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Optimizing the U.S. fresh produce supply chain to reduce food loss

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  • Ge, Houtian
  • Gomez, Miguel I.
  • Peters, Christian J.

Abstract

Fresh fruits and vegetables typically have a limited shelf life due to their high moisture content and perishable nature. The contemporary food system provides consumers with convenience, extensive choice, and the year-round availability of fresh produce. In this paper, these achievements are recognized within the context of the associated food loss. While a considerable amount of the academic literature has examined the root issues behind food waste generation in the stages of food production and consumption, very few studies have investigated the food loss of the transport components of food supply chains. This analysis adds to the existing literature by considering the food loss associated with the aggregation and distribution of fresh produce products consumed by American households. We use a two-stage hybrid approach to identify the most efficient fresh produce assembly and distribution patterns. In the first stage, the facility location problem is formulated as a cost minimization problem. The result obtained in the first stage is used in the second stage to develop a food loss minimization problem to optimize the design of the supply chain network. This approach allows the simultaneous consideration of two dimensions of sustainability including food loss and the total cost of the supply chain design. The proposed approach generates a tradeoff analysis between food loss and associated costs for making informed decisions on designing sustainable supply chains.

Suggested Citation

  • Ge, Houtian & Gomez, Miguel I. & Peters, Christian J., 2025. "Optimizing the U.S. fresh produce supply chain to reduce food loss," 2025 AAEA & WAEA Joint Annual Meeting, July 27-29, 2025, Denver, CO 360636, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:aaea25:360636
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.360636
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Volpe, Richard & Leibtag, Ephraim S. & Roeger, Edward, 2013. "How Transport Costs Affect Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Prices," Economic Research Report 161355, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    2. Jing Yi & Samantha Cohen & Sarah Rehkamp & Patrick Canning & Miguel I. Gómez & Houtian Ge, 2023. "Overcoming data barriers in spatial agri‐food systems analysis: A flexible imputation framework," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 74(3), pages 686-701, September.
    3. Volha Yakavenka & Ioannis Mallidis & Dimitrios Vlachos & Eleftherios Iakovou & Zafeiriou Eleni, 2020. "Development of a multi-objective model for the design of sustainable supply chains: the case of perishable food products," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 294(1), pages 593-621, November.
    4. Ratapol Teratanavat & Victoria Salin & Neal H. Hooker, 2005. "Recall event timing: Measures of managerial performance in U.S. meat and poultry plants," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 21(3), pages 351-373.
    5. Ge, Houtian & Goetz, Stephan & Canning, Patrick & Perez, Agnes, 2018. "Optimal locations of fresh produce aggregation facilities in the United States with scale economies," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 197(C), pages 143-157.
    6. Ge, Houtian & Canning, Patrick & Goetz, Stephan & Perez, Agnes & Li, Jie, 2019. "Embedding Economies of Scale Concepts in the Model of Optimal Locations of Fresh Produce Aggregation Hubs," Agricultural and Resource Economics Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 48(3), pages 365-387, December.
    7. de Keizer, Marlies & Akkerman, Renzo & Grunow, Martin & Bloemhof, Jacqueline M. & Haijema, Rene & van der Vorst, Jack G.A.J., 2017. "Logistics network design for perishable products with heterogeneous quality decay," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 262(2), pages 535-549.
    8. Broek, John v.d. & Schutz, Peter & Stougie, Leen & Tomasgard, Asgeir, 2006. "Location of slaughterhouses under economies of scale," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 175(2), pages 740-750, December.
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