Quantity and quality of food losses along the Swiss potato supply chain: Stepwise investigation and the influence of quality standards on losses

Willersinn, Christian; Mack, Gabriele; Mouron, Patrik; Keiser, Andreas; Siegrist, Monika

doi:10.1016/j.wasman.2015.08.033

Cited by 81 publications

(80 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…Processing methods for potatoes, tubers and vegetables, such as mechanical peeling and handling, can cause very high amounts of waste [64,65] and this may reflect the advanced technology of European food production systems. The soft nature of many fruits and vegetables makes them susceptible to damage during automated harvest and handling, although much research has been undertaken in this area in recent decades [56].…”

Section: Fw Drivers Related To Collateral Effects Of Modern Technologmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…), consumers choose the food products that show the best external appearance, even when they know that the products left unselected on the shelves, in general, do not have inferior taste and nutritional qualities. The selective behaviour of consumers with respect to the aesthetical appearance of food, being transmitted from retailers and food services to all the upstream segments, affects the organization of the whole FSC and is considered a major FW driver [1,16,33,36,45,49,65,83,85,86].…”

Section: Fw Drivers Related To Consumers' Individual Behaviours That mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Food Waste Drivers in Europe, from Identification to Possible Interventions

Canali

Amani

Aramyan³

et al. 2016

Sustainability

164

224

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Abstract:The growing volumes of food globally lost or wasted and implications for food security and sustainability have raised the concern of researchers, governments, international organizations and grass-root movements. Much research and experiences investigating food waste causes and drivers focus on one specific segment of the food supply chain and limit the analysis to the situation of one or few countries, while the few studies of wider geographical scope also target other relevant and diversified objectives (e.g., food waste definition, quantification, environmental and economic impacts, and recommendations for interventions). This study, carried out by a network of European institutions involved in research and initiatives against food waste, focuses on the analysis of a broad area, Europe, through a wide and systematic literature review and consultation with stakeholders in international focus groups. The food supply chain was divided into seven segments and three main contexts were defined for the examination of food waste sources: Technological, Institutional (related to organisational factors, i.e., business management, economy, legislation, and policy), and Social (related to consumers' behaviours and lifestyles). Results suggest a wide and multifaceted problem, interconnected across all stages of the food supply chain, from primary production, to final consumption. Within each context, the identified drivers have been grouped according to the possibilities and the type of interventions for food waste reduction. A final cross-contextual prioritization distinguished food waste sources related to (A) inherent characteristics of food; (B) social and economic factors; (C) individual non-readily changeable behaviours; (D) other priorities targeted by private and public stakeholders; (E) diversified factors, such as mismanagement, inefficient legislation, lack of awareness or information; and sub-optimal use of available technologies, which could be more promptly changed. Such diversification of causes calls for specific monitoring systems, targeted policy measures, and actions of individual stakeholders at each stage of the food supply chain.

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Section: Fw Drivers Related To Collateral Effects Of Modern Technologmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Fw Drivers Related To Consumers' Individual Behaviours That mentioning

confidence: 99%

Food Waste Drivers in Europe, from Identification to Possible Interventions

Canali

Amani

Aramyan³

et al. 2016

Sustainability

164

224

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…We sort transactions as either fresh fruit or vegetable sales. Since it has been documented that low-quality products are more likely to be lost in the FLW literature [27], we define several variables for product quality. In accordance with the information contained in the dataset, the quality of produce is categorized based on a grading system classifying products into excellent, good, normal, and low-grade produce.…”

Section: Datasetsmentioning

confidence: 99%

What Is Missing in Food Loss and Waste Analyses? A Close Look at Fruit and Vegetable Wholesale Markets

