Demand-supply planning and sustainability aspect for agro-based perishables in cold-chain

Abstract

The primary objective of this paper is to: 1) determine the optimum storage requirements for agro-based perishables using production and distribution planning model to absorb the demand fluctuations in an economic manner, encouraging inter-state transportation of perishables so that available infrastructure is utilised efficiently; 2) determine the cost variation along the potato value chain from farm to fork; 3) analysing the cost of building cold storage; 4) focus on the sustainability aspect of cold-chain in order to have better utilisation of the cold storages and logistics, thereby reducing food loss and carbon footprints; 5) determine the payback period of the investment made, profit and loss (PnL), un-discounted rate of return, earnings before interest, taxes, and amortisation (EBITA) profit after tax (PAT), projected balance sheet and depreciation schedule. This paper investigates the usefulness and efficacy of the production and distribution planning in terms of meeting the growing demand of food across states, focusing on potato. It helps in designing a system and in developing operating decision rule to minimise the total system cost.