siliconindia | | MAY 20198resh fruits & vegetables (F&V) hit the headlines when the tomato price touch Rs.80 or onion brings tear in the eyes of housewives. Researchers love to write about large postharvest losses (30-40 percent) in F&V. Often, farmers' suicides are attributed to low or no farm returns. The news of tomato selling at Rs.2 or potato being thrown in the highways are not uncommon. When the retail sector opened up, people thought that the scenario would change when investments pour in. But nothing changed significantly. The fruits & vegetable supply chain is characteristically complex and complicated. More than just the transportation and logistics, there are other factors which impact the supply chain. Most of these products are highly perishable, strongly price volatile and uncertain on demand. Supply-side is marred by seasonality, cyclicality and uncertain weather. There is little value addition in the fresh business, except for sorting, grading, and packing. The industry is unorganized to an extent of 99 percent. The obvious question then is why organized players do not step in. To manage a retail supply chain for cauliflower in Delhi one has to source it from five different geographies during a year. Their spread is from 6-600 km in distance and 700-7000 ft in height. And their situations vary from the deserts of Rajasthan to hills of Himachal. The windows of availabilities are such that one has to create a supply chain every alternate month, knowing pretty well that it is to be broken in the next month. The prices could be anything from Rs.10-100. So can the frozen cauliflower be a substitute when prices are high? No, as long as fresh is available, frozen has little preference. People might reduce the quantity to adjust the budget but would not replace it with frozen.It is said that less than four percent of India's perishable is transported by cold chain, compare the same to the UK, it is >90 percent. Refer transportation as a solution to the post-harvest loss is easier said than done for the simple reason that we do not have an end to end cold chain. The last mile connectivity of the FCHALLENGES & OPPORTUNITIES OF FRESH FRUITS & VEGETABLES SUPPLY CHAINBy Mihir Mohanta, GM - Supply Chain, Mother Dairy Mihir has more than 25 years of experience in the sourcing & supply chain for the food industry, mainly in the areas of crop production, food processing, and food retailing.IN MY OPiNionMihir Mohanta
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