Presents recent evidence of supply chain developments in the UK fresh produce industry, based on interviews with chief executives from some of the country's most successful suppliers. A number of success factors were evident, to varying degrees, in all of the companies interviewed. These included: continuous investment (despite increasingly tight margins), good staff (to drive the process of innovation and develop good trading relationships with key customers), volume growth (to fund the necessary investments and provide a degree of confidence in the future), improvement of measurement and control of costs (in the pursuit of further gains in efficiency), and innovation (not just the product offer but also the level of service and the way of doing business with key customers).

This case study describes the evolution of supply chain partnerships in the British beef industry, driven by changing consumer demand, food safety legilsation, a concentrated and highly competitive retail sector and the BSE crisis. The case examples demonstrate the importance of establishing trust in supply chain partnerships, breaking out of the spot trading environment which characterises commodity markets and focusing explicitly on value added initiatives as a source of differentiation and competitive advantage.

2005),"Value chain analysis: an approach to supply chain improvement in agri-food chains", If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation.Abstract Purpose -The paper shows how sustainable value chain analysis (SVCA) can be used as a diagnostic tool to identify misalignment between resource allocation and consumer preferences, using a case study of the Oxford Landing wine chain, from South Australia to the UK. Design/methodology/approach -The study incorporates a combination of value chain analysis (VCA) and life cycle analysis (LCA) in a single methodology to determine which activities, at each stage in the supply chain, create value (in the eyes of consumers) and the contribution of these activities to greenhouse gas emissions. Findings -The case study demonstrates the value of comparing the consumer value associated with a particular activity with the emissions associated with that activity, as this draws the attention of managers, at each stage of the supply chain, to the potential trade-offs that exist and the danger of focusing on either one (adding value or reducing emissions) in isolation.Research limitations/implications -The main limitation of the research methodology is that the study focuses on a single product (Oxford Landing) and a single chain to a single country (UK). Thus, it is difficult to generalise from the results of this single case study to the (South Australian) wine industry in general, without further information from other wineries and consumer perceptions of their brands in different parts of the world. Practical implications -The case study highlights the importance of taking a holistic view when considering the sustainability of a product, process or chain -trade-offs between environmental benefits and consumer perceptions of value can have significant commercial implications. It also illustrates the potential for SVCA to be used as a guide for the allocation of research and development expenditure (public and private) in pursuit of sustainable competitive advantage. Originality/value -The study is the first to combine LCA with VCA in a context that allows researchers, practitioners and policymakers to identify areas for improvement, in what they do and how they do it.

Purpose - Value chain analysis (VCA) can expose strategic and operational misalignments within chains, and the consequential misallocation of resources, and hence opportunities for improvements which create value and economic sustainability. This paper's purpose is to argue why and how VCA needs to integrate the social and environmental aspects of sustainability in pursuit of sustainable competitive advantage. Design/methodology/approach - Based on a review of existing methods and case studies, the paper proposes three dimensions of VCA, which illustrate the flaws in narrow tools, and the need to broaden the boundaries of VCA, the interpretation of "value" and relationships along the chain in order to highlight opportunities for creating sustainable value chains. Findings - To date VCA has largely focused on economic sustainability and paid inadequate attention to social and environment consequences of firm behaviour and the (re) allocation of resources within and between firms in the chain. This risks producing recommendations which either ignore the competitive advantage offered from improving environmental management and social welfare, or have such detrimental external consequences as to render any proposals unsustainable when exposed to government or broader (public) scrutiny. Research limitations/implications - VCA variants need to be developed which incorporate all three pillars of sustainability. Some initial experiences are presented and ideas for future research and applications proposed. Practical implications - The development of sustainable VCA tools should identify business opportunities consistent with Porter and Kramer's imperative for value chains to create shared value between business and society. Originality/value - Adopting the broader dimensions identified will allow VCA to become more widely applicable, and more relevant in business scenarios where there is a growing imperative to include social and environmental impacts into "mainstream" business strategies

