Supermarket Supply Chains Research Articles

A simulation model for addressing supply chain disruptions under a multi-capital sustainability perspective: a case study in the agri-food sector

ABSTRACT In recent years, interest in the resilience and sustainability of supply chains has significantly increased. In fact, various events, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, have highlighted the weakness of global and local supply chains. Further, people are giving increasing importance to concepts such as social well-being, human rights, environmental protection. The maximisation of shareholder value is no longer the only goal for companies. The main purpose of this paper is to answer the following question: is there a strategy to address agri-food supply chains disruptions while revitalising local economies and improving – at the same time – a number of sustainability-related aspects? To this aim, a simulation model is designed, then tested and validated through a supermarket supply chain case study. The results show that disruptions can be exploited to revitalise small local suppliers and simultaneously increase several sustainability indicators from a multi-capital perspective. Several managerial insights are also provided.

Risk management of green supply chains for agricultural products based on social network evaluation framework

AbstractThe green supply chain of agricultural products (GSCAP) is a key link for rural revitalization and sustainable development in China. However, it faces various risks from internal and external environments that threaten its performance and stability. This paper proposes a novel framework and system for identifying and evaluating the main risks in the GSCAP from the perspective of agricultural enterprises. The framework combines social network analysis (SNA) and an improved technique for order preference by similarity to an ideal solution (TOPSIS) method. SNA is used to analyze the correlations and influences among different types of risks, while the improved TOPSIS method is used to rank the risks of different GSCAPs and identify the key risks in each supply chain. The framework and system are verified by a case study of CDYBIT, a leading platform of food safety big data service in China. The results show that the supermarket supply chain has the highest risk, followed by the group catering supply chain, and the five‐star hotel supply chain has the lowest risk. The main risk factors for each supply chain are also discussed, and some suggestions for risk management are provided. This paper contributes to the literature by providing a comprehensive and systematic risk assessment framework and system for the GSCAP, which can help agricultural enterprises improve their risk awareness and response capabilities.

Assessing the profitability of scaling up for retail access: Lessons from local salad mix in Southeast Michigan

Changes to the supermarket supply chain in recent decades have “squeezed out” local and small farmers in exchange for more consolidated and global suppliers. As a result, these small-scale farmers have turned to more direct-to-consumer markets, which capture a higher price point but also bear higher marketing costs. Previous research indicates potential saturation and lack of profita­bility in this market type. Researchers have explored strategies for “scaling up” local farmers into intermediary supply chains, such as grocery retail, and have tested the profitability of hybrid marketing strategies with positive results. However, there are very few studies that utilize production costs to test market feasibility, and even fewer that include retailer willingness-to-pay estimates. To assess strategies from the perspectives of both producers and buyers, this study uses salad mix in Southeast Michigan as a pilot case. Farmer-generated production costs incurred for strategies and production types were estimated in focus groups, and retailer willingness-to-pay estimates were obtained in interviews. The analysis suggests that a combination of more efficient harvest technology and central processing would have the greatest impact on increasing profitability, but the dramatic effect that central processing has on output price makes it the most feasible strategy for small-scale farmers. In addition, the minimal costs of organic certification for small farmers are likely to be justified by the price premium that grocery retailers are willing to pay. Hydroponic production may be challenging to break even at a smaller scale but could potentially meet retailers’ price prefer­ences at larger scales. Pairing production cost estimates with buyer willingness-to-pay estimates may generate more comprehensive assessments of the relative profitability of potential scaling-up strategies. This method could be applied to other crops, regions, and produce buyers by cooperative extension, nonprofit, or local government person­nel working with small farmers on their market development plans.

Analysis of Supermarket Supply Chain Management

Supply chain management is one of the main challenges in the development of the retail industry. As an important form of retail trade, supermarkets have attracted the attention of the whole retail industry. At present, large, medium, and small supermarkets are facing complete market competition, and each supermarket enterprise has more or less problems in its own supply chain relationship. The problem of how to solve the problems of various types of supermarket enterprises, improve their management programs, and win the market has become particularly important. Based on the existing literature and statistical data, this paper analyzes the problems existing in the supermarket retail industry in China, focusing on the deficiencies of the current supply chain and how to manage and optimize the supply chain. The result shows that the supply chain in domestic supermarkets still has a long way to improve. There are mainly five types of problems, which are supplier problems; delivery problems; location problems; display problems; and pricing problems. These kinds of problems might cause the loss of customer loyalty. The solution consists of three parts: diversifying the product supplier to ensure that the popular product never runs out; replacing the products shelf so that the customer can grab the popular product at first sight; and replacing the products shelf so that the customer can grab the popular product at first sight. Finally, be precise with the products pricing strategy; stress the price of the popular products and increase the profit for the unpopular ones.

