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Based on a sample of 308 enterprises, this paper studies the determinants of export organic supply chain performance. The results indicate seven positive determinants that influence positively the supply chain performance, including: (i) need-satisfying ability (NSA), (ii) relationship management, (iii) information management, (iv) quality management, (v) coordination and cooperation mechanisms, (vi) operation management, and (vii) marketing strategy of the export organic supply chain. In contrast, the differentiated segmentation strategy and cost strategy have no impact on the export organic supply chain performance.

The main aim of this study is to explore the appropriate factors in measuring COVID-19-induced supply chain disruptions and the impact of these disruptions on the economic vulnerability of small-scale farmers in Sri Lanka.

The findings revealed that most of the farmers have continued to cultivate even during the pandemic despite several challenges which affected their economic status. Therefore, it is concluded that COVID-19-induced transportation and demand disruptions exacerbated the economic vulnerability of small-scale farmers over the disruptions in supply and production.

The findings of this study are crucial for formulating novel policies to improve the sustainability of the Sri Lankan agricultural sector and alleviate the poverty level of Agri-communities in the countryside. As farming is a vital sector in the economy, increased attention ought to be given on facilitating farmers with government-encouraged loans or allowances for their financial stability. Further, the respective government authorities should develop programs for importing and distributing adequate quantities of fertilizers among all the farmers at controlled prices so that they can continue their operations without any interruption. Moreover, the government could engage in collaboratively work with private organizations to streamline the Agri-input supply process. There should be a government initiative for critical consideration of the issues of farming families and their continued motivation to engage in agriculture. Thus, farmers' livelihoods and agricultural prosperity could be upgraded through alternative Agri-inputs and marketing strategies, providing financial assistance, encouraging innovative technology, etc.

Despite the significance and vulnerability of the vegetable and fruit sector in Sri Lanka, there is a limitation in the empirical studies conducted on the supply chain disruptions caused by COVID-19 measures and their implications on the farmers' livelihood. Furthermore, previous empirical research has not employed adequate quantitative tools to analyze the situation or appropriate variables in evaluating COVID-19-induced disruptions. Hence, the current study explored the appropriate factors for measuring COVID-19-induced supply chain disruption using exploratory factor analysis. Then, the impact of those factors on the economic vulnerability of the small scale farmers was revealed through the ordinal logistics regression analysis.

The purpose of this paper is to empirically identify key factors of UK food supply chains (SCs) that significantly contribute to CO₂ emissions (CO2e) taking into account the life cycle assessment (LCA). The UK food supply chain includes imports from other countries.

This research develops a conceptual framework from extant literature. Secondary data obtained from ONS and FAOSTAT covering from 1990 to 2014 are analysed using Multilinear Regression (MLR) and Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA) to identify the factors relating to CO₂ emissions significance, and the efficient contributions that are being made to their reduction in the UK food supply chains.

The study results suggest that Transportation and Sales/Distribution are the two key factors of CO₂ emissions in UK food supply chains. This is confirmed by two multivariate methods, MLR and SFA. MLR results show that transportation increases UK CO₂ emissions by 10 tonnes of CO₂ emissions from one tonne of fruits and vegetables imports from overseas to the UK Sales and Distribution reduces the UK CO₂ emissions by 1.3 tonnes of CO₂ emissions due to improved, technological operation activities in the UK. In addition, the SFA results confirm that the key factors are sufficient to predict an increase or decrease in CO₂ emissions in the UK food supply chains.

This study has focused on the LCA of the UK food supply chain from limited data. Future studies should consider Sustainability Impact Assessment of the UK food supply chain, identifying the social, economic, regulatory and environmental impacts of the food supply chain using a re-defined LCA (all-inclusive assessment) tool.

This research suggests that food supply chain professionals should improve efficiency, e.g. the use of solar energy and biogas, and also integrate low-carbon policies and practices in food supply chain operations. Furthermore, governments should encourage policies such as mobility management programmes, urban redevelopment and privatisation to enhance better transportation systems and infrastructure to continuously reduce CO₂e from the food trade.

Although logistics play a major role in CO₂ emissions, all logistics CO₂ emissions for other countries are not included in the ONS data. This research reveals some important insights into the UK food supply chains. Logistics and other food supply chain processes of importing countries significantly contribute to CO₂ emissions which are yet to be considered in the UK food SCs.

This paper aims to explore the factors of quality control (QC) among key members of a supply chain and investigate the effect on supply chain management (SCM).

This research employs a case study approach of five firms in the fresh fruit and vegetable supply chain in Jordan. Cases are first analysed individually. Then a cross‐analysis supplemented with archival material and non‐participant observation is made. A questionnaire is also conducted in order to analyse the effect of QC on SCM.