2019

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Food loss and waste (FLW) has been the subject of significant research, with recent empirical evidence analyzing the determinants of FLW in many different countries. Much of this literature examines FLW at the farm, food processing, and consumer level. However, to the best of our knowledge, no study thus far has addressed this issue at food wholesale markets. This paper fills this knowledge gap by examining food loss at fruit and vegetable wholesale markets. Using a dataset with individual auction transactions from Taiwan, we examine the extent to which average daily market prices, product quality, and disaster shocks are associated with food loss. Results point to a negative effect of daily market prices on food loss. Furthermore, disaster shocks can lead to greater food loss, particularly typhoons. These effects are heterogeneous across the distribution for the weight of food loss.Research has also examined the extent of food losses at different stages of the food supply chain. At the farm production level, food losses range from 20 to 40 percent for meat, dairy, cereal, and vegetable products [15][16][17]. These production losses occur when agricultural shocks such as weather conditions prevent crops from being harvested, or when produce is "graded out" based on quality [16]. Other literature has examined post-harvest losses of crops such as maize and sweet potato due to poor management skills and market mismatches [18,19].However, despite this extensive research, no studies have been done on FLW at wholesale markets. There are two primary reasons to believe that FLW can be a severe problem at this stage in the food supply chain. First, many wholesale markets are unplanned urban spaces with no special facilities. Thus, these markets often lack even a single refrigeration unit for their products, particularly cold storage systems that can preserve and store goods for extended periods. Second, the auction system that typically governs wholesale markets can also generate FLW. Since consumers bid on both the quality and quantity of items, this means that products can be left unsold. Wholesale markets facilitate FLW because they have the unique cost of clearing their inventory of perishable products at the end of the business day. This clearance is done to ensure that there is adequate space for the following day's auction items.This paper quantifies the determinants and extent of food loss for wholesale markets using a case study in Taiwan as an illustration. Using a large-scale dataset of individual transactions from a fruit and vegetable wholesale market, we estimate the weight of food loss using the ordinary least squares and quantile regression models. Results show that average market prices are negatively associated with the weight of fruit and vegetable food loss. Compared to high-quality grades of fresh fruits and vegetables, low-quality products are less likely to be sold within the auction market. Regarding the sourcing of agricultural products, we find that fresh fruits and vegetables provided by farmer'...

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“…Traditionally, customers measure product quality through infull and on-time deliveries and according to the company's ability to comply with certain product characteristics (Willersinn et al, 2015). For this reason, wineries and any other food SC must strive to provide quality products and meet established standards (Trienekens et al, 2014).…”

Section: Quality In the Supply Chainmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of human resources on wine supply chain flexibility, quality, and economic performance

Alcaráz¹,

Adarme-Jaimes

Blanco‐Fernández

2016

ing.inv.

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This article assesses the impact of human resources skills on production quality, flexibility, and economic performance of La Rioja's wine supply chain. These four elements were integrated as latent variables composed of 15 observed variables and associated through six hypotheses. Data were gathered from 64 wineries located in La Rioja, Spain, and hypotheses were validated in a structural equation model using WarpPLS v.5 software. Results indicate that human resources skills have a positive direct impact on SC flexibility and quality, but not on economic performance; however, these variables are indirectly associated through SC quality and SC flexibility.Keywords: Supply chain, flexibility, quality, economic performance, structural equation model, human resources. RESUMENEl objetivo de este artículo es analizar el impacto de las habilidades de los recursos humanos en la calidad obtenida en el proceso de producción, la flexibilidad y el desempeño económico de la cadena de suministro del vino en La Rioja (España). Estos elementos fueron analizados como variables latentes, en las que se integraron 15 variables observadas. Asimismo, seis hipótesis fueron planteadas para relacionar estas variables en un modelo de ecuaciones estructurales, y fueron probadas usando mínimos cuadrados parciales en el software WarpPLS v.5. Los datos fueron obtenidos de 64 empresas vitivinícolas ubicadas en La Rioja, España. Los resultados indicaron que las capacidades de los recursos humanos tienen un impacto directo y positivo en la flexibilidad y la calidad de la cadena de suministro, pero no en el desempeño económico de la misma; sin embargo, el efecto indirecto es obtenido a través de la calidad y la flexibilidad.Palabras clave: Cadena de suministro, flexibilidad, calidad, desempeño económico, modelo de ecuaciones estructurales, recursos humanos.

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Quantity and quality of food losses along the Swiss potato supply chain: Stepwise investigation and the influence of quality standards on losses

Cited by 81 publications

References 14 publications

Food Waste Drivers in Europe, from Identification to Possible Interventions

Food Waste Drivers in Europe, from Identification to Possible Interventions

What Is Missing in Food Loss and Waste Analyses? A Close Look at Fruit and Vegetable Wholesale Markets

Impact of human resources on wine supply chain flexibility, quality, and economic performance

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