Stages Of Food Supply Chain Research Articles

Exploring Community-Supported Agriculture through Maslow’s Hierarchy: A Systematic Review of Research Themes and Trends

Community-supported agriculture (CSA) has emerged as a pivotal model for sustainable and humanistic agricultural practices, emphasizing the symbiotic relationship between food production, consumption, and sustainable ecosystems. Despite the growing interest, a comprehensive analysis of research themes and trends within the CSA framework remains sparse. This paper undertakes a systematic review of CSA literature from 1999 to 2023, identifying evolving research hotspots, dominant themes, and prospective directions by keyword analysis to corroborate Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory. The research analysis location is categorized into four temporal phases, revealing a geographical expansion from North America to encompass Asia, Africa, and other continents. This expansion corroborates Maslow’s theory, illustrating a global shift from fulfilling basic physiological needs towards recognizing sustainable practices, particularly in developing regions. The results of temporal trends (5 phases) and the hotspots of keyword analysis support each other by showing a societal shift from basic sustenance to a deeper understanding of nutrition and diet. Most of the recent research keywords are grouped into the “environment” and “health and education” categories, indicating an increasing emphasis on transforming the food system and nutrition education. This review suggests conducting an integrated analysis that links the various stages of the food supply chain with the criteria outlined in the Sustainable Agriculture Matrix (SAM). It highlights that the “environment” theme is a stage of building up esteem and self-realization that needs to be unfolded in the future, given that most research on community-supported agriculture (CSA) focuses on the “economy and society” aspect and consumption stage, which burnish self-morality in the theory of Maslow. Overall, this review proposes an analysis of the relevance among different subject categories and between food supply chain stages, which reveals that the trend of research under CSA development is accorded to the theory of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and calls for a more holistic approach to agricultural research that considers ecological, health, and social imperatives.

Modified FMEA using machine learning for food supply chain

Food waste has been a major issue in the food supply chain in recent years. Many FMEA methods have been developed to identify supply chain failures, but the problem remains the same. This paper describes a modified FMEA that can identify the most serious problem in seconds. One of the major issues with FMEA is its subjectivity. The value of the FMEA for the same failure in the supply chain changes as the person changes. A machine-learning model is created in order to eliminate subjectivity. To train the data, the deep neural networks approach, which is part of the machine-learning model, is used. A secondary data source is used for this. According to the findings, RPN values for the selected food supply chain stages of harvesting, handling & storage, processing & packaging, and distribution & retail are roughly the same in both conventional and modified FMEA methods. To predict RPN values at periodic time intervals, the conventional method requires human intervention. However, in the modified FMEA method, the programme automatically updates and predicts the RPN values. The continuous training of the model with periodic time allows the algorithm to accurately predict the RPN values for any new failure mode that occurs in the supply chain.

Assessment of causes and consequences of food and agricultural raw material loss and opportunities for its reduction

The article summarizes and systematizes the causes and consequences of food loss and waste. The uncontrolled accumulation and inefficient management of loss and waste is a serious problem of food security in many countries. Moreover, the world annually loses or wastes about a third of food produced while natural resources are inefficiently used. A significant number of definitions and terms in the field of food loss and waste cause international inconsistency in management systems. So, systematization of terms and research methods for food loss and waste has been carried out. The review analyzes the stages of food supply chain, i.e. the production of agricultural raw materials, their collection, processing, transportation and consumption, where the largest loss and waste occur. Furthermore, environmental, social and other problems associated with the accumulation of loss and waste are considered. Prevention of food loss and waste has been shown to be a potential strategy to improve the balance of food supply and demand and is essential for improving food security while reducing environmental impact and providing economic benefits to various participants in the food supply chain. Separately, the actions taken by the Russian Federation in the field of waste management and reduction of food loss are considered. Attention is drawn to the fact that the difficulties in solving these problems are associated with insufficient progress in legislation and low funding of relevant research projects. Possible approaches for simulation and optimization of actions to support specific strategies to reduce loss and waste are considered, taking into account the following factors: improving the management of various inventories; developing a clear strategy for planning and allocating resources; forming the supply chain based on variability (uncertainty) of customer demand and supply. Knowledge comparison and integration, as well as optimization of food supply chain management are essential for development of strategies and decisions about where and how to focus efforts to most effectively ensure the reduction of loss and waste at each stage of food supply chain. The main decisions and practices for FLW prevention and management have been systematized.

