The evolution of partnerships in the meat supply chain: insights from the British beef industry

Abstract

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.

Examining sustainability performance in the supply chain: The case of the Greek dairy sector

“…Specifically, breeders underperform in few key indicators including product conservation time, flexibility in delivery to extra point of sales and total evaluation of firm's performance. This is not a surprising result as producers have been the weak link (member) in most national food chains in terms of many key issues including performance (see Fearne 1998). …”

“…This could be attributed to a lack of cooperation between members of the whole chain considering the low scores that breeders exhibit and the subsequent "snowball effect" that this may affect the chain as a whole. This lack of cooperation between chain members is well-documented in the food SCM literature [see Fearne (1998) for the UK beef chain; Van der Vorst (2006) for other national food chains] but it is also discussed extensively in the "generic" (non-food) marketing and SCM literature [see relevant theoretical paper by Ballou, et al (2000) and Tan (2006) who examined various SCs representing sectors such as textile, furniture, chemicals and tobacco to name a few]. Major sustainability performance differences were also noted in relation to "quality of my firm's products packaging".…”

“…A similar finding is proposed by Zhao, et al (2002) for other "generic", non-food chains regarding the influential role of information sharing and ordering co-ordination by chain members on the total SC performance. Therefore, a higher level of cooperation and coordination in product conservation time between all members is essential to achieve sustainable performance as this will have an impact on the quality of the final dairy products; however, we anticipate that it will be challenging to achieve this [see Fearne (1998) for the lack of co-operation and co-ordination in the UK food chain; Van der Vorst (2006) for other national food chains; Zhao, et al (2002);Ballou, et al (2000); Tan (2006) for other "generic", non-food chains]. In addition, the positive performance of the dairy chain in traceability is partly explained by the strong performance of the large dairy manufacturers who lead the chain on this indicator.…”

Supply chain integration, quality management and firm performance of pork processing industry in China

“…In Europe, competitive pressures, together with regulatory and industry responses to food safety and quality issues already in the 1990s had impacted on the development of coordinated supply chains between retailers, processors and farmers (Fearne, 1998). This kind of chainwide integration of quality management systems is regarded as the best strategy to deal with complex quality demands because no individual firm is able to handle quality on its own (Omta etal, 2002).…”

“…Several studies have clearly indicated the role of government legislation on more strict QM practices applied by the chain members. For example, the evolution of partnerships in British beef supply chains owed much to the 1990 Food Safety Act (Fearne, 1998). Proactive support of the technological infrastructure by the government and the conduciveness of the industrial and national technology climate is a catalyst for firms to achieve the full technological potential and improve firm performance (Sharif, 1994).…”