Introduction
The food industry plays a crucial role in providing the necessities and basic needs of humans, hence determining their behaviors and activities. According to Knorr and Augustin (2021), food should go through different services after harvesting. The most common services that food undergo include storage, retail, and delivery. These points are crucial in making the food usable when it reaches the final intended consumer. Walia and Sanders (2019) reveal that there have been consistent wastage and abandonment of agricultural food every year, leading to the loss of almost one-third of the total production. Walia and Sanders (2019) suggest that the other two-thirds of the food produced is effectively managed within the supply chain available globally. It shows that a sustainable supply chain is crucial in delivering a commodity efficiently to its intended consumers within the deadline. Some of the most wasted agricultural food include avocados, bananas, oranges, and cocoa. The problem of the food supply chain can be addressed by developing a food supply chain management (FSCM) framework to address some of the common issues in the logistics of delivering these foods to the intended customers.
The framework adopted in the current report used different sections, starting with the introduction. The second section outlines the methodology used to search for academic literature regarding the food supply chain management frameworks. The third section presents crucial data on agricultural fruits’ sustainability and supply chain performance, as this is the focus area. The fourth section evaluates the supply chain performance attributed to the FSCM adopted in the current report. Based on the evaluations, conclusions are made, and recommendations are given to help future supply chain designers consider different aspects that can help in a sustainable food supply chain.
Methodology
The current report mainly focuses on reviewing the present literature on food supply chain management and the adopted best practices. Since food, especially the agriculturally produced ones, is crucial in the sustainability of life, special attention should be paid to ensuring minimal wastage of resources and produce in any adopted logistic line. Based on this understanding, the report considered the need for sustainable operations and the resulting costs of the final products. The principles adopted in the agricultural sector supply chain must demonstrate why it is necessary to have a proper planning and performance-based framework to ensure the effective delivery of services needed by the consumer. Consequently, the current report considered all these principles and searched for various appropriate resources that could yield the intended results.
The report utilized qualitative systematic strategic document analysis, using various databases on supply chain management, business, information technology, and agricultural plant products. The materials searched included peer-reviewed journals, dissertations, corporate reports, and academic databases. Moreover, other critical information considered relevant in the current report was obtained from Google Scholar and Science Direct, which are some of the largest databases containing various information in the chosen area. The keywords used included supply chain management, sustainability, fruits, efficient supply chain, waste management in the supply chain, and performance. However, some sources were not directly linked with the keywords identified above but were considered essential for the current report. The search was conducted continuously until it was determined that the information collected was enough to inform the report and could help in building a thorough analysis for the report.
Commodity Overview
Agricultural foods form the largest parts of the consumable foods in the world. Fruits such as bananas, avocados, oranges, and cocoa are some of the most consumed agricultural products worldwide. While various companies process these fruits and can them, most people consider the natural flavor healthier. For this reason, several supply chains are dealing with fruits in different parts of the world. The current report focuses primarily on the supply chain of bananas. Banana is the most popular fruit globally, with an estimated 115.74 billion tons of fruit being sold in 2018 alone, accounting for about 65 percent of the total fruit sales for about 15 percent of all the fruits traded globally (Alisa, 2020). Banana is popular because it is a snack eaten on the go and is rich in vitamin B6, which the body needs daily. Fruit also helps in metabolizing proteins, carbohydrates, and fats. In addition, it is a good source of vitamin C, essential for boosting immunity, has fiber for enhancing digestion, and magnesium for good brain activity.
Sustainability and Supply Chain Performance Data, The supply chain of bananas is a complex element that requires data from every point, from the production sites to the final consumer point. One of the best ways to understand this data is to consider how the banana moves from one place to another and the associated volumes at each point. While this data is still complex, the current report considered giving the estimated values based on the 2018 market data and explaining how the commodity moves along the supply chain. Table 1 below shows the number of bananas produced by the top ten countries in 2018. In Figure 1 and Figure 2, the graphs show the imports and exports of bananas in 2019.
Table 1: Banana production by country (2018)
Critical Evaluation of Supply Chain Performance on Bananas
As mentioned earlier, the current study focuses on the food supply chain management (FSCM) framework. The framework involves various activities or operations that include the production, distribution, and consumption of a given product. In this case, the focus is on the supply chain of bananas. According to Peña, Llivisaca, and Siguenza-Guzman (2019), the FSCM model also encompasses the quality of the products and their safety for consumption based on how effective and efficient the products are handled in transit food safety, quality, and freshness are major issues that determine how a given supply chain performs.