Influence of the methodological approaches adopted on the food waste generation ratios

Food waste (FW) accounting methodology is of paramount importance in Europe. The European Commission established a common methodology and minimum quality requirements for its measurement. Although these guidelines represents a great advance, important questions as the definition of flows, the Food Supply Chain (FSC) stages considered or the measurement methodology depending on the availability of resources remain open. The study aim is to analyze the implications of these approaches on the FW ratios, based on 109 ratios from different European frameworks obtained by literature review. Among these aspects, the considered FSC stages and the measurement methodology stand out as factors that influence the results; while the direct methods give more accurate values, the indirect methods tend to overestimate the generation. Highlight as significant result, the creation of a superstructure that collects the different approaches used in FW generation ratios and it serves as a tool for benchmarking.

Circular Economy-driven Sustainability Adoption Practices in the Food Supply Chain: An Analysis of Managerial Perceptions

The circular economy has emerged as a new paradigm for sustainability. The ‘take-make-reutilise’ concept of the circular model is considered to be far more superior to the traditional ‘take-make-dispose’ linear model. The concepts of circular economy and sustainability are closely related; the circular economy is considered a driver to more sustainable business. Our existing global food system is highly unsustainable. Roughly, one-third of the total food produced gets lost or waste at different stages of food supply chain. Further, the agriculture sector is also a victim of and a major contributor to climate change. Hence, our food system is in urgent need of transformation from the existing unsustainable to be made more sustainable and healthier. So, it is critically important to adopt circular economy-driven sustainability practices in the food industry and its supply chain. While there have been many studies in the past which built conceptual knowledge on the circular economy and sustainable food business practices, rarely any study attempts to investigate the perception of food business managers/executives by integrating both concepts. The article analyses the circular-economy driven sustainability adoption practices in the food supply chain. Based on the survey of managers and business executives of 26 selected food companies in India, the study investigates the managerial perception on sustainability adoption practices in food supply chain. The findings indicate that food business managers and executives believe that adoption of sustainable practices is extremely important for food business sustainability. However, their sustainability adoption practices were found to be on moderate level across the food supply chain. The major recommendation is that the government should take the proactive approach to educate the agri-food industry particularly the traditional food enterprises including SMEs about the benefits of the adoption of circular economy and sustainability approaches. Policy-based initiatives are required to develop the enabling conditions in terms of provision of necessary infrastructure, delivering technical-know, promoting innovations and extending the financial support for successful adoption of circular economy-driven sustainability practices by agri-food sector and its supply chain.

Ontology-Based Knowledge Modelling for Food Supply Chain Data Representation

There has been a lack of common data management and encoding standards, as well as an inability to connect products to the many stages of their transformation process. This paper proposes a Food Supply Chain Ontology to help in the management of food traceability at various phases of the supply chain, from the extraction of raw materials to the delivery of goods to customers. Traceability has the potential to be a game-changer in the industry since it is inextricably linked to product safety and quality. Integrating the semantic web into the food supply chain enhances planning, forecasting, productivity, and competitiveness. Most of the research papers concentrate on conveying knowledge about one food type while neglecting the other food categories. Furthermore, these articles did not represent knowledge about all stages of the food supply chain. This paper proposes and implements a food supply chain ontology. During the management of the entire food supply chain stages, the suggested ontology describes all types of food products.

Social sustainability tools and indicators for the food supply chain: A systematic literature review

Sustainable production and consumption of food systems cannot be achieved without considering the entirety of the supply chain and the actors involved at each stage along the way. This requires more in-depth analyses of social dimensions often neglected in favor of the environmental and economic ones. Yet, inattention to the social dimension of sustainability in food supply chains has yielded a lack of agreement regarding what to consider and how to measure it. This review identifies the current state of art of how social sustainability aspects are measured through various tools and indicators, following the “Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses” (PRISMA) protocol. The selection criteria resulted in 101 papers and gray literature documents published from 2000 to 2021. Thirty-four social sustainability tools are analyzed based on five food supply chain stages, namely production, processing, wholesale, retail, and consumer and four stakeholders as adapted from the most recent Social Life Cycle Assessment guidelines, namely farmers, workers, consumers, and society. Production and processing-related assessment tools are mostly publicly funded, while wholesale, retail, and consumer tools are often privately funded. Moreover, the availability of assessment tools decreases along the supply chain. Production has the highest number of tools (17) and quantitative indicators, targeting mostly farmers through job conditions and quality of life indicators. Processing stage tools (5) target mostly workers, through quantitative indicators related to fair job conditions. The wholesaler stage tools (4) and indicators are the least connected, while the retail stage (2) is the most inclusive in terms of qualitative social sustainability indicators. The consumer stage tools (2) also has a low number of social indicators and interactions, despite being the stage that influences the supply chain the most. It is clear that food supply chain stakeholders can benefit from the implementation of social sustainability aspects, although these benefits become inconsistent if not respected in each stage. A need for an unceasing thread of respected social sustainability should permeate the whole supply chain, as environmental certification currently does, becoming the priority for policy makers in the sector to focus their attention on the emerged hotspots for intervention from this research.

