IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/transe/v203y2025ics1366554525003965.html

Preservation modes and channel leadership in seafood supply chains: A comparative study of chilled and frozen strategies

Author

Listed:
  • Feng, Zhangwei
  • Luo, Na
  • Wu, Lingxiao
  • Liu, Yanping
  • Sima, Herbert

Abstract

The preservation of seafood is a critical challenge in the fresh food supply chain, particularly when navigating the complexities of dual-channel models and leadership dynamics. This paper investigates the impact of preservation methods (chilled vs. frozen) and leadership structures (centralized vs. decentralized) on seafood supply chains. We examine the strategic decisions of suppliers and retailers regarding preservation mode selection and explore the advantages of supplier- or retailer-dominated supply chains. By incorporating insights from extension models, we highlight how hybrid sales channels, combining chilled and frozen modes, can outperform a single mode under specific conditions related to fixed and variable costs. Additionally, we investigate the conditions under which decentralized supply chains can outperform centralized systems, particularly in markets where product freshness and retailer responsiveness are crucial. Through a comparative analysis, we reveal critical thresholds for trade-offs between supply chain models, emphasizing the importance of cost structures, and propose cost-sharing contracts to enhance coordination and incentivize investment in cold chain logistics. This study contributes to the understanding of fresh food supply chains, preservation technologies, hybrid sales modes, and leadership dynamics, offering practical implications for optimizing seafood supply chain operations.

