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

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.