Fresh Food Industry Research Articles

Decision Analysis of Game Behavior for the Fresh Food Industry: Potential Entrants, Incumbents and Consumers

This paper conducts a decision analysis of game behavior for the fresh food industry, including potential entrants, incumbents and consumers. Potential entrants are the key research object in the analysis of game behavior. The Stackelberg model, considering the uncertainty of market, consumer preference, freshness and greenness of fresh products, is used to analyze the best entry strategies for potential entrants. This paper then establishes an evolutionary game model to further analyze the most optimal entry mode of potential entrants. The combination of two game models can help potential entrants determine the optimal price, output, product freshness, greenness and sales channels.

Research on Supply Chain Management Countermeasures for Fresh Agricultural Products

Due to the rapid growth of China's economy and the popularization of the Internet, Online platforms are becoming increasingly popular for consumers to purchase products, online shopping platforms can provide consumers with a richer range of products and cheaper prices, and therefore favored by consumers. Fresh products, which are considered a special type of consumer goods, are subject to more restrictions on transportation and sales due to their characteristics, which solves the development dilemma of fresh products. In the face of this situation, this article mainly analyzes the problems of the cold chain logistics service system of fresh agricultural products in the context of e-commerce and puts forward the corresponding countermeasures on the basis of which, provides suggestions and guidelines for the development of the relevant logistics and fresh food industry, and then better promote the healthy and sustainable development of fresh agricultural products cold chain logistics under the background of e-commerce.

Closing the Perception-Reality Gap for Sustainable Fresh Food Plastic Packaging

The global discourse surrounding plastics has been marked by a profound perceptual schism, also for plastic packaging in the fresh food industry. The public opinion expresses mounting concerns in terms of such plastic packaging solutions. However, in many cases the unique material properties and the well-established methodology of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) actually demonstrate the environmental advantage of plastics for food packaging. This paper delves into the chasm between the two perspectives, leveraging empirical evidence to resolve the divide.While performing both a consumer analysis and LCA, this paper underscores the potential for innovative, yet practical design solutions to harmonise the public opinion with counterintuitive positive environmental impacts. A transformative design solution that centres around the concept of shape and material renewal is proposed. It demonstrates how a simple, yet effective redesign can enhance both the environmental impact and consumer acceptance in the industry for mass-produced fresh food packaging. It emphasises the role of LCE in design, with a focus on the pre-consumer phase. The findings provide a practical approach, emphasising the need to reconcile theory with consumer desires, to forge a sustainable path forward in packaging design.

Blockchain technology in a crisis: Advantages, challenges, and lessons learned for enhancing food supply chains during the COVID-19 pandemic

This study explores the implementation of blockchain technology in the Chinese food supply chain during the COVID-19 pandemic and examines its advantages and challenges. This study uses an interpretive research strategy and theoretical framework to gather positive feedback on blockchain technology from the fresh vegetable food industry, online retailers, state-owned enterprises, the meat industry, the dairy industry, and retail stores. These findings highlight the potential benefits of blockchain, including enhanced efficiency, transparency, reliability, and traceability in the food supply chain. However, difficulties with labor data management, interoperability, data accuracy, financial constraints, and regulatory considerations have been identified. This study collects comprehensive data on labor management, standardized protocols, verification mechanisms, barrier-reduction efforts, and collaboration with stakeholders and regulators to address these challenges. This study aimed to create a more resilient and efficient food supply chain system by providing a roadmap for prioritizing improvements. The practical implications include risk management strategies, targeted support for farmers, and investments in sustainable agricultural practices to ensure food security. Overall, this study provides valuable insights for harnessing the potential of blockchain technology to strengthen the Chinese food supply chain amid crises.

An Effective Sanitizer for Fresh Produce Production: In Situ Plasma-Activated Water Treatment Inactivates Pathogenic Bacteria and Maintains the Quality of Cucurbit Fruit.