Suggested Citation

  • Feng, Zhangwei & Luo, Na & Wu, Lingxiao & Liu, Yanping & Sima, Herbert, 2025. "Preservation modes and channel leadership in seafood supply chains: A comparative study of chilled and frozen strategies," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 203(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:transe:v:203:y:2025:i:c:s1366554525003965
    DOI: 10.1016/j.tre.2025.104355
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1366554525003965
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.tre.2025.104355?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lai, Zhixuan & Lou, Gaoxiang & Chung, Sai-Ho & Fan, Tijun & Ma, Haicheng & Yu, Mingjun, 2025. "The bright side of low-carbon technology sharing in a capital-constrained supply chain," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 193(C).
    2. Ali, Imran & Gligor, David & Balta, Maria & Bozkurt, Siddik & Papadopoulos, Thanos, 2024. "From disruption to innovation: The importance of the supply chain leadership style for driving logistics innovation in the face of geopolitical disruptions," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 187(C).
    3. Michal Koren & Yael Perlman & Matan Shnaiderman, 2024. "Inventory management for stockout-based substitutable products under centralised and competitive settings," International Journal of Production Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 62(9), pages 3176-3192, May.
    4. Yang, Liu & Wang, Yonggui & Ma, Jun & Ng, Chi To & Cheng, T.C.E., 2014. "Technology investment under flexible capacity strategy with demand uncertainty," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 154(C), pages 190-197.
    5. Ulpan Tokkozhina & Ana Lucia Martins & Joao C. Ferreira, 2023. "Multi-tier supply chain behavior with blockchain technology: evidence from a frozen fish supply chain," Operations Management Research, Springer, vol. 16(3), pages 1562-1576, September.
    6. Yiwei Wu & Shuaian Wang & Lu Zhen & Gilbert Laporte & Zheyi Tan & Kai Wang, 2023. "How to operate ship fleets under uncertainty," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 32(10), pages 3043-3061, October.
    7. Mansour Rached & Zied Bahroun & Jean-Pierre Campagne, 2016. "Decentralised decision-making with information sharing vs. centralised decision-making in supply chains," International Journal of Production Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 54(24), pages 7274-7295, December.
    8. Yunlong Yu & Tiaojun Xiao & Zhangwei Feng, 2020. "Price and cold-chain service decisions versus integration in a fresh agri-product supply chain with competing retailers," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 287(1), pages 465-493, April.
    9. Lingxiu Dong & Iva Rashkova & Duo Shi, 2022. "Food Safety Audits in Developing Economies: Decentralization vs. Centralization," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 24(6), pages 2863-2881, November.
    10. ., 2023. "Towards sustainable social care and independent living," Chapters, in: The Future of Social Care, chapter 12, pages 172-183, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    11. Liu, Chao & Chen, Weidong & Zhou, Qian & Mu, Jing, 2021. "Modelling dynamic freshness-keeping effort over a finite time horizon in a two-echelon online fresh product supply chain," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 293(2), pages 511-528.
    12. ., 2023. "Towards person-centred practice," Chapters, in: The Future of Social Care, chapter 7, pages 97-106, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    13. Sims, Katharine R.E., 2023. "Towards equity in land protection," Agricultural and Resource Economics Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 52(2), pages 201-230, August.
    14. Didem Demirhan & Varghese S. Jacob & Srinivasan Raghunathan, 2007. "Strategic IT Investments: The Impact of Switching Cost and Declining IT Cost," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 53(2), pages 208-226, February.
    15. He, Xueting & Zhen, Lu, 2025. "Column-and-row generation based exact algorithm for relay-based on-demand delivery systems," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 196(C).
    16. Tsolakis, Naoum & Niedenzu, Denis & Simonetto, Melissa & Dora, Manoj & Kumar, Mukesh, 2021. "Supply network design to address United Nations Sustainable Development Goals: A case study of blockchain implementation in Thai fish industry," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 495-519.
    17. Jia Guo & Burcu B. Keskin, 2023. "Designing a centralized distribution system for omni‐channel retailing," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 32(6), pages 1724-1742, June.
    18. Xie, JiaPing & Liang, Ling & Liu, LuHao & Ieromonachou, Petros, 2017. "Coordination contracts of dual-channel with cooperation advertising in closed-loop supply chains," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 183(PB), pages 528-538.
    19. Zhou, Yongyi & Zhang, Yulin & Wahab, M.I.M. & Goh, Mark, 2023. "Channel leadership and performance for a closed-loop supply chain considering competition," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 175(C).
    20. Ottemöller, Ole & Friedrich, Hanno, 2019. "Modelling change in supply-chain-structures and its effect on freight transport demand," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 121(C), pages 23-42.
    21. Luo, Na & Feng, Zhangwei & Liu, Yanping & Wu, Sihong & Liang, Xiaoxiao, 2025. "Tackling food waste: The role of food suppliers’ investment in preservation technology and government intervention," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 282(C).
    22. Zanoni, Simone & Zavanella, Lucio, 2012. "Chilled or frozen? Decision strategies for sustainable food supply chains," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 140(2), pages 731-736.
    23. ., 2023. "A move towards a framework for materials," Chapters, in: The Materials of Service Design, chapter 5, pages 229-234, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    24. Do, Quynh & Mishra, Nishikant & Colicchia, Claudia & Creazza, Alessandro & Ramudhin, Amar, 2022. "An extended institutional theory perspective on the adoption of circular economy practices: Insights from the seafood industry," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 247(C).
    25. Svanidze, Miranda & Ólafsdóttir, Guðrún & Đurić, Ivan & Thakur, Maitri, 2023. "Price relationships along the Norwegian salmon value chains: A comparative study of the leading consumption market in France and the largest processing industry in Poland," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 27(3), pages 382-404.
    26. Guowei Liu & Jianxiong Zhang & Wansheng Tang, 2015. "Joint dynamic pricing and investment strategy for perishable foods with price-quality dependent demand," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 226(1), pages 397-416, March.
    27. Wu, Qing & Mu, Yinping & Feng, Yi, 2015. "Coordinating contracts for fresh product outsourcing logistics channels with power structures," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 160(C), pages 94-105.
    28. Li, Yemei & Shan, Yanfei & Ling, Shuang, 2022. "Research on option pricing and coordination mechanism of festival food supply chain," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    29. Yu, Yunlong & Xiao, Tiaojun, 2021. "Analysis of cold-chain service outsourcing modes in a fresh agri-product supply chain," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 148(C).
    30. Yang, Daojian & Qi, Ershi & Li, Yajiao, 2015. "Quick response and supply chain structure with strategic consumers," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 1-14.
