Agri‐fresh produce supply chain management: a state‐of‐the‐art literature review

The purpose of this paper is to present a literature review of the fresh produce supply chain management (FSCM). FSCM includes the processes from the production to consumption of fresh produce (fruits, flowers and vegetables).

Literature review is done by systematically collecting the existing literature over a period of 20 years (1989‐2009) and classifying it on the basis of structural attributes such as problem context, methodology and the product under consideration. The literature is also categorized according to the geographic region and year of publication.

There is an increase in interest towards FSCM still there is an absence of a journal with the prime attention towards FSCM. The key finding of this review is that the main interest is towards consumer satisfaction and revenue maximization with post‐harvest waste reduction being a secondary objective. It is revealed from the review that most of the literature is fragmented and is in silos. Lack of demand forecasting, demand and supply mismatch, lesser integrated approach etc are the major causes of concerns.

The authors have taken only the fresh produce (fruits, flowers and vegetables), authors may also look at other perishable items such as milk, meat, etc.

Result shows a product‐problem‐methodology mapping which may serve as a framework for the managers addressing issues in FSCM.

Most of the prior literature reviews are focused on a specific issue such as production planning or inventory management and ignore the broader perspective. There exists a need of having a detailed literature review covering all the operational issues in FSCM. This review fills this gap in the FSCM literature.