Does cold chain collaboration reduce food wastage? An Australian case study of a fruit and vegetables cold chain

Food wastage is a serious problem. It is reported that as much as one third of all food produced globally for human consumption, which equates to 1.3 billion tons per annum, is lost in the distribution process. Reducing food wastage through efficiency improvement in the cold supply chain is regarded as one of the most feasible solutions to the problem. This paper investigates how collaboration in a fresh fruit and vegetable cold chain can improve operational efficiency, thereby helping reduce perishable food wastage. The collaboration between a distribution centre of a large supermarket chain in Australia and the growers / suppliers in the operation of a fruit and vegetable cold chain was used as case study for investigation. The findings reveal that collaboration improves sharing of information and knowledge, helps standardize processes and procedures, sets benchmarks and key performance indicators for monitoring, and provides training and investment opportunities for efficiency enhancement. These practices result in better performance of the cold supply chain than that of the precollaboration situation. Consequently, food wastage has been significantly reduced.