Purpose -The purpose of this article is to demonstrate the importance of a strategic approach to collaborative innovation and the use of a value chain research methodology for identifying opportunities for co-innovation. Design/methodology/approach -Value chain analysis is used to map three flows in the Houston Farms value chain; material flow, information flow and relationships. Having diagnosed the current level of co-innovation we then identify improvement projects and opportunities for co-innovation to reduce cost and add value, for the benefit of the value chain as a whole. Findings -The application of the value chain analysis methodology to the Houston Farms value chain revealed the importance of strategy and robust processes in key areas for co-innovation -R&D and new product development. It also revealed that small businesses can enjoy a degree of success as a result of comparative advantage in certain areas but that sustainable competitive advantage cannot occur by chance -identifying the potential for coinnovation is an important first step in the right direction.Research limitations/implications -The value chain innovation roadmap represents a useful framework for exploring the current state and future capability for co-innovation in a value chain. The value chain analysis methodology is an effective diagnostic tool as it focuses on what happens at the interface between stakeholders and how this relates to what final consumers regard as value adding, rather than traditional financial and functional KPIs which make it difficult to explore the competitiveness of the value chain as a whole. Originality/value -The explicit and objective measurement of what consumers value is an important addition to the value chain analysis methodology and the co-innovation roadmap is an original attempt to illustrate the core drivers and capabilities for achieving co-innovation in a value chain. The insights from the case demonstrate the value of this approach to companies who are open to innovation and recognise the need to focus the use of scarce value-adding resources on specific value chains and the needs and wants of final consumers therein.

PurposeTo illustrate the potential danger of applying “lean thinking” discretely and indiscriminantly in a project environment with high levels of complexity and uncertainty.Design/methodology/approachInsights are presented from two case studies of private residential construction projects which the authors believe are indicative of recent efforts to reduce the cost of construction activities.FindingsEvidence was found of attempts to remove capacity in transportation, stockholding and on‐site labour. Some of these attempts were logical and resulted in cost‐savings but others were illogical and resulted in reduced levels of responsiveness and flexibility to respond to the uncertainty which is a characteristic of most construction projects.Research limitations/implicationsFurther research is required to quantify the impact of discrete improvements in functional aspects of supply chain projects and the conditions in which lean thinking can be put to best effect.Practical implicationsFirms operating in the construction sector need to pay greater attention to the impact on the effectiveness of supply chain projects of achieving cost savings in discrete activities.Originality/valueThis paper challenges conventional thinking with respect to the application of lean principles to the construction industry and calls for greater awareness of the project‐centric nature of the construction industry and the application of lean thinking therein.

This article describes the development of vegetable marketing in Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam), where modern distribution outlets are competing fiercely with traditional traders for wholesale and retail customers. Data from interviews with supply chain stakeholders and a survey of vegetable wholesalers have been used to compare the performance of modern and traditional chains, and the findings reveal the chains as segmented in their product focus, the modern sector focusing exclusively on quality. Modern marketing channels are generally more efficient than traditional ones but still account for only around 2% of vegetable distribution. The article argues that policy-makers should not promote the 'modernisation' of food systems at the expense of traditional channels which meet important consumer needs.

PurposeTo highlight the problems with and propose a framework for improving demand management in retail food supply chains.Design/methodology/approachThe paper draws on empirical evidence from multiple case studies and develops a framework for improvement in demand management for retail food supply chains.FindingsAnalysis of the characteristics of demand within a number of retail food supply chains demonstrates a propensity for misalignment of demand and supply due to issues such as demand amplification, inappropriate production policies and inconsistencies with information systems and data handling procedures.Research limitations/implicationsThe case study evidence on which the conceptual framework is based is drawn exclusively from the UK, where retail food supply chains are generally more mature than in other parts of the world. The proposed framework is based on empirical evidence but has not been formally tested.Practical implicationsMore collaboration, information sharing and joint planning beyond the manufacturer‐retailer interface is critical if retail food supply chains are to function efficiently and effectively in retail environments where promotional activity creates significant uncertainty.Originality/valueDemand management in retail food supply chains has received little attention from supply chain researchers to date. This paper proposes a framework for improvement based on greater collaboration and joint planning from farm to fork.