Management Strategies and Collaborative Relationships for Sustainability in the Agrifood Supply Chain

Abstract

The present article proposes a complete framework for supply chain strategy (SCS) analysis that is adapted to the specific characteristics of the agrifood chain, thereby facilitating the management of the former. As a specific case of analysis, the horticultural supply chain, originating in Spain and ending with the European consumer, was analyzed, taking as a reference the marketing companies at origin (mainly social economy companies, that is, cooperatives). In addition, a survey of marketing companies is conducted to possibly determine which explicit cooperative growth strategies may include horizontal and vertical collaboration relationships with other members of the chain. The aim was to analyze with whom the horticultural commercialization company collaborates within the supply chain and the key points of such a collaboration. A model analyzing the influence of collaboration on company performance was also considered. The results reveal that, in recent years, aspects related to quality and health have been surpassed and replaced by the concept of sustainability within a framework of collaboration with customers. Additionally, upstream collaboration has been found to be, in most cases, more profitable than collaboration with customers. In any case, it became evident that there is a need to expand collaboration within the chain by incorporating the supplier of the supplier, with the aim of making the chain more profitable.

The Role of Consumer-Citizens and Connectedness to Nature in the Sustainable Transition to Agroecological Food Systems: The Mediation of Innovative Business Models and a Multi-Level Perspective

“…"Communitysupported agriculture (CSA)" and consumer cooperatives are examples of democratic business models that also invert the traditionally perceived flows of the agri-food value chain. For example, the consumer cooperative is one well known business model that allows consumer participation in ownership and governance [127]. As well, there are associations for the support of peasant agriculture, such as Association de Maintien de l'Agriculture Paysanne (AMAPs), which is a French CSA organization that, by the partnership between urban citizens and farmers, advocates against large-scale traditional food supply chains [128].…”

Sustainability in the Coffee Supply Chain and Purchasing Policies: A Case Study Research

“…However, both B2B and B2C have evolved, and the value concept has expanded out of the quality-price relationship, and there are many other buying decision factors, such as convenience, after-sales service, dependency, singularity, and customization [19]. This enlargement of requirements made producers continuously look for opportunities that would allow them to reduce costs and/or improve efficiency, while at the same time, innovate their offerings as upstream collaborations-a great opportunity that can be even more profitable than downstream [24]. Thus, the main idea behind collaborative relationships is to address market demand by examining market behavior [23] and developing solutions as needed.…”

“…There has been growth in the importance of green topics in research, showing that marketing and communication should induce more responsible consumer and producer behaviors. In the agri-food industry, concepts such as quality are being "surpassed and replaced by the concept of sustainability, in environmental, social and, of course, economic terms" [24]. This action highlights the importance of corporate social responsibility on consumers' perceptions and on corporate performance, which, in turn, impacts their emotions and ecological commitment [4].…”

“…For example, in 2019 the products labeled as "farm to table," "fair trade," and "ethically sourced" saw growing sales, with an estimated annual growth of 7% until 2025 [29]. In addition to these labels, product innovation through collaborations between companies and suppliers, such as biotechnology companies, have helped to address the risk of dependence on key customers [24] and thus prevent a price war with competitors.…”

Learning and Collaboration during Crisis: A Novel University-Community Partnership to Manufacture Medical Personal Protective Equipment

“…COVID-19 affected supply chains across the United States and the world, which was difficult for the participants we surveyed, who had to create new supply chains in order to identify vendors and procure materials. Peréz-Mesa, Piedra-Muñoz, Galdeano-Gómez et al [17] define a supply chain as a "series of operations," highlighting the processual elements of producing and distributing goods, and how being attentive to supply chains as a process can help us understand how supply chains can be adjusted or created. Once the face shields had been produced, logistics challenges continued for the Coordinators and the Consultants: The face shields needed to be assembled, stored, and distributed, while avoiding cross-contamination among the multiple Contributor groups.…”