Data-driven optimal dynamic pricing strategy for reducing perishable food waste at retailers

Approximately forty per cent of fresh products are wasted in low and middle-income countries before reaching consumers. Perishable foods have only a certain shelf-life and they need to be sold for consumption before a specific date. When a product is priced incorrectly, it is often disposed of directly or redistributed. Redistribution of surplus food also has an economic impact on food prices. Therefore, setting an optimal pricing strategy is crucial to reduce inventory and surplus food in an environment with volatile demands. In this context, big data analytics can help managers forecast customer behaviour and determine pricing strategies throughout the retail industry. This study focuses on food waste at the retailer stage of food supply chain (FSC). We present a dynamic pricing model that uses real-time Internet of Things (IoT) sensor data as a novel contribution to decide pricing at different stages of a sales season for retailers. The food waste problem at the retail stage of a FSC is investigated in a pilot project for bulk apple sales to address the research question. This study proposes a four-stage data-driven optimal dynamic pricing strategy for bulk produce to reduce food waste for retailers in low and middle-income countries. A multi-stage dynamic programming method is used to decide on a pricing strategy for bulk produce, with real-time IoT sensor data being retrieved to analyse and determine the length of freshness scores. The effect of the sale price, replenishment amount, discount rate, and freshness score on profit and food waste are evaluated. All these analyses assist managers in taking the best possible actions and remedies. Appropriate interventions boost sales, increase profits by reducing waste and determining competitive sales price, while improving customer loyalty and satisfaction by striking the right balance between food quality and price. Our results show the huge potential of using hyperspectral imaging sensors in the FSC of a retailer. The model is demonstrated empirically to test its practicability.

A conceptual framework model for an effective cold food chain management in sustainability environment

PurposeThere is a large number of perishable foodstuffs produced, stored, distributed and delivered daily around the world. Almost all except for root vegetables are sensitive products to temperature. Thus, adopting uninterrupted and appropriate logistics activities with predetermined range of temperature from production site until end-user is critical for ensuring required quality and safety. If a mistake is made during either transport or storage, it not only becomes risky for human health, but also generates huge food waste for the environment and negative economic impact for food providers. Therefore, this study aims to identify all potential factors affecting the cold chain performance in the food industry and to design a framework that includes these factors. This framework is also a roadmap for managers, food providers and logistics parties for sustainable cold chain management.Design/methodology/approachConsidering, tangible and intangible potential criteria, the ultimate goal of this study is to identify potential criteria affecting cold food chain performance and propose a conceptual framework including 12 main criteria. Next, the importance order of each criterion and the causal relationships between them are determined. In this study, this relationship among criteria is analyzed by using fuzzy Decision-making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) approach because of its ability to solve complex problems by ensuring causal relationship among factors, additionally to determine importance order. Finally, suggestions for administrative implications are presented.FindingsFuzzy DEMATEL was used to explain the causal link and importance order among identified drivers. The analysis shows that five criteria (C1, C3, C8, C9 and C12) belong to cause (influential) groups and remaining seven criteria belong to effect (influenced) groups. The highest influential criterion is staff (C8) and is followed by technical issues (C9) as the second most influential factor. Additionally, top three most important factors are traceability (C7), staff (C8) and cold transportation (C5). According to the numerical results of fuzzy DEMATEL implementations, suggestions for managerial implementations are presented.Practical implicationsThe main contribution of the study is to propose meaningful suggestions for managerial implications about sustainable cold chain in food industry for businesses and to examine causal relations between criteria and to rank criteria in descending importance order.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study that focuses on determining the potential criteria affecting cold supply chain performance both theoretically and empirically in the sustainability environment. What are the enablers that affect the cold food supply chain stages is the research question of this study.

