1. Sustainable Food Supply Chain
Ananya Bhattacharya
MGF5691

2. Creation of local and shorter food supply chains
Agricultural and sustainable land use practices
Organic farming, higher importance of farmers’ markets, home deliveries, community supported agriculture
Promote: economic objectives, social-cultural-environmental dimensions of rural developments
Local foods help farmers to add/retain value: saving energy/reducing food miles, providing social care, reduce emissions
Reduce food related wastages
“reconnect our farming/food industry with its market/food chain, connect food chain with countryside, reconnect consumers with what they eat, how it produced”

3. Economy, efficient producers, enhanced incomes, less burden on the taxpayer
Society, better health, high animal welfare standards, stronger rural communities
Environment, conserving natural resources, maintaining biodiversity, land management, reducing energy consumption, minimizing resource inputs, using renewable energy
DEFRA Policies

4. Environmentally beneficial or benign in its production (e.g. organic)
Proximate, originating from the closest practicable source or the minimization of energy use
Healthy as part of a balanced diet and not containing harmful biological or chemical contaminants
Fairly or co-operatively traded between producers, processors, retailers and consumers
Non-exploiting employees in the food sector in terms of rights, pay and conditions
Environmentally beneficial or benign in its production (e.g. organic)
Accessible both in terms of geographic access and affordability
High animal welfare standards in both production and transport
Socially inclusive of all people in society
Encouraging knowledge and understanding of food and food culture
Source: SUSTAIN ( alliance for better food/farming
‘food
and farming policies and practices that enhance the
health and welfare of people and animals, improve the
working and living environment, promote equity, and
enrich society and culture’

5. Additional costs for oversight, logistics, pipeline inventory and quality management, heightened vulnerability greater SC risks, lower visibility, transparency, global financing, lower responsiveness
Wholefood: do not use any of the 83 ingredients unacceptable in food products, favors local sourcing but no restrictions for suppliers to source globally

6. Economically sustainable, environmentally beneficial, socially supportive communities
Food mile measurement: distance that a food product travels geographically from the point of its origin to its final destination (actual miles travelled or emissions generated during the transport of a product along each step in its SC)
Consumers personal choice: retailers who stock local foods/go farmers’ market
Local sourcing

7. Trade-offs between food waste and packaging
40% (or around 1.3b tons) of all food intended for human consumption in developed countries end up as waste
Around 4.2 m tonnes of food waste are disposed to landfills in Australia/year (2.7m from households, 1.5 m from C&I)
C&I sector: food services (2% recycled), food manufacturing (88% recycled), food retail sectors (5% recycled)
Other areas: agricultural production/post-harvest handling/storage, processing/packaging, distribution, food service, at home
Trade-offs between food waste and packaging
Single-serve format: less food waste but more packaging per serve
Global food waste: USD 750b
Disposal to landfills
Food related poverty and security
TBL impacts of food waste
Food waste facts

8. Agricultural production/post-harvest handling & storage
Focus on primary & secondary packaging with ventilation & temperature control
Reusable plastic crates, stable corrugated cartons in conjunction with the introduction of retailer-owned ripening rooms
Redirect to food rescue organisation such as Foodbank
Processing and packaging
Fit for purpose secondary packaging for travel
Pre-packed/processed foods
Use of packaging materials and technologies to extend shelf life
Date marking (use-by…best-before…)
Design for small households & changing consumption patterns
Distribution
Tracking supply chain losses
Intelligent packaging & data sharing (Coles Supermarkets)
Retails ready packaging
How to use packaging in different stages in supply chain to reduce food waste?

10. Retailers and food waste
In the UK the top seven food retailers account for 87% of the grocery market, such as Kroger, Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Carrefour and Walmart
Pressure on retailers due to high volume-low margin business model, competition from discount shops, increasing wholesale prices and changing consumer demands

11. A four-pronged strategy
Upgrade inventory system with the latest technology
Example: Whole Foods and Target USA are using software
Partners with farmers in the supply chain
7% of produce is left unharvested in fields every year due to the tendency of growing more than needed
Resting farmers as partners rather than contractors & investing in the long-term sustainability
Examples: Sainsbury in the UK and Marks and Spencer, Farming Data App
Modify or eliminate traditional store practices that increase waste
Selling imperfectly looking produces too
Distributing surplus but edible food to charities
Use of technology
Use of proper date labelling
Different ways to display produces

12. A four-pronged strategy (continues…)
Team up with consumers
Food retailers campaigns
Inspiration from the chefs

13. Examples of primary-packaging design to reduce food waste in the home
Design features
Description
Potential impact on food waste
Reclosable packs
Examples include zip-lock bags and pouches,
resealable cheese and cereal bags, and ‘fridge
packs’ (plastic screw-top jars) for products
like baked beans.
Being able to reseal packs helps to keep
food fresh for longer.
Smaller packs
Examples include half loaves of bread and
single serves of yoghurt.
Allow smaller households to only buy
what they need.
Subdivided packs
Packs divided into portions, e.g. sliced meat
in separate compartments.
Allow consumers to use what they need and
keep the remainder sealed in the packaging.
Detailed storage
advice on the
label
This could include where to store the food,
e.g. whether or not it should be stored in the
fridge, or encouraging consumers to ‘freeze
before the date’.
Could improve food storage practices and
extend shelf life in the home.

14. Examples of intelligent packaging and impacts on food waste
Technology
Description
Potential impact on food waste
Challenges
Radio-frequency
identification
(RFID) tag
(‘smart tag’) in
primary, secondary
or tertiary
packaging
Contains a microchip,
normally enclosed in
plastic, which stores
data on the product,
e.g. use-by date.
Hundreds of tags can
be read simultaneously
from metres away.
Can be used to trace products throughout the supply chain (in transport, at the distribution centre, entering and leaving
the backroom at the retail
store etc.). RFID tags improve inventory control, minimizing ‘out of stock’ and ensuring that
products are sold before they are out of date and require disposal. They can also record the temperature history of the product.
High infrastructure costs
compared with bar codes.
Accuracy problems in
applications involving a
large amount of metal or
water.
Thermal sensors
A range of technologies
that can indicate the
time–temperature history
of the product, e.g.
thermochromic inks
that change colour when
a temperature has been
exceeded or changed, or
digital data loggers that
can indicate the period
during which a product
experienced out-of-tolerance temperatures.
Can be used to ensure that
products stay within their
required temperature range
during distribution, particularly in cold chains. Time–temperature
labels on consumer packaging can also help consumers to know when a product is safe to eat.
Higher packaging costs.
Exposure of thermochromic
inks to ultraviolet light,
high temperatures or
solvents may degrade
colours or functionality.

15. Papargyropoulou et al 2014

16. Nestle water
The past president of Nestle believed that ‘right’ to water is an extreme solution. Nestle, as a whole, believed that access to water is rather a ‘need’. UN, on the other hand, recognized the human ‘right’ to water.
As a CEO of Nestle, what is your opinion? As a regular consumer of Nestle’s products, what is your opinion?
How should Nestle frame its approach to water resource management in its supply chain?