The effect of plasma-activated water (PAW) generated with a dielectric barrier discharge diffusor (DBDD) system on microbial load and organoleptic quality of cucamelons was investigated and compared to the established sanitizer, sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl). Pathogenic serotypes of Escherichia coli, Salmonella enterica, and Listeria monocytogenes were inoculated onto the surface of cucamelons (6.5 log CFU g-1) and into the wash water (6 log CFU mL-1). PAW treatment involved 2 min in situ with water activated at 1,500 Hz and 120 V and air as the feed gas; NaOCl treatment was a wash with 100 ppm total chlorine; control treatment was a wash with tap water. PAW treatment produced a 3-log CFU g-1 reduction of pathogens on the cucamelon surface without negatively impacting quality or shelf life. NaOCl treatment reduced the pathogenic bacteria on the cucamelon surface by 3 to 4 log CFU g-1; however, this treatment also reduced fruit shelf life and quality. Both systems reduced 6-log CFU mL-1 pathogens in the wash water to below detectable limits. The critical role of superoxide anion radical (·O2-) in the antimicrobial power of DBDD-PAW was demonstrated through a Tiron scavenger assay, and chemistry modeling confirmed that ·O2- generation readily occurs in DBDD-PAW generated with the employed settings. Modeling of the physical forces produced during plasma treatment showed that bacteria likely experience strong local electric fields and polarization. We hypothesize that these physical effects synergize with reactive chemical species to produce the acute antimicrobial activity seen with the in situ PAW system. IMPORTANCE Plasma-activated water (PAW) is an emerging sanitizer in the fresh food industry, where food safety must be achieved without a thermal kill step. Here, we demonstrate PAW generated in situ to be a competitive sanitizer technology, providing a significant reduction of pathogenic and spoilage microorganisms while maintaining the quality and shelf life of the produce item. Our experimental results are supported by modeling of the plasma chemistry and applied physical forces, which show that the system can generate highly reactive ·O2- and strong electric fields that combine to produce potent antimicrobial power. In situ PAW has promise in industrial applications as it requires only low power (12 W), tap water, and air. Moreover, it does not produce toxic by-products or hazardous effluent waste, making it a sustainable solution for fresh food safety.

Research on the Operation Strategy of Fresh Food Industry under the Background of New Retail Take FRESHIPPO as an Example

In recent years, the development of traditional retail and e-commerce has fallen into difficulties, and various factors have led to the emergence of new retail, which is a new balance mode of the previous two. This research is based on theory, with FRESHIPPO as the research object, its operation strategy is studied and analyzed, and through the research business model it encouraged, it promotes the new development of fresh goods sales. This paper mainly analyzes the operation strategy of FRESHIPPO through Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) and The Marketing Theory of 4Ps(4P theory). This paper finds that there is a lot of room for progress for the fresh industry in the new retail industry, the industry's digital management is not very perfect, and in cost saving, it can also have a great improvement.

Delivering Social Impact Via The Farm-to-fork Strategy and Sustainability Lens: The Kiwi Kisan Window

This study examines the entrepreneurial story of KiWi - a portmanteau of the Kisan (meaning farmer) and Window (meaning window of opportunity) - a universally acknowledged Agtech start-up. The study exemplifies the continuous progress and innovations this start-up has made to develop a profitable model in the fresh food industry. KIWIKisan Window (KKW) aspires to provide a constant window of opportunities for Kisan (farmers) of India by means of Fair Trade practices that ensure transparency, respect, and fairness in business trading, as well as encouragement and support for marginalized farmers who strive for equality as they compete with middlemen and big players and loose on their fair share of access to business opportunities. The paper highlights milestones achieved in terms of the evolution of social enterprise KKW and Evolve Foundation, their business model to create a sustainable food system, and the challenges of initiatives to generate new ideas and experiments in the food industry. KKWaspires to live a healthy, sustainable life, and they apply this philosophy to all organic products, from farm to fork. It also emphasizes typical decisions and dilemmas faced by the start-up and the challenges ahead. Their strategic decision being analysed through VRIO framework.