The findings identify the high‐order factors of QC and demonstrate the role of QC in SCM, acting as the main strategy to improve supply chains.

The case studies draw on the experiences and views of supply chain members in order to improve the understanding of the role of QC in SCM. The proposed conceptual framework can help managers in understanding the factors of supply chain QC.

This is one of only a few studies that examine QC in the supply chain. It is also one of only a few research studies to provide empirical evidence of the role of QC in SCM for the fruit and vegetable industry.

The purpose of this paper is to seek to show how the implementation of different quality assurance programs (QAPs) affects international market access for horticultural processing firms in developing countries.

A representative survey of 50 registered firms processing horticultural produce in Vietnam was conducted. Logistic regression models are used to analyze the effects of QAPs and other firm level factors on participation in different export supply chains.

QAPs influence firms' participation in export supply chains significantly. While the implementation of internationally recognized QAPs improves access to OECD markets, national QAPs are more important for exports to non‐OECD countries.

Horticultural processing firms in developing countries can improve their access to export markets when they implement formal QAPs. There is segmentation between non‐OECD supply chains, for which national QAPs suffice, and OECD supply chains with higher food safety and quality requirements, for which international QAPs are important. Depending on the intended target markets, firms can adjust their strategies accordingly.

This study contributes empirically to the literature on private sector food regulations and developing country exports by using a unique set of firm level data from Vietnam. While analyzing the impact of QAPs on export market access, it is differentiated between national and international QAPs. Policy implications are discussed.

The purpose of this paper is to determine compatibility groups of different fruits and vegetables that can be stored and transported together based upon their requirements for temperature, relative humidity, odour and ethylene production. Pre-cooling which is necessary to prepare the commodity for subsequent shipping and safe storage is also discussed.

The methodology used in this journal is an attempt to form clusters/groups of storing together 43 identified fruits and vegetables based on four important parameters, namely, temperature, relative humidity, odour and ethylene production. An agglomerative hierarchical clustering algorithm is used to build a cluster hierarchy that is commonly displayed as a tree diagram called dendrogram. The same is further analyzed using K-means clustering to find clusters of comparable spatial extent. The results obtained from the analytics are compared with the available data of grouping fruits and vegetables.

This study investigates the usefulness and efficacy of the proposed clustering approach for storage and transportation of different fruits and vegetables that will eventually save huge investment made in terms of developing infrastructure components and energy consumption. This will enable the investors to adopt it for using the space more effectively and also reducing food wastage.

Due to limited research and development (R&D) data pertaining to storage parameters of different fruits and vegetables on the basis of temperature, relative humidity, ethylene production/sensitivity, odour and pre-cooling, information from different available sources have been utilized. India needs to develop its own crop specific R&D data, since the conditions for soil, water and environment vary when compared to other countries. Due to the limited availability of the research data, various multi-criteria approaches used in other areas have been applied to this paper. Future studies might be interested in considering other relevant variables depending upon R&D and data availability.

With the increase in population, the demand for food is also increasing. To meet such growing demand and provide quality and nutritional food, it is important to have a clear methodology in terms of compatibility grouping for utilizing the available storage space for multi-commodity produce and during transportation. The methodology used shall enable the practitioners to understand the importance of temperature, humidity, odour and ethylene sensitivity for storage and transportation of perishables.

This approach shall be useful for decision making by farmers, Farmer Producer Organization, cold-storage owners, practicing managers, policy makers and researchers in the areas of cold-chain management and will provide an opportunity to use the available space in the cold storage for storing different fruits and vegetables, thereby facilitating optimum use of infrastructure and resources. This will enable the investors to utilize the space more effectively and also reduce food wastage. It shall also facilitate organizations to manage their logistic activities to gain competitive advantage.

The proposed model would help decision makers to resolve the issues related to the selection of storing different perishable commodities together. From the secondary research, not much research papers have been found where such a multi-criteria clustering approach has been applied for the storage of fruits and vegetables incorporating four important parameters relevant for storage and transportation.

Over the years, the fruit and vegetable supply chain has encountered several challenges. From the harvesting stage until it reaches the consumer, a significant portion of fruits and vegetables gets wasted in the supply chain. As a result, the present study attempts to identify and analyze the growth barriers in the fresh produce supply chain (FPSC) in the Indian context.

An integrated grey theory and DEMATEL based approach is used to analyze growth barriers in the FPSC. The growth barriers were analyzed and sorted based on their influence and importance relations.