A closer look at farmers’ participation in the supermarket supply chain using bibliometric and content analyses

Purpose The objective of the study is to systematically review the existing research in the topical domain of farmers’ direct link with supermarkets. The authors present a state-of-the-art structure of the field and provide directions for future research in the domain. The major aim of this study is to synthesize the research field and answer some specific questions, like what do we know about this field and where should we be heading.Design/methodology/approach A pool of 275 articles published from 2002 to 2022 were retrieved from the Scopus database and analyzed using the R-based Biblioshiny and visualized using VOSviewer. The research design is a mix of quantitative bibliometric technique and qualitative content analysis. Bibliometric method ensures the objectivity while content analysis ensures the scholarly evaluation.Findings Major findings include production trend, dominant keywords, leading publication outlets and country-wise analysis of the selected articles. The authors found that sub-domains like economic aspects, participation hurdles and the rise of supermarkets are the most researched topics while operational issues, their pragmatic solutions, sustainability and innovation are the emerging sub-fields that need more academic attention.Research limitations/implications The major limitation is the use of single data source, i.e. Scopus, and it is quite possible that useful studies that are not covered by Scopus remain excluded.Originality/value This study is one of the first attempts to systematically review the previous research on the selected topic. It will help researchers to understand the present status, identify future research directions, and pursue more reasonable and relevant topics of research.

The Coordination of Multi-Stage Discounts in a Dual Channel Fresh Agricultural Produce Supply Chain: Minimizing the Loss of Quantity and Quality

This paper explores the coordination of the agricultural cooperative to supermarket or E-commerce supply chain, under the condition of quantity loss with a mixed decay function of exponential and logistical distribution. The nature of this process is analyzed, and the corresponding demand and supply functions with single- and multi-stage discount strategies are constructed, respectively, to create a working model. The optimal discount ratios for supermarkets and agricultural cooperatives in decentralized and centralized decision-making modes coupled with single- and multi-stage discounts are calculated, respectively. Finally, a universal optimal strategy is designed, which can be applied to various quantity decay scenarios and makes the discount strategy more generalized. The results show that discounts can coordinate supply chains more effectively; not only would fresh agricultural produce be sold out before it starts to rot, but also the benefit conflicts arising from both supermarkets vs. cooperatives and traditional vs. E-commerce channels could be equilibrated. Further, multi-stage discounts are more difficult to coordinate than single-stage ones, the corresponding optimal discount ratios rely on the initial quantity of fresh agricultural produce in the supply chain, its market share in the traditional distribution channel, the potential market size, retail price, the price sensitivity coefficient of the channel, the cross-elasticity coefficient of prices between different channels, and the properties of the quantity loss. It is concluded that, regardless of what kind of quantity and quality loss occurs, whether decentralized or centralized decision making is selected, or whether the supermarket’s or agricultural cooperative’s discount ratio is considered, a universal price discount consisting of a fixed term and a drift term could both maximize supply chain profit and coordinate this dual-channel supply chain.

Conditioning factors to market fruits and vegetables from family farms to supermarket supply chains

ABSTRACT: Globally, increasing number of fruits and vegetables are being consumed to maintain healthy eating habits. Family farming plays a crucial role in fruits and vegetables production; products are marketed in supply chains, which are increasingly demanding, diversified, and complex. Participation of the family farms in each of these supply chains is subject to their ability to meet the increasingly strict participation criteria. In this context, this study identified the main factors that affect the participation of the family farmers in the supermarket supply chains for fresh fruits and vegetables. A systematic literature review was conducted, covering the period from 2005 to 2019. Results indicated eleven variables that affect the participation of the fruits and vegetables family farms in the supermarket supply chains. These variables were grouped in an analytical framework, which comprised four factors: characteristics of the producer, characteristics of the farm, institutional aspects, and available infrastructure. This framework is useful for the development and implementation of the public and private policies for successful participation of fruits and vegetables family farmers in supermarket supply chains.

