Food supply chains and sustainability: evidence from specialist food producers in the Scottish/English borders

Examining sustainability performance in the supply chain: The case of the Greek dairy sector

“…Environmentally responsible logistics is a rapidly emerging aspect in delivery and distribution (Carter, et al 2000;Maloni & Brown 2006). Noting the often high distribution costs in dairy SCs, reducing distance travelled and using 'greener' logistical options (Ilbery & Maye 2005) could result in significant efficiencies and cuts in carbon emissions, and, hence, positive economic and environmental outcomes, as has been widely recognised by the EU, governments and researchers alike (Gerbens-Leenes, et al 2003).…”

“…Flexibility indicates a SC members' ability to cope with changes (often rapid) in demand or supply (Shepherd & Gunter 2006). Dynamism and mobility, that is to say flexibility in delivering to extra points of sale, and in extra volume orders, has been noted as an important food chain sustainability factor, particularly for smaller actors (Ilbery & Maye 2005). Process flexibility can directly support sustainability management activities (Angell & Klassen 1999) as the ability to change the output levels of goods produced (Aramyan, et al 2007) enables the chain members to maintain competitiveness and sustainable practices (Sarkis 2001) and helps them to minimise wastage.…”

“…An operational strategy focused on quality is more likely to allow the successful implementation of a more sustainable SC strategy (Angell & Klassen 1999). Furthermore, quality is recognized as a key sustainability performance indicator (Keeble, et al 2003) and as Ilbery & Maye (2005) note, food chains are using quality as a means to address consumers' environmental anxiety. Product conservation time is a crucial aspect of quality in every food SC, however different tiers in the dairy chain deal with different product types -those upstream with products for immediate further processing and those downstream with ready for consumption (packaged) foods.…”

“…Furthermore, traceability allows chain members to acquire information regarding product flows. This is important from the social perspective as consumer/stakeholder attention shifts away from product price and appearance towards the origin (place and people) supplying the food products (Ilbery & Maye 2005). Despite the profound benefits, the implementation of chain-wide traceability systems can be problematic since it is often implemented disjointedly between each chain member.…”

Using the product environmental footprint for supply chain management: lessons learned from a case study on pork

“…With a growing world population, the demand for a sustainable food supply is increasing (Ilbery and Maye, 2005). It is therefore essential to be able to analyse and benchmark the environmental sustainability of different food products.…”