    31. Hsu, P.H. & Wee, H.M. & Teng, H.M., 2010. "Preservation technology investment for deteriorating inventory," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 124(2), pages 388-394, April.
    32. Xin, Wen & Lin, Jun & Zhou, Xiaoyang & Yin, Shan, 2024. "Envelopment strategies and contract design of two-sided platforms," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 269(C).
    33. Rong, Aiying & Akkerman, Renzo & Grunow, Martin, 2011. "An optimization approach for managing fresh food quality throughout the supply chain," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 131(1), pages 421-429, May.
    34. Jasmine Chang, Aichih & Zhou, Fuqin & El-Rayes, Nesreen & Shi, Jim, 2024. "Food transportation and price impacted by diesel price and truck-driver shortage pre-, amid and post pandemic," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 192(C).
    35. Wan, Xing & Chen, Jing & Li, Wei, 2023. "The impact of retail pricing leadership under manufacturer encroachment," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 310(1), pages 217-237.
    36. Yu-Chung Tsao, 2016. "Joint location, inventory, and preservation decisions for non-instantaneous deterioration items under delay in payments," International Journal of Systems Science, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 47(3), pages 572-585, February.
    37. He, Peng & He, Yong & Xu, Henry, 2020. "Buy-online-and-deliver-from-store strategy for a dual-channel supply chain considering retailer’s location advantage," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
    38. Hong, Xianpei & Govindan, Kannan & Xu, Lei & Du, Peng, 2017. "Quantity and collection decisions in a closed-loop supply chain with technology licensing," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 256(3), pages 820-829.
    39. Qiao, Haike & Su, Qin, 2021. "Distribution channel and licensing strategy choice considering consumer online reviews in a closed-loop supply chain," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    40. Lu Zhen & Dan Zhuge & Shuanglu Zhang & Shuaian Wang & Harilaos N. Psaraftis, 2024. "Optimizing Sulfur Emission Control Areas for Shipping," Transportation Science, INFORMS, vol. 58(3), pages 614-638, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Bo Yan & Yanping Liu & Jing Fan, 2025. "Two-echelon fresh product supply chain with different transportation modes," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 349(2), pages 1379-1402, June.
    2. Qian Zheng & Manman Wang & Feng Yang, 2021. "Optimal Channel Strategy for a Fresh Produce E-Commerce Supply Chain," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-24, May.
    3. Liu, Chao & Lv, Jingyu & Hou, Ping & Lu, Danrong, 2023. "Disclosing products’ freshness level as a non-contractible quality: Optimal logistics service contracts in the fresh products supply chain," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 307(3), pages 1085-1102.
    4. Luo, Na & Feng, Zhangwei & Liu, Yanping & Wu, Sihong & Liang, Xiaoxiao, 2025. "Tackling food waste: The role of food suppliers’ investment in preservation technology and government intervention," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 282(C).
    5. Jui-Jung Liao & H. M. Srivastava & Shy-Der Lin, 2024. "Inventory models for non-instantaneous deteriorating items with expiration dates under the joined effect of preservation technology and linearly time-dependent holding cost when order-size linked to advance payment," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 337(1), pages 197-233, June.
    6. Qingren He & Shuting Li & Fei Xu & Wanhua Qiu, 2022. "Deep-Processing Service and Pricing Decisions for Fresh Products with the Rate of Deterioration," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 10(5), pages 1-19, February.
    7. Wang, Yong & Jiang, Qiong & Guan, Xu & Guan, Xiangyang, 2023. "Recycling channel design and coordination in a reverse supply chain with customer green preference," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 179(C).
    8. Chaitanyakumar N. Rapolu & Deepa H. Kandpal, 2020. "Joint pricing, advertisement, preservation technology investment and inventory policies for non-instantaneous deteriorating items under trade credit," OPSEARCH, Springer;Operational Research Society of India, vol. 57(2), pages 274-300, June.
    9. Zhang, Wenhao & Li, Honglian & Wang, Mengli & Lv, Wen & Huang, Jin & Yang, Liu, 2024. "Enhancing typical Meteorological Year generation for diverse energy systems: A hybrid Sandia-machine learning approach," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 225(C).
    10. Indrani Modak & Sudarshan Bardhan & Bibhas C. Giri, 2025. "Dynamic pricing and preservation strategy for a two-echelon perishable supply chain model with price and time sensitive demand," Operational Research, Springer, vol. 25(3), pages 1-31, September.
    11. Zhinan Li & Qinming Liu & Chunming Ye & Ming Dong & Yihan Zheng, 2022. "Achieving Resilience: Resilient Price and Quality Strategies of Fresh Food Dual-Channel Supply Chain Considering the Disruption," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(11), pages 1-24, May.
    12. Saha, Subrata & Chatterjee, Debajyoti & Sarkar, Biswajit, 2021. "The ramification of dynamic investment on the promotion and preservation technology for inventory management through a modified flower pollination algorithm," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 58(C).
    13. Lejarza, Fernando & Pistikopoulos, Ioannis & Baldea, Michael, 2021. "A scalable real-time solution strategy for supply chain management of fresh produce: A Mexico-to-United States cross border study," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 240(C).
    14. Aibo Yao & Lin Jiang & Bingxue Guo & Wei Li, 2025. "Subsidy Policy Interactions in Agricultural Supply Chains: An Interdepartmental Coordination Perspective," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 15(14), pages 1-27, July.
    15. Arkajyoti De & Surya Prakash Singh, 2022. "Analysis of Competitiveness in Agri-Supply Chain Logistics Outsourcing: A B2B Contractual Framework," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(11), pages 1-33, June.
    16. Guowei Liu & Jianxiong Zhang & Wansheng Tang, 2015. "Joint dynamic pricing and investment strategy for perishable foods with price-quality dependent demand," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 226(1), pages 397-416, March.
    17. Wenxue Ran & Yajing Chen, 2023. "Fresh Produce Supply Chain Coordination Based on Freshness Preservation Strategy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-24, May.
    18. Govindan, K. & Jafarian, A. & Khodaverdi, R. & Devika, K., 2014. "Two-echelon multiple-vehicle location–routing problem with time windows for optimization of sustainable supply chain network of perishable food," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 152(C), pages 9-28.
    19. Lijun Meng & Qiang Qiang & Zuqing Huang & Baoyou Zhang & Yuxiang Yang, 2020. "Optimal Pricing Strategy and Government Consumption Subsidy Policy in Closed-Loop Supply Chain with Third-Party Remanufacturer," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-29, March.
    20. Pietro De Giovanni & Georges Zaccour, 2022. "A selective survey of game-theoretic models of closed-loop supply chains," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 314(1), pages 77-116, July.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:transe:v:203:y:2025:i:c:s1366554525003965. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/600244/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.