Risk assessment of agricultural supermarket supply chain in big data environment

With the application of big data in all walks of life, big data thinking is effectively improving the circulation efficiency of agricultural products supply chain by driving management changes in business decision-making and "farmer-supermarket docking" as an innovative mode of agricultural products circulation. Based on the current situation of China's agricultural supermarket supply chain development, this paper makes an in-depth study on the supply chain risk of agricultural products of large retail enterprises under the mode of "agricultural supermarket docking", and then introduces the agricultural supermarket docking supply chain under the big data environment. This paper uses big data to analyze the risks that may arise in the supply chain of "agricultural supermarket docking" in large retail enterprises. This paper from the aspects of production, processing, distribution, retail and consumption, introduces the new risks of agricultural supermarket supply chain after introducing big data. Secondly, Qualitative analysis and quantitative calculation are combined to conduct risk assessment. Through empirical analysis, the ranking of all risk factors is obtained, and the relevant fuzzy evaluation grade and risk evaluation criteria are given. Through expert evaluation, a new risk ranking is also obtained, which is not much different from the results of empirical analysis, and the empirical results are also verified. Therefore, develop this study is helpful to prevent the risk of agricultural supermarket supply chain connection. At the same time, the information integration, sharing and feedback of the big database provide a new idea for the optimization of the supply chain connecting agricultural production.it also has reference significance for other supply chain risk management.

The Supermakets Global Chain

Successful business depends on successful internal and external Supply Chain. From company requirements to tier supplier relationship, companies want to gain and keep customers. This article studied Supermarket supply chains. It tried to find positive and negative attributes, it did a gap analysis of those attributes and it dedicated deeply in techniques of integration and synchronization such as VMI, ECR and CPRF to prove the importance of a successful supply chain management.
 It was got 14 positive and negative attributes such as POS data, collaborative planning, collaborative and automatic replenishment, controlled inventory and developed logistics tools as cross docking, third parties, and RFID. Negative attributes can be, for instance, a complexed logistics operations and difficulties in implementing synchronization.

Customer categorization, relational justice and SME performance in supermarket supply chains

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of perceived relational justice on the relationship between key customer categorization and performance of small food and drink producers in supermarket supply chains.Design/methodology/approachSurvey data are derived from a sample of (small-scale) suppliers of local and regional food to a large British supermarket. Partial least squares regression analysis was used to test a conceptual framework, which positions relational justice as a mediator in the relationship between key customer categorization and supplier performance, moderated by the length of the relationship.FindingsThe findings reveal that small suppliers who perceive their treatment by their key customers as fair tend to achieve higher business performance, which supports the hypothesized mediating role of relational justice on supplier performance. However, this research found no evidence to support the hypothesis that this role is moderated by the length of the relationship between the supplier and buyer.Originality/valueThis paper makes a novel empirical contribution, focusing on performance outcomes for small-scale suppliers in a highly competitive environment (fast-moving consumer goods) with customers (supermarkets) who have significant market power. Accordingly, the paper shows that the way supermarket buyers treat their suppliers matters more for the performance of their suppliers than the very fact that they are key customers.

The impact of supermarket supply chain governance on smallholder farmer cooperatives: the case of Walmart in Nicaragua

Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and governments are promoting cooperatives as key to linking smallholder farmers with modern markets to achieve inclusive development, yet the specifics of these supply relationships remain poorly understood. This article uses data from 51 interviews with supply chain stakeholders and a survey of 110 smallholder vegetable farmers in Nicaragua to investigate the impact of cooperative-supermarket supply chain relationships on cooperatives, and the role retailers and NGOs play in facilitating these relationships. The study found that in Nicaragua, cooperatives selling to Walmart became unstable, in contrast with the performance of cooperatives selling to local supermarket chain La Colonia. The results show that cooperative performance is impacted by an interaction between differences in the types of farmers reached by the two supermarket chains, in the performance of the NGOs involved in each supply chain, and in the supermarkets’ business practices. The findings suggest that NGOs should pay more attention to buyer sourcing strategies and farmer needs when designing development interventions to link cooperatives of resource-poor farmers to markets, so as not to increase the vulnerability of smallholder farmers.