The impact of COVID-19 on Fresh food e-commerce in China

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about varieties of changes in human beings’ lifestyles, including shaping consumer’s behavior. In this paper, fresh food industry was taken as an example to test whether there is a significant change in fresh food e-commerce under the epidemic from the perspective of the whole industry. Afterwards, from the perspective of consumers, structural equation model was used to analyze the influencing factors and paths of such a change. On this basis, this paper can not only effectively analyze the trend of fresh e-commerce, but also put forward suggestions for the fresh industry to attract consumers more efficiently. These results shed light on guiding further exploration of the impact of COVID-19 on different industries.

An Analyze of Chinese Online Fresh Food Industry

An Analyze of Chinese Online Fresh Food Industry

Safety and health risks for workers exposed to cold thermal environments: A frozen food processing industry perspective.

Environmental temperatures in the fresh food industry vary from 0°C to 10°C, and go below -20°C for the frozen food industry, representing risk for the health and safety of workers involved. The aim of this work was to evaluate the cold thermal stress risks for workers working in a frozen food industry. A total of 27 acclimatized workers (13 male and 14 female) participated in a study which was conducted during 11 working days. The thermal sensation questionnaire and the cold work health questionnaire (CWHQ) were applied to all participants. Additionally, 4 workers were chosen to be fully monitored with a thermometer telemetry capsule for measuring the intra-abdominal temperature and 8 skin temperature sensors. The lowest recorded hand temperature was 14.09°C, lowest forehead 18.55°C, mean skin temperature had variations of 1.10 to 3.20°C along the working period. Highest and most frequent fluctuations were found in the hand and forehead skin temperatures, small changes were found in mean skin temperature. Answers to the CWHQ increase concern on clinical forms of "a frigore", and in two cases the mean body temperature decreased below 35.0°C, which is defined in the current literature as a mild form of hypothermia.

PENGEMASAN BUAH DAN SAYUR DENGAN ATMOSFIR TERMODIFIKASI

Being living organs, fresh harvested fruits and vegetables remain metabolically active and undergo ripening and senescence processes. They needs oxygen to stay alive, which is vital for energy production through respiration process. Modified Atmosphere Packaging (MAP) technology utilises in-packaging equilibrium atmosphere, in which the relatively low oxygen and high carbondioxide concentration is achieved naturally inside the package as respiration occurs, which later on leads to a lower respiration rate. Low oxygen concentration could also be achieved by replacing some oxygen with nitrogen and/or application of oxygen scavenger inside in package, thus the respiration rate is reduced and the aging process is retarded. The use of packaging films of correct intermediary permiability to meet a desirable equilibrium modified atmosphere become a key to the succes of MAP. A new technique, so called Perforation-Mediated Modified Atmosphere Packaging (PM-MAP), by having microperforation in the plastic films is applied to correct the exchange of air during storage. Therefore Modified Atmosphere Packaging (MAP) technology offers advantages which leads to extension of the shelf life of fresh produces. Fresh and fresh-cut food industry utilise this advantages to meet the growing demand of convinient and fresh quality fruits and vegetables, in order to maintain freshness quality attributes and to extend the shelf life.

Ready-to-Eat Salad Crops: A Plant Pathogen's Heaven.

The ready-to-eat salad sector, also called fresh-cut or bagged salads, is a fast-growing segment of the fresh-food industry. The dynamism and specialization of this sector, together with the lack of adequate crop rotation, the globalization of the seed market, and climate change, are the main causes of the development of many new diseases that cause severe production losses. Newly detected diseases of the most important crops grown (lettuce, wild and cultivated rocket, lamb's lettuce, chicory, endive, basil, spinach, and Swiss chard) are critically discussed. The management of these diseases represents a formidable challenge, since few fungicides are registered on these minor-use crops. An interesting feature of the ready-to-eat salad sector is that most crops are grown under protection, often in soilless systems, which provide an environment helpful to the implementation of innovative control methods. Current trends in disease management are discussed, with special focus on the most sustainable practices.

