The management of flows in Alternative Food Networks and in the commodity sector: different needs and different solutions?

The main purpose of this research is to provide insights about the compatibility of Alternative Food Network (AFN) with the management of flows recommended by research on urban logistics and applied by some urban policies in Northern countries. The research guiding these policies highlight the need for a more rational and optimized flow of goods in order to reduce their negative externalities, mostly on environment and welfare (Gonzalez-Feliu et al., 2012). One of the recommended and applied solutions is the use of more collective / collaborative logistics schemes. Hubs for commodities and/or food products (Morganti, 2011) are one of these solutions. They are logistic infrastructures but also a support for new modes of horizontal and vertical coordination. Furthermore, we study the possibility of common logistics solutions for flows of commodities and food products in urban areas and the possible integration of AFN flows with the ones of other supply chains. The originality of our study is to compare the logic of AFNs with the one of more classical supply chains instead of considering them as specific and seeking particular logistics solutions. As a conclusion, one can highlight the diversity of key drivers of logistics schemes in AFNs. These organizations embedded in the four words of production (Salais and Storper, 1993) reflect a diversity of needs concerning performance and the way it is achieved (in particular the coordination needed to do so). Expectations of the firms involved in these supply chains are not necessarily different to those of firms involved in other kinds of retailing chains, notably with respect to the speed and reliability of deliveries and the need for optimization. As a consequence, it appears that some AFNs are compatible with the logistics solutions recommended and applied in urban areas, such as hubs. This opens the door to the use of combined solutions for classical chains and AFN flows. The implementation of these new infrastructures and modes of vertical and horizontal coordination appears even more relevant for AFNs whose small firms have few resources to improve their logistics.