Application of Total Quality Management to Ensure Food Quality in Food Industry

Total Quality Management (TQM) is a managerial and managemental approach of an organization focused on quality, based on participation of all of its members and while aiming at long term benefits to the organization and consumers health. It is focused on continuous improvement of all processes approached with combined fundamental management techniques and specialized tools under quality systems. TQM is a process of managing the whole organization so that it progress in all the dimensions of products and services that are important to the consumers. It roots from the belief that mistake can be avoided or mininimised and defects can be prevented, with sole objective being the continuous process improvement. The introduction of Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) has signaled a shift in emphasis from resource intensive end product inspection and testing to preventive control of hazards at all the stages of food supply chain. It also identifies and controls hazards that are fundamentals for food safety. The integrated approach to implementation of ISO standards and HACCP concept is vital for management of quality and safety of dairy products hence safeguarding the customer's requirements, ensuring that certified products conform to minimum standards set internationally. These standards ensure and enhance transparency in the development of food quality and safety procedures, thus helping to upgrade and update food safety systems. ISO laid down guidelines, codes, specifications and requirements to evolve effective TQM system.

Food Waste in the Countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council: A Systematic Review.

Food waste (FW) is a critical challenge in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). This paper analyzes research dealing with food waste in the GCC countries (viz. Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates). It draws upon a systematic review performed on Scopus in January 2020. The paper covers both bibliometrics (e.g., authors, affiliations, journals) and research topics (e.g., causes, food supply chain stages, extent and quantity, food security, economic impacts, environmental implications, management strategies). A main finding of the review is the scarcity of data on FW in the GCC in general and in Kuwait, Oman, and Bahrain in particular. Most of the selected articles address FW reuse and recycling (e.g., waste-to-energy conversion, compost production). Indeed, other FW management strategies, such as reduction/prevention and redistribution, are overlooked. The systematic review highlights that further research on FW in the GCC is highly needed with a focus on the identified research gaps such as causes and drivers, trends, magnitude and extent, environmental and economic impacts, along with implications of food wastage in terms of food security. Since food wastage is a common issue for all GCC countries, these research gaps should be addressed in a shared regional research agenda.

Environmental Sustainability of Hospital Foodservices across the Food Supply Chain: A Systematic Review

BackgroundHospitals have a responsibility to support human health, and given the link between human and environmental health, hospitals should consider their environmental impacts. Hospital foodservices can negatively affect the environment at every stage of the food supply chain (production/procurement, distribution, preparation, consumption, and waste management/disposal). ObjectiveTo systematically identify and synthesize the following across the hospital patient food/nutrition supply chain: environmental and associated economic impacts of foodservice; outcomes of strategies that aim to improve the environmental sustainability of foodservice; and perspectives of patients, staff, and stakeholders on environmental impacts of foodservice and strategies that aim to improve the environmental sustainability of foodservice. MethodsEight electronic databases (ie, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature Plus, Embase via Ovid, Global Health, National Health Service Economic Evaluation Database, Ovid Medline, ProQuest Environmental Science Collection, Scopus, and Web of Science) were searched from database inception to November 2018 for original research conducted across any stage of the hospital food supply chain (from production/procurement to waste management/disposal) that provides food/nutrition to patients, with no restrictions on language or study design. Titles/abstracts then full texts were screened independently by two authors. The Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool was used for quality appraisal for included studies. Data were synthesized narratively. ResultsFrom 29,655 records identified, 80 studies met eligibility criteria. Results were categorized into production/procurement (n=12), distribution (n=0), preparation (n=6), consumption (n=49), waste management/disposal (n=8), and multiple food supply chain aspects (n=5). The environmental impact most widely explored was food waste, with many studies reporting on food waste quantities, and associated economic losses. Strategies focused on reducing food waste by increasing patients’ intake through various foodservice models. Perspectives identified a shared vision for sustainable foodservices, although there are many practical barriers to achieving this. ConclusionThe literature provides examples across the hospital food supply chain that demonstrate how environmental sustainability can be prioritized and evaluated and the opportunities for credentialed nutrition and dietetics practitioners to contribute. Future studies are warranted, particularly those measuring environmental impacts and testing the effects of sustainable strategies in the distribution, preparation, and waste management stages.