Genetic diversity and capsaicinoids content association of Thai chili landraces analyzed by whole genome sequencing-based SNPs

Chili landraces of Thailand are important germplasm resources that contain unique aroma and flavor desirable for fresh consumption and food industry. A collection of 243 chili landraces was assesed for the genetic diversity and capsaicinoids content. Diversity array genotype-by-sequencing or DArTseq was employed to generate over 22,000 SNPs from the Thai chili landraces. The SNPs were filtered to 9610 and used in the diversity and genome wide association analyses. Cluster analysis divided the chili landraces into two distinct groups according to their species: Capsicum annuum and C. frutescens species, with dissimilarity index 0.0092 – 0.841. However, very narrow genetic bases were detected within each Capsicum species. Genome wide association analysis identified seven SNPs significantly associated with the capsaicinoids content. Five of which located close to the genes involving in the capsaicinoids biosynthesis pathway.

High voltage atmospheric cold air plasma control of bacterial biofilms on fresh produce

Atmospheric cold plasma (ACP) offers great potential for decontamination of food borne pathogens. This study examined the antimicrobial efficacy of ACP against a range of pathogens of concern to fresh produce comparing planktonic cultures, monoculture biofilms (Escherichia coli, Salmonella enterica, Listeria monocytogenes, Pseudomonas fluorescens) and mixed culture biofilms (Listeria monocytogenes and Pseudomonas fluorescens). Biotic and abiotic surfaces commonly occurring in the fresh food industry were investigated. Microorganisms showed varying susceptibility to ACP treatment depending on target and process factors. Bacterial biofilm populations treated with high voltage (80 kV) ACP were reduced significantly (p < 0.05) in both mono- and mixed species biofilms after 60 s of treatment and yielded non-detectable levels after extending treatment time to 120 s. However, an extended time was required to reduce the challenge mixed culture biofilm of L. monocytogenes and P. fluorescens inoculated on lettuce, which was dependent on biofilm formation conditions and substrate. Contained treatment for 120 s reduced L. monocytogenes and P. fluorescens inoculated as mixed cultures on lettuce (p < 0.05) by 2.2 and 4.2 Log10 CFU/ml respectively. When biofilms were grown at 4 °C on lettuce, there was an increased resistance to ACP treatment by comparison with biofilm grown at temperature abuse conditions of 15 °C. Similarly, L. monocytogenes and P. fluorescens exposed to cold stress (4 °C) for 1 h demonstrated increased tolerance to ACP treatment compared to non-stressed cells. These finding demonstrates that bacterial form, mono versus mixed challenges as well as environmental stress conditions play an important role in ACP inactivation efficacy.

Physical And Physiological Quality Of Sweet Corn Seeds Of Unpad Hybrid Parental line seed after 2 and 4 Month Storage

Sweet corn is a cultivated plant grown dor fresh consumpption or food industry. The purpose of this study was to examine the physical seed quality and physiological seed quality during storage. The research was conducted in Laboratorium Teknologi Benih Universitas Padjajaran in July 2017 until November 2017. The study consisted of one experiments carried out by using a completely randomized design with two replication using 16 genotypes between Unpad sweet corn seed crossed with released varieties such as Bonanza, Latanza, Sweet boy and Talenta and Unpad sweet corn seed were not crossed with released varieties. Results from this study showed that genotype 533 as the best physical quality in the parameters of 100 grain weight and water content of seed. genotype 871 as the best physical quality in the parameters of germination capacity and seed growth simultaneously. Results from this study also showed that genotype 974 as the lowest physical quality in the parameters of 100 grain weight and water content of seed. genotype 858 as the lowest physical quality in the parameters of germination capacity and seed growth simultaneously.