Manufacturing and processing exist in different forms in agricultural, forestry, and other primary processes and are part of the FSCM framework. Bond, Green, and Inman (2020) revealed that the interpretive model structure was critical in establishing a hierarchy used for different relationships, as in the supply chain case. The relationships between various logistics officers or points in the food supply can be understood using this model. While the past logistic models relied on identifying and interpreting various risks from first and third parties, the current supply chain issues can be addressed using information. According to Peña, Llivisaca, and Siguenza-Guzman (2019), FSCM does not play other roles that benefit producers and consumers apart from enhancing the outcome of the supply chain process by making it shorter, cheaper, and more effective. FSCM helps in the movement of products because it enables the traceability of any unit in transit. Food traceability becomes more effective in delivering value if regulated and operated under a systematic legal framework. This makes FSCM a critical tool in enhancing the movement of food products, especially agricultural produce, to their destination.
Globalization and information technology (IT) have resulted in more diverse ways to manage the supply of foods in different markets globally. The FSCM, when integrated with information technology, can result in effective and efficient logistic operations. There are several aspects in banana logistics, trucks, suppliers, and data entry points. All these specific elements can be integrated using an IT system to help track them from a central point and address all possible issues that can result in delays. According to Casino et al. (2021), adopting such systems depends on several factors that are mainly associated with the management of the companies in charge and the government, especially around the choice of systems and traceability of the products. Casino et al. (2021) reveal that a given data trail depending on the food’s physical trail using different statuses, makes it possible to trace the food. For instance, the United States food industry developed, supplied, and serviced food traceability systems to differentiate subtle quality characteristics. Similar methods can be used when adopting FSCM in banana supply to help achieve food safety tracking.
The value of bananas is that they should meet the requirements for public health and meet the customers’ needs. Effective supply chain management ensures that these two qualities are met at the point of sale. The adoption of FSCM can help address these two issues facing the trading of bananas in the world. As noted earlier, bananas and other foods face serious wastage due to different underlying issues associated with the logistical path taken by suppliers. When there is an issue associated with a health risk for a given banana supply, the FSCM framework makes it possible for the food to be tracked back to the source, for example, the firm that produced the harmful bananas. On the other hand, the framework can also make it easy for the trackers to identify an issue within the supply chain.
Traceability also differs from one region to another, focusing on the European Union countries. These countries have a strict adherence to food tracking and data record, which helps to reduce various issues in the supply chain. Since banana is a global commodity and their major producers are not in the EU region, it is crucial to adopt strict measures implemented through the FSCM framework to enable effective logistical chain movement. According to Yan et al. (2020), one of the best methods to use when combining FSCM and IT is radio frequency identification (RFID), an auto-ID technology used to trace food. Bananas are some of the most perishable products, and consumers consider the quality and freshness of the product when the units reach their intended destination.
Implementing FSCM using IT systems is crucial to developing an effective system for bananas’ supply chain. The supply chain adopted should focus on the environmental performance and sustainability of the various parties within the supply chain, including the farmers, transporters, and retailers. Maloletko et al. (2018) noted that the customer usually bears all the burden of the costs incurred in the supply chain. For this reason, it is crucial to adopt the shortest possible route to ensure that the cost is highly minimized, and the final product is less expensive. At the same time, the suppliers should focus on the readily available markets where the demands are high.
Recommendations for Improvement
The current report focused on identifying ways to improve bananas’ supply chain sustainability performance as an agricultural product. It is revealed that the production of bananas is in large volumes and available throughout the year from the producing countries. At the same time, several countries import bananas, thus providing ready markets for the products. However, it was also identified that one of the main challenges facing the agricultural food supply chain is the wastage of up to about one-third of the productions. This leads to large amounts of losses to the producers and the suppliers. However, these problems can be addressed by using IT systems to track the fruits and using short chains to reduce possible delays before the product reaches the intended consumers.
Various stakeholders in the food supply chain management can use the FSCM framework with IT systems such as RFID to track the units in transit or delivered to the consumers. The use of IT services makes it easy for the various officers to see the units in transit in real-time, detect where there are delays, and solve any cases registered early before problems can escalate. Moreover, IT systems linked with the FSCM framework can help identify health risks within the supply chain, thus isolating the issue before it can spread further to affect other units in transit. In addition, producers must consider adopting short supply chains to help reduce the cost borne by the consumers. This can be done by eliminating unnecessary points within the supply chain.
Conclusion
The food industry is a crucial element in the supply chain as it helps provide basic human needs. Agricultural products usually must go through several processes, including production, packaging, transportation, and storage, which leads to wastage of up to about three-thirds of what is produced. The massive wastage of the fruits usually occurs due to a long supply chain. Various FSCM frameworks can be adopted to help address the existing issues and make it easier to address the current challenges. The current report used qualitative systematic strategic document analysis to gather supply chain management data on food. Based on the reviews conducted, it is revealed that there is a need for adopting IT systems such as RFID to help track banana units in transit in real-time. The system can help to identify various risks by tracing a given product to the producer and at the same time identifying an issue within a given point within the supply chain. It is recommended that banana logistics should adopt such IT systems and remove unnecessary suppliers along the supply chain to help reduce the final costs of the products.
Reference List
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