Food waste generation: restaurant data and consumer attitudes

Food waste and related negative impacts are gaining attention in all policy levels. Therefore, there is an increased need for research and analysis in the field, especially in different countries, different sectors. In Lithuania so far there are only couple of studies regarding food waste as such, therefore the aim of this study is to estimate food waste generation in one of food supply chain stages - catering at the restaurant – and to determine restaurant costumers’ attitudes towards food waste and related aspects. Results indicate that there are weekly and daily variations in food waste generation per capita. The biggest share of wasted food was composed of grain/cereals products. Shame was identified as one of the reasons for not taking plate leftovers home. However, restaurant could employ some of the activities like educating its consumers or providing personalized portions. In general, consumer indicated lack of information on food waste problems and related environmental impacts, though at home majority of the respondents throw away still good to consume food rather often. Hence, information provision and greater attention both from the consumers and the service providers could be a significant input in food waste reduction in public catering service sector.

Evaluating Partnerships in Sustainability-Oriented Food Supply Chain: A Five-Stage Performance Measurement Model

This study aims to investigate how overall food supply chain performance (FSCP) often depends on the performance of partners in a sustainable and energy-efficient supply chain. Initially, the study classifies the FSCP and further examines the partner relationships in sustainability-oriented food supply chain (FSC). To do so, the study proposes and formally tests a five-stage performance measurement model. The present research mainly focuses on the Indian food industry. Results highlight significant direct and indirect positive performance relationships between the different FSC stages. The structural equation modeling analysis highlights that producer’s performance positively impacts supplier’s performance, processor’s performance, and distributor’s performance. Moreover, supplier’s performance positively impacts processor’s performance, distributor’s performance, and retailer’s performance, and also processor’s performance positively impacts both distributor’s performance and retailer’s performance. Lastly, distributor’s performance positively impacts retailer’s performance. The study suggests that regular performance improvement at each FSC stage would improve the performance of the next stage players. Most importantly, the direct impact of each partner’s performance is comparatively high on its immediate next partner’s performance. Furthermore, this study will assist practitioners to understand various FSCP measurement issues and make significant improvements in their sustainable and energy-efficient supply chain practices.

Food safety assessment in India: modelling enablers

PurposeThe ever-widening competitive global markets demand food business to demonstrate safe food supplies across the world. The causes of food borne illness are complex to determine and require a careful evaluation of all stages of food supply chain and food safety practices. The purpose of this paper is to systematically investigate the factors responsible for the assessment of food supply chain and evaluation of food safety system in India.Design/methodology/approachThe study utilizes a combination of qualitative and quantitative approach by exploring expert’s opinion systematically using a semi-structured interview followed by careful grouping of responses using the grounded theory approach to build the research theme. The prioritization of the critical factors is carried out using Pareto analysis. The methodological review was carried out to identify factors and categorize them based on their impact on hierarchical logical relationship using total interpretive structural modeling approach to determine the enablers.FindingsThis paper attempts to deliver an inimitable list of seven vital factors for the effective design of evaluation system for food safety practices. The study provides a careful insight on the issue pertaining to designing of assessment system including competence building for assessor and availability of well-defined technical protocol. The recommendation for developing a robust food safety inspection system by implementing stricter regulation, enhancing competence and design initiatives is provided.Originality/valueThe study provides a unique list of factors for the assessment of food safety practices and develops the relationship. Food safety assessment is an integral part of food safety study which is systematically explored and conceptualized in this paper. The study is carried out using the opinion of Indian experts.

Collaboration for Sustainability in the Food Supply Chain: A Multi-Stage Study in Italy

The objective of this study is twofold. Firstly, to analyze sustainability practices adopted in collaboration, including vertical collaboration i.e., with other actors or stages upstream or downstream in the supply chain, and horizontal collaboration i.e., with actors such as non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Secondly, to identify the sustainability performance expected from sustainability practices implemented in different supply chain stages. The study reports on a set of case studies representing four different food supply chain (FSC) stages: breeding/growing, processing, distribution and retail. The findings indicate that each stage selects different collaboration schemes for sustainability practices’ implementation, prioritizing relations with upstream actors, namely grower/breeder, as these are key actors responsible for ensuring product quality and safety. In addition, the type of collaborative relationship is shown to be predominantly transactional for environmental and community practices, especially for solving specific short-term issues. Finally, varied areas of environmental and social sustainability performance are recognized, upstream and downstream, as a result of collaborative practices applied in different FSC stages, showing the diverse sustainability objectives pursued along the chain.