A framework to evaluate and improve supply chain: FAHP based case study on a supermarket

Nowadays, the supply chain has become a buzzword in the business field. The only supply chain can help to lead a business in an organized way. However, in a supermarket, the supply chain is very important, but they need to ensure better communication with the supplier, customer, and internal management too. Each factor of the supply chain has a good effect on itself. The purpose of this research is to explore the important supermarket supply chain factors found in the literature and from supply chain experts and to develop a framework which can help to arrange the criteria in a sequence from most important to the worst by considering each sector of the supply chain. This paper has studied one of the supermarkets in Bangladesh, namely Save ‘n’ Safe. Authors have taken FAHP, one of the tools of MCDM, to figure it out the most effective factors. The result reveals that managing inventory, internal information sharing, and accurate demand forecasting are the most affected factors for the Save ‘n’ Safe (a supermarket). Finally, some recommendations have been given to improve the existing situation. This study can be used not only in the other supermarkets but also any other retail or grocery shops.

The implications for suppliers of the spread of supermarkets in southern Africa

ABSTRACTThe growth of supermarkets in southern Africa opens local and regional markets to suppliers through participation in supermarket supply chains. Supermarkets in the region provide an important route to market for processed foods and household consumable products. Through a regional value chain lens, this article provides an assessment of the implications of the growth of supermarkets for the participation of suppliers in Botswana, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The research finds that, while supermarkets provide important opportunities for suppliers, they also exert considerable buyer power that limits supplier development and upgrading. High private standards, onerous requirements and costly trading terms negatively affect supplier participation in value chains. Long-term investments are required to build the capabilities of suppliers to meet supermarket requirements in terms of quality, consistency, volume and cost-competitiveness.

Customer Categorization, Relational Justice and SME Performance in Supermarket Supply Chains

The purpose of this research is to examine the impact of perceived relational justice on the relationship between key customer categorization and performance of small food and drink producers in supermarket supply chains. Survey data is derived from a sample of (small-scale) suppliers of local and regional food to a large British supermarket. Partial least squares regression analysis was used to test a conceptual framework, which positions relational justice as a mediator in the relationship between key customer categorization and supplier performance, moderated by the length of the relationship. Findings reveal that small suppliers who perceive their treatment by their key customers as fair tend to achieve higher business performance, which supports the hypothesized mediating role of relational justice on supplier performance. However, this research found no evidence to support the hypothesis that this role is moderated by the length of the relationship between the supplier and the buyer. This paper makes a novel empirical contribution, focusing on performance outcomes for small-scale suppliers in a highly competitive environment (fast-moving consumer goods) with customers (supermarkets) who have significant market power. Accordingly, the paper shows that the way supermarket buyers treat their suppliers matters more for the performance of their suppliers than the very fact that they are key customers.

Growth and Strategies of Large, Lead Firms-Supermarkets

Supermarkets are a key route to market for suppliers of food and household consumable products in South Africa. The growth, performance and strategies of the retail industry driven by JSE-listed supermarket chains therefore has important implications for suppliers and, in turn, for the development trajectory of agro-processing and light manufacturing industries. However, costly trading terms and stringent requirements limit the participation of suppliers in supermarket supply chains. This paper tracks the performance, investment and growth strategies of supermarket chains in South Africa between 2010 and 2016. Key findings reveal that although the formal supermarket industry has grown significantly over the past six years (measured by investments in assets and real turnover), it has remained relatively concentrated with only a handful of main players. Local supermarkets are also expanding their investments into the rest of Africa in search of new markets. The paper further evaluates the implications of supermarket procurement strategies on the ability of local suppliers to participate in supermarket supply chains. It highlights a wide range of constraints that suppliers face in accessing supermarket shelf space. To increase participation of local suppliers, the study recommends better designed and more sustainable supplier development programmes. It also recommends the implementation of a retail code of conduct to curb uneven balances of power and to promote transparency in procurement procedures and trading terms.

Influence of Neighbor Experience and Exit on Small Farmer Market Participation

AbstractThis research analyzes the motivations and dynamics of small farmer participation in supermarket supply chains in developing countries: why some small farmers join these new markets and continue their participation; why others drop out or decline the relationship from the outset. Drawing on insights from the technology‐adoption literature on learning and experimentation, and also on findings from a simple two‐period Bayesian model of farmer decisions to participate in a new market, we incorporate measures of neighboring farmers’ experience into the decision model. Results suggest that farmers delay entry to observe their neighbors’ outcomes; we find a negative relationship between the number of neighbor participants in a given period and a farmer's own decision to enter the supply chain. We find evidence that farmers delay entry for strategic reasons, allowing neighbors to bear the costs associated with a first wave of adjustment to the market, including higher product rejection rates and lower initial annual transactions with supermarkets, compared to revenues from marketing in the traditional way. Results are robust to definitions of neighbors using both administrative and geographic designations. Our results raise questions about the optimal sequence and level of farmers' market participation and exit, which remain largely unexplored in the literature.

