Food Supply Chains: in collaboration with Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow

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• Please see the website for speaker information
• Friday 21 September 2012, 11:30-17:00
• Moller Centre, Cambridge.

If you have a question about this talk, please contact Jo Griffiths.

This special track is being organised as part of the Cambridge International Manufacturing Symposium in Cambridge in September 2012.

Security of food supply chain is becoming a global challenge as population growth far outstrips projected increase in food production. With the availability of agricultural land remaining broadly flat, and already consuming 70% of the global water supply and with soil degradation impacting 24% of the available 11.5 billion hectares, the situation is likely to become more critical. Furthermore, the Food Foresight project has estimated that Agriculture represents 10-12% of GHG (Green House Gas) emissions while still failing to address poverty and the undernourished.

Papers presented:

Sustainability and risk challenges in food supply chains: An Indian perspective

Samir Dani and Babso Kanwar Loughborough University, UK ASK Gourmet Consultants Pvt. Ltd, India

This paper explores the challenges faced by Indian food supply chains. In recent years, global food supply chains have been facing numerous challenges with regards to food safety, sustainability and risks. Consumer preferences across the world are changing and the supply chains have to cater to this demand. Developing countries and especially India introduce a host of new challenges to these supply chains. In this study, semi structured interviews are conducted with senior industry professionals in the Indian food supply chain to gain their perspective regarding the challenges faced by their food supply chains. The paper concludes by presenting important insights regarding the current state of Indian food supply chains.

Managing operations in the perishable food products industry: literature review and further research directions

Atanu Chaudhuri, Rajiv Srivastara and Samir Srivastara Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow, India

Perishability of food products poses multiple challenges for producers, processing units and other stakeholders in the supply chain. Perishability increases the need for responsiveness and flexibility but has negative impact on efficiency. The Indian perishable food products industry also has its unique challenges. Supply uncertainty, multiple intermediaries, variable product quality, lack of safety and traceability and lack of adequate cold chain infrastructure create inefficiencies across the Indian perishable food products supply chain. It also impacts the price at which the product reaches the consumer. Literature on perishable food products has addressed specific challenges in operations planning, quality management, inventory management, traceability and cold-chain logistics an on multi-echelon optimization across the supply chain. An initial literature review coupled with understanding of the Indian perishable food products help us in identifying a few areas in the perishable food products supply chains where we would like to focus our future research.

Mapping of UK-India food supply chains

Mukesh Kumar, Jagjit Singh Srai and Mike Gregory Institute for Manufacturing, University of Cambridge, UK

Abstract not available

A transaction cost approach to cooperatives companies’ supply chain: case study in a Brazilian dairy cooperative

Fernanda Pacheco Dohms and Sergio Luiz Lessa de Gusmão, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

This article aims to analyze the supply chain (SC) of a Brazilian cooperative company, focusing on cooperative members based on the transaction cost approach (TC). Thus was developed a case study in the cooperative company: Cooperativa Agropecuária Petrópolis Ltda. (COAPEL), collecting data about relationships and transactions of its critical cooperative members. In this research was considered, mainly, the cooperative’s principles and business structure and, the segment in which the company operates: agribusiness. The main findings of this analyze concludes that is preferential a vertical integration of the SC’s members because of a combination of some observed TC attributes. Also was demonstrated a degree of inefficiency in the cooperative business model for the control of its SC’s members, as well as the model itself. And lastly, was suggested that the model should have a better governance structure in pursuit of lower costs and better control of its transactions.

Securing food supply through efficiency in the supply chain

Pedro Zaragoza-Gasca and Tom Ridgman, Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge, UK

Feeding 9 billion people by 2050 without a dramatic increase in the demand for water, energy and land for food production is one of humankind’s biggest challenges. The increase in the incomes is likely to drive the lead to a surge in the food demand.

Improvements in food efficiency could considerably decrease food and resource demand whilst decreasing hunger and obesity around the world. This scenario requires strong food policy leadership from the developed world to regulate consumer’s food waste, strong investment in the developing world to develop the food supply chain and the redistribution of food by decreasing the food overconsumption of some regions of the world.

Managing social food supply chain

Gyan Prakash and Mukesh Kumar, Indian Institute of Management Indore, India Institute for Manufacturing, University of Cambridge, UK

The objectives of this study are to understand the design, implementation and monitoring of social food supply chain. As a case in point Indian public distribution system (PDS) have been investigated. In India a public distribution system (PDS) and its improved version targeted public distribution system (TPDS) was carved out as a novel system of safety net operations for the distribution of scheduled commodities to the targeted citizens through a network of institutions comprising Food Corporation of India (FCI) warehouses and fair price shops (FPS). The methodology adopted is a mix of literature review, document analysis, interview with policy makers, officials responsible for distribution of food grains, fair price shop owners and survey of end users. It is inferred that this system is fraught with inefficiency at all stages of the supply chain and service delivery is poor. A hybrid approach is proposed to retain the current PDS supply chain while making suitable process redesigns, introducing ICT based interventions and involvement of private actors in service delivery.

This talk is part of the IfM Seminars series.

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