The use of green criteria in the public procurement of food products and catering services: a review of EU schemes

Green Public Procurement (GPP) is currently being used to influence the market to shift to a supply of goods and services to the public sector that have a reduced environmental impact. The food service sector plays a major role in the purchases made by the public sector and due to that relevance deserves attention. The GPP schemes reviewed were those that provide details of the specific environmental criteria used (or recommended) for public tendering of food products and catering services provision. The set of GPP schemes apply to distinct geographical zones within the EU, including national level (e.g. Italy), regional level (e.g. Barcelona) and also local level, as in the case of cities (e.g. Copenhagen) or schools (e.g. a school in Pisa, Italy). The criteria set covers services provision to schools, health and social care, higher education, government office canteens, sports and leisure arenas, prisons and defence services (e.g. army). European and worldwide GPP criteria were not covered by the review made. This exploratory study comprehends a total of 23 GPP schemes. This sample includes eight national schemes, three regional schemes and ten local schemes. The review focused on the scope, for the sector of applicability (e.g. education, healthcare) of the GPP set of criteria and for the type of food products covered. Moreover, this paper analyses the type of GPP criteria in use and how the environmental criteria cover the distinct life cycle stages of the whole food supply chain. Findings from the analysis show that for the majority of schemes the scope of criteria is simultaneously the provision of food products and catering services. Moreover, cities, municipalities and counties are the main public authorities reporting procurement activities for the education sector while national GPP activities are applicable for multiple sectors of activity. The main food products covered by the criteria are fruits and vegetables, dairy products, fish and seafood and meat. Finally, the findings show that the set of criteria from the schemes cover widely the life cycle stages of the food supply chain. The results allowed for a first identification of current practices in the use of GPP criteria within public purchasing of food products and catering services in Europe by national, regional or local governments.

Value‐Adding Practices in Food Supply Chain: Evidence from Indian Food Industry

ABSTRACTThe study aims an attempt to realize the importance of value addition at different stages of food supply chain to see what the value addition practices mean across the food chain. To do so, this paper investigates the value addition relationships of different supply chain players from farm to retail level. Based on extensive literature review and deep discussions with supply chain practitioners as well as academicians, a conceptual framework is developed to assist those players in identifying the importance of adding value, defining a common definition of value addition practices, and getting motivation for superior value addition improvement. Value addition practices of five stages at the food supply chain, namely, farmer, supplier, processor, distributor and retailer, are conceptualized and formulated to tests the relationship among these stages. The study mainly focuses on the value addition of farm products in Indian scenario. The findings affirmed that the farmer's value addition is positively related to supplier's value addition, processor's value addition, and distributor's value addition. Moreover, supplier's value addition is positively related to processor's value addition, and processor's value addition is positively related to distributor's value addition. Besides, distributor's value addition is positively related to retailer's value addition. [JEL Classification: M210].

Application of SARIMAX Model to Forecast Daily Sales in Food Retail Industry

During retail stage of food supply chain (FSC), food waste and stock-outs occur mainly due to inaccurate sales forecasting which leads to inappropriate ordering of products. The daily demand for a fresh food product is affected by external factors, such as seasonality, price reductions and holidays. In order to overcome this complexity and inaccuracy, the sales forecasting should try to consider all the possible demand influencing factors. The objective of this study is to develop a Seasonal Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average with external variables (SARIMAX) model which tries to account all the effects due to the demand influencing factors, to forecast the daily sales of perishable foods in a retail store. With respect to performance measures, it is found that the proposed SARIMAX model improves the traditional Seasonal Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (SARIMA) model.

Opening the black box of food waste reduction

Surplus food management plays a key role in food waste reduction. This paper addresses the multifaceted concept of food supply chain sustainability by presenting a model of surplus food generation and management (called ASRW, Availability-Surplus-Recoverability-Waste), which encompasses the integrated food supply chain (i.e. business, environmental and social players). The model was developed using a bottom-up approach, by conducting 30 exploratory case studies and iterating theory development and data analysis. Three confirmatory case studies, from different food supply chain stages, are also presented to demonstrate how the model can be used to identify food waste reduction strategies.