Factors Influencing Smallholder Farmers in Supplying Organic Fruits and Vegetables to Supermarket Supply Chains in Karnataka, India

Organic farmers are facing problems in finding the right buyers, resulting in high transaction costs (TCs). This study considers the integration of smallholder organic farmers in vertically coordinated supply chains and factors influencing them. The article draws transaction costs economics (TCE) to develop a model explaining potential TC attributes influencing farmer’s decision to participate in supermarket supply chains (SMSC) compared to spot market (SM) in Karnataka, India. This article uses data collected from 127 smallholder organic farmers through face-to-face interviews to identify factors that significantly influence the farmer’s decision. A binary logistic regression model was employed within the TC framework. Seven TC attributes were evaluated on farmer’s decision. The results revealed that farmers have a strong marketing preference towards SMSC. Attributes such as pre-arranging price, quantity, frequency, and access to market information and finance have significant positive influence on farmer’s decision to participate in SMSC. However, attribute payment mechanism has a negative influence. Furthermore, there are significant differences between SMSC and SM supplying groups with reference to variables distance to the market, the general state of the road and age. The results have a policy and managerial implication towards the development of organic food market in the Karnataka state, India.

Connecting supermarkets and farms: the role of intermediaries in Walmart China's fresh produce supply chains

AbstractThis paper identifies and describes the recent emergence of a new class of private sector intermediaries in fresh fruit and vegetable (FFV) supermarket supply chains in China. These intermediaries play key roles that determine the ways in which farm households participate in and the benefits they derive from new retail-led market opportunities associated with the supermarket sector's shift from FFV procurement through wholesale markets towards more direct contracting with farm communities. This paper provides a comprehensive description of 198 FFV supply chain intermediaries working with Walmart China in 2014, including their historical background, infrastructure investments, downstream marketing and upstream sourcing. We find that these actors play an increasingly critical role in the organization of land, labor and production through contracts. Our study provides critical insights for understanding both the trends in vertical coordination of China's developing agricultural sector and the pace of the country's agricultural modernization. Walmart is a leading international supermarket chain with a growing presence in China, and evidence suggests that their supply chain strategies are similar to other large supermarkets in the region. Results are also relevant to understanding current challenges in China related to food safety and quality, a top priority in recent years.

Vendor-Managed Inventory Practice in the Supermarket Supply Chain

Abstract Vendor-managed inventory (VMI) is an important coordination mechanism in supply chain management where decisions about timing and level of customer’s replenishment are determined not by the customer but by the supplier. The article is motived by real applications arising in the food engineering field. Specifically, a VMI strategy is applied to a logistic system in the supermarket supply chain. Such system comprises a distribution center and several retail outlets. An effective heuristic method for tackling the inventory-routing problem related to the coordination mechanism is discussed and numerical results are presented.

Collaboration and Commitment in a Regional Supermarket Supply Chain

This article presents findings from a longitudinal case study of efforts by a 100-store regional grocery store chain to localize its supply of fresh produce. The study was conducted to better understand the development of collaborative supply chains between farmers and grocery stores, and the broader potential that grocery store chains might play in localizing food systems. Data consists of three years of the chain's local produce purchases via direct-store-delivery from farms to stores; a survey of store managers and farmer-vendors; and interviews with farmers and grocery store and chain-level management. Analysis is structured by a conceptual framework that links collaboration to trust, which undergirds mutual commitment and mutual dependency between supply chain members, and which is dependent upon effective communication and positive prior market exchanges. The study finds that organizational structures constraining single-store autonomy in purchasing and pricing, coupled with supply variability from farms, limits trust-building and the establishment of mutual commitments and dependencies. These constraints, however, do not completely exclude direct-store-delivery as a strategy for food system localization and grower market diversification. Practitioners can support the building of collaborative supply chains through capacity-building and shepherding of early market exchanges between growers and stores, and supporting individual growers or groups of growers to become preferred vendors for regional grocery chains. See the press release for this article.