A business process decision model for fresh-food supplier evaluation

PurposeFrequent food safety incidents caused widespread consumer concerns. Even though food safety is one of the weakest links in the fresh food supply chain and influences consumer food choice in ways different from the quality dimension, this factor is hardly proposed as one of the key traditional supplier selection criteria (e.g. quality, delivery, and price) in the literature. The purpose of this paper is to develop a business process decision model to assess the non-compensating food safety sub-criteria in order to disqualify fresh food suppliers that cannot reach the minimum threshold for low probable food safety failure. The preferred fresh food suppliers can minimize the risk of food safety failure and the associated huge food safety failure costs spanning from private consumer anguish to social distress that cause unbearable costs of sales loss and damage to brand image in business.Design/methodology/approachThis study proposes a novel approach that combines several well-established multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) techniques, including fuzzy AHP (FAHP), TOPSIS, and ELECTRE, and innovatively apply to analyze supplier performance and prioritize potential fresh food suppliers. This hybrid business process model can enforce compliance to all the five non-compensatory sub-criteria of food safety. Since ELECTRE is a non-compensatory MCDM method, it is therefore particularly applicable for disqualifying high risk fresh food suppliers from further full scale supplier performance evaluation by FAHP and TOPSIS. This hybrid business process decision model is able to capitalize on the strengths of these MCDM methods and offset their deficiencies.FindingsThis study uses data of an international supermarket chain to validate feasibility of the proposed model. Results indicate that this model is able to assess the non-compensating food safety sub-criteria via the ELECTRE method in order to disqualify fresh food suppliers that cannot reach the minimum threshold for low probable food safety failure. Only the preferred suppliers with the required food safety capability can proceed to the second stage of the supplier selection process. Assessment via the TOPSIS method reveals the ranking order of those top performing suppliers according to their relative scores along all the supplier selection criteria. The TOPSIS ranking results with the selection of the suppliers C, E, A, and F are robust and consistent across all the different scenarios.Practical implicationsApplication to the fresh food industry is possible with the aid of the MCDM methods. The contribution to the body of knowledge in this teaching and research field demonstrates the importance of first identifying the order qualifier for disqualifying those suppliers that do not satisfy the food safety requirements via the ELECTRE method. The proposed assessment procedure complies with the regulatory policy on food safety, and would influence public policy in applying the best practice of food safety regulation. Without first qualifying the potential suppliers on the basis of food safety, wrong decision can be made to select those high food risk suppliers that have relatively higher overall scores in other supplier selection criteria. Using the assessment results has positive economic and commercial impact on the purchasing managers to formulate appropriate purchasing and supplier development strategy to enhance supplier’s food safety performance, whilst maximizing the overall supplier portfolio performance. The improved supplier’s food safety performance will certainly benefit the society’s quality of life as well.Originality/valueBased on the analytical MCDM methods of FAHP, TOPSIS, and ELECTRE, purchasing managers can operationalize the Hill’s framework of order qualifier and winner that has primarily been used in the literature and manufacturing industry. This study represents the first move to innovatively apply the FAHP, TOPSIS, and ELECTRE methods to operationalize the Hill’s framework of order qualifier and winner that has primarily been used in the literature and manufacturing industry. Application to the fresh food industry to validate the feasibility of the proposed model has been conceived and implemented in this study. Analysis of the data inputs of a supermarket chain via the three MCDM methods generate the results that fulfill the purpose of achieving the research objective of identifying and managing the supplier base that can deliver the best supplier performance, conditional on first passing the fresh food safety test.

Food Waste, Power, and Corporate Social Responsibility in the Australian Food Supply Chain

By examining corporate social responsibility (CSR) and power within the context of the food supply chain, this paper illustrates how food retailers claim to address food waste while simultaneously setting standards that result in the large-scale rejection of edible food on cosmetic grounds. Specifically, this paper considers the powerful role of food retailers and how they may be considered to be legitimately engaging in socially responsible behaviors to lower food waste, yet implement practices that ultimately contribute to higher levels of food waste elsewhere in the supply chain. Through interviews with key actors in the Australian fresh fruit and vegetable supply chain, we highlight the existence of a legitimacy gap in corporate social responsibility whereby undesirable behaviors are pushed elsewhere in the supply chain. It is argued that the structural power held by Australia’s retail duopoly means that supermarkets are able to claim virtuous and responsible behaviors, despite counter claims from within the fresh food industry that the food supermarkets’ private quality standards mean that fresh food is wasted. We argue that the supermarkets claim CSR kudos for reducing food waste at the expense of other supply chain actors who bear both the economic cost and the moral burden of waste, and that this is a consequence of supermarkets’ remarkable market power in Australia.

