers with safe food products. Thus, because the primary responsibility to deal with this problem is the food business operators who have real control over the products within the Food Supply Chain (FSC). Even though food safety has received more interest from academic researchers and practitioners in the latter years, we could identify that previous literature still lacks research on food recalls. In addition, prior research interprets food recalls as generalizable within the FSC and does not have its various product flows in mind. In order to fill the research gap, this study seeks to gain a deeper understanding of food recalls in the context of the different product flows within the FSC from a retailer perspective. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate how the occurrence and the consequences of food recall differ across various product flows within the FSC by focusing on four elements. The elements include the challenges within the FSC to ensure food quality, the reasons behind food recall, the types of food recall, and the consequences they infer. The current study had finally answered the following research question: “How do the occurrence and the consequences of food recalls differ across various product flows within the FSC?” In order to answer the research question and address the purpose of the thesis, a qualitative study was conducted by focusing on Swedish food retailers and conducting interviews with responsible Purchasers within each of the product flows, and additionally, Quality Assurance Managers. The sample of the semi-structured interviews was selected based on the position and experience of food recalls within the retailers. This to assure that the interviewees possessed sufficient insights regarding the studied field to fulfill the purpose of the study and answer its research question. From the gathered data, several themes were derived through the thematic analysis, and the analysis and discussion regarding the elements led us to a conclusion. The result confirmed that the various product flows, and in some cases, even specific products within the flows, need to be taken into consideration when the occurrence and the consequences of food recalls are addressed within the FSC. This is because the different product flows include different products with different characteristics making them more or less complex to handle along the chain and when carrying out food recalls. Even though previous theories assume a general approach, the findings still confirmed the theories regarding the challenges within the FSC to ensure food quality, the reasons behind recalls, the types of recalls, and the consequences the recalls can infer. However, the main differences found between our study and prior research regarding the FSC were that supply chain-related reasons are more commonly related to food reclaims and that environmental consequences are considered an additional consequence of food recalls.