The logistics of a global cold chain getting fresh vegetables from farms in Thailand to supermarkets in Europe

Nature of the Project

The nature of the project is to first determine and in depth analysis of a global cold chain taking fresh vegetables from farms in Thailand to supermarkets in Europe. Note, it is a system of facilities and distribution alternatives that carry out the normal task of a typical supply chain sequence although with temperature and dampness managed all through the supply chain process and entities. Cold chain according to Rodrigue&Notteboom, (2013) is a process that "entails the transportation of temperature sensitive goodsdown a supply chain via a thermal and refrigerated packaging technique and the logistical planning to protect the integrity of these shipments". Second, is to assess the supply chain model of Wal-Mart and lastly, compare these two diverse supply chain models which have different problems and challenges.

Information to BeAnalyzed

The source information to be analyzed are handling prerequisites forunpreserved air consignment at everyphase of conveyance, from the grower and packaging house, inbound hauling to earth handling equipments, ramp, transportation and clearing. (Kohli 2010) The supply chain for fresh or perishable productsinvolved many steps before the product takes to the final consumers all over the globe. The first step is the best harvest practice. The second stepentails the transportation process and the third step is the arrival of the products at supermarket distribution hubs.

The similar vital information to be examined is the increased cost of the products. With air freight prices hitting record highs, obviously the high cost of aviation fuel need have a severeeffect on the logistics chain, which dependentwholly on this mode of transportation. Logistics can assist inmitigating this problem by looking at different kind of packaging, reducing ice costs and certain adjustments can be made in order to make these products competitive against the other products. "Logistics often has to do with trade-offs for a shipper, getting the product to market in good quality but against least logistic cost".(Kohli 2010).

Gyesly (2001) argues that, "... quality control is a key part in order to meet the freshness criteria". Quality control starts right on the farms however, the serious grading begins at the collection hub. Any produce that do not meet the set standard is discarded. Only the healthiest, high quality and valuable part of the produce will be selected to make the costlyvoyage to Europe.

Coolinga produce is the most essential aspect of a global cold chain process. For this reason, there is need for thermal coverlet going from the pack house into the cargo terminal to protect produce and maintain existing temperature all through the process. Finally, one vitalconstituent of supply chain management is inventory storage. Given the nature of fresh produce, itimplies "harvest must be moved as quickly as possible from the farm to the retailer" (Gyesley 2001).

Supply chain logistics have a lot of influencing issuessuch as :

Global warming issue
Fuel shortage.
The food shortage in certain areas in the world is likewise an issue.

Consequently there comes a lot of pressure on good cold supply chain management.

As far as the supply chain model of Wal-Mart is concerned, it is very much different from the cold chain model. The Wall-Mart's supply chain tactic has four components which include vendor partnerships, cross docking, distribution and integration. Wal-Mart's supply chain commences at the level of strategic sourcing with emphasis on getting themost excellent price from vendors who will meet their demand. "They did develope strategic partnerships with majority of their suppliers, with emphasis on possible long term and high volume purchases in swap for the lowest likely prices" (Larson &Halldorsson, 2008).

The cold chain and supply chain model of Wal-Mart are extremely different likewise problems and challenges in terms of inventory storage, cost, regulatory bodies and the nature of the products. The cold supply chain logistics is more complex as compared to the supply chain management of the retailers like Wal-Mart.

Concepts and Techniques

The purpose of this project is to first learn about in cold chain logistics in the food industry including movement of fresh vegetables from Thailand to Europe and America through different literatures and second, to compare cold chain logistic with the supply chain model of Wal-Mart. In order to answer the purpose of this project certain concepts and techniques to be applied are to read the extensive literature related to this project. Secondly, evaluation of various case studies of different companies through various angles providing cold chain logistics services around the globe. Finally, after obtaining all the background information on the cold chain logistics, relevance and reliability of the information will be measured and conclusion will be made without confusing supposition with facts.