Cost-optimization modelling for fresh food quality and transportation

Purpose – All along the length of the supply chain, fresh food firms face the challenge of managing both product quality, due to the perishable nature of the products, and product cost. The purpose of this paper to develop a method to assist logistics managers upstream in the fresh food supply chain in making cost optimized decisions regarding transportation, with the objective of minimizing the total cost while maintaining the quality of food products above acceptable levels. Design/methodology/approach – Considering the case of multiple fresh food products collected from multiple farms being transported to a warehouse or a retailer, this study develops a total cost model that includes various costs incurred during transportation. The practical application of the model is illustrated by using several computational intelligence approaches including genetic algorithms (GA), fuzzy genetic algorithms (FGA) as well as an improved simulated annealing (SA) procedure applied with a repair mechanism for efficiency benchmarking. The authors demonstrate the practical viability of these approaches by using a simulation study based on pertinent data and evaluate the simulation outcomes. Findings – The application of the proposed total cost model was demonstrated using three approaches of GA, FGA and SA with a repair mechanism. All three approaches are adoptable; however, based on the performance evaluation, it was evident that the FGA is more likely to produce a better performance than the other two approaches of GA and SA. Practical implications – This study provides a pragmatic approach for supporting logistics and supply chain practitioners in fresh food industry in making important decisions on the arrangements and procedures related to the transportation of multiple fresh food products to a warehouse from multiple farms in a cost-effective way without compromising product quality. Originality/value – This study extends the literature on cold supply chain management by investigating cost and quality optimization in a multi-product scenario from farms to a retailer and, minimizing cost by managing the quality above expected quality levels at delivery. The scalability of the proposed generic function enables the application to alternative situations in practice such as different storage environments and transportation conditions, etc.

Sustainable Packaging Development for Fresh Food Supply Chains

The fresh food industry is increasingly more interested in developing efficient and innovative solutions to guarantee quality and distribution sustainability; one of the main factors that influences such crucial aspects is packaging. This paper aims to perform a critical analysis of two existing packaging solutions, i.e. corrugated fibreboard boxes and re-usable plastic containers, from both the economic and the environmental perspective, to highlight the main weaknesses. It then proposes two alternative packaging solutions. The analysis features different economic assessments and models with different environmental impacts, taking into account the characteristics of packaging solutions predominantly within two supply chain types: the traditional food supply chain and the short food supply chain. The economic and environmental models are applied to understand the limitations of existing packaging solutions, to develop two alternative solutions and finally to perform an overall analysis of all fresh food containers, allowing the definition of the most suitable container for each of the proposed supply chain scenarios, from both an economic and environmental perspective. The innovative aspect of the research lies in the simultaneous evaluation of economic and environmental factors and the introduction of two new packaging solutions, making it of interest to researchers and fresh food industry professionals alike.

E-business system investment for fresh agricultural food industry in China

A fresh agricultural food online exchange system is gradually becoming an emerging e-business model in China. However, how and when to make an investment in this new business model is risky due to the unique characteristics of fresh agricultural food. In this paper, from a third party decision maker’s perspective, we propose an evolutionary discounted cash flow model to investigate the optimum time point for investment. Based on the assumptions of base demand, the derived e-demand occurring on the pendent e-business system can be characterized by non-stationary stochastic processes. Then our new model can further be innovatively analyzed by considering the dynamic scheme of the cash flow and its evolution. The analytical results suggest the optimal investment time point depends upon the consumers’ switch rate from the physical store to e-store and on the urbanization rate. A Monte Carlo simulation is further presented to compare the effects of multiple uncertainties embedded into the system. Our uncertainty analysis reveals that when government financial support fluctuates greatly, the optimal investment time could be either in the very beginning or in the end. This optimal time strategy also holds for the random demand factor after the coefficient variation of the demand reaches a certain threshold.