The results emphasize that the most critical growth barriers in the FPSC that should be addressed to ensure food waste reduction are as follows: Lack of cold chain facilities (B2), lack of transportation or logistic facilities (B1), lack of collaboration and information sharing between supply chain partners (B3), lack of proper quality and safety protocols (B15), a lack of processing and packaging facilities (B14), and poor productivity and efficiency (B13). Results are also verified by conducting a sensitivity analysis.

The results are highly useful for policymakers to exploit growth barriers within the FPSC that require more attention. The obtained results show that the managers and policymakers need to utilize more funds to develop the cold chain facilities and logistics facilities to develop the FPSC. By improving the cold chain facilities, it is possible to improve the quality of food, make the food safe for human consumption, reduce waste, and increase the efficiency and productivity of the supply chain. Also, this study may encourage policymakers and industrial managers to adopt the most influential SCM practices for food waste reduction.

Many researchers have attempted to analyze the causes of food waste and growth barriers in the FPSC using various decision-making methods. Still, no attempts are made to explore the causal relations among various growth barriers in FPSC through the integrated Grey-DEMATEL technique. Also, we devise policy implications in the light of the new farm bills or the Indian agricultural acts of 2020. Lack of cold chain facilities (B2) was found to be the critical driving barrier in the FPSC, as it influences multiple barriers. Also, there is a dire need for cold chain facilities and transportation systems to enhance productivity and efficiency.

This paper aims to bridge the concepts of innovation and performance and to develop a framework to assess innovation and performance in food chains.

Based on an extensive literature search the paper identifies critical success factors (CSFs) and related indicators for innovation in food chains, on the one hand, and performance in food chains, on the other. Main CSF categories for innovation are: product, process, market and organization. Main CSF categories for performance are: efficiency, responsiveness, quality and flexibility. A chain process model is developed that enables one to identify main chain processes that impact on innovation and performance. A trade‐off matrix is constructed in which effects of innovations on performance and vice versa in typical chain processes can be identified.

This article reviewed available supply‐chain innovation and performance indicators and models and methods used to assess performance and innovation within fruit supply chains. Based on the existing literature a conceptual framework for assessing innovation and performance of companies in the European fruit supply chain has been developed. The framework consists of a supply chain process model and an innovation‐performance matrix which have been successfully applied to several cases along the apple chain in The Netherlands.

The chain process model and matrix are applied in an integrated way to the Dutch fruit chain. An apple grower case and a fruit cooperative case are worked out. Managers in food chains can use the framework to assess their company's innovations and performances.

The paper aims to bridge the concepts of innovation and performance. Literature and research on this subject are minimal.

The purpose of this paper is to estimate the market demand and compare the average market margins for six broad categories of fresh produce in different retail formats across five select cities of the country. It also tries to qualitatively understand the supply chain management practices of these retailers across cities.

Registered retail outlets were selected randomly from online sources. Market potential was estimated as the average sales of each category of fresh produce. Personal interviews were conducted with the market players in order to collect qualitative data about their supply chain management practices.

Potatoes, onions and tomatoes are the largest consumed category of fresh produce across cities. Consumers in Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities exhibit different buying behavior and preferences. Large retailers and small retailers coexist in the cities. Marketing margins of retail formats are not uniform across cities.

The study did not capture the reasons for the differences observed in consumer preferences and buying behavior across cities. The study has taken into consideration only registered neighborhood stores in the study locations.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the paper is first of its kind which has attempted to estimate the categorywise market potential of fresh produce across study cities.

This paper aims to present a closed-loop supply chain (CLSC) optimization problem for a perishable agricultural product to achieve three pillars of sustainability, including minimizing total network costs and carbon dioxide emissions from different network activities and maximizing responsiveness to demands simultaneously.

The research problem is formulated as a multi-objective mixed-integer linear programming model, and classical approaches, including the LP-Metric and weighted Tchebycheff method, have been applied to solve the optimization model. A set of test problems has been proposed to validate the model, and the results are presented.

Computational time to find Pareto optimal solutions by using the weighted Tchebycheff method was twice as much as that of the LP-Metric method. Also, the result of the study is a mathematical model that can be applied to other products that are close to the fruit, such as vegetables.

The present study is limited to fruits supply chains and the inventory is considered at the distribution centers only. The study also considers only one type of transport.

The paper can assist supply chain managers to define strategies to achieve a sustainable CLSC network configuration for the fruits.

This study is one of the early studies to consider environmental indicators in fruits supply chain design along with two other indicators of sustainability, namely, economic and social indicators. Therefore, this can help supply chain managers to achieve sustainability by optimizing location decisions, inventory quantities and flow between facilities.