Vegetable supply chains of supermarkets in Sichuan, China and the implications for Supply Chain Management

X. Zhang, J. Yang, X. Fu

ISHS Acta Horticulturae 699: I International Symposium on Improving the Performance of Supply Chains in the Transitional Economies, Thailand, 2005. VEGSYS Research project

Abstract
This paper presents an overview of the development of supermarkets in the inland province of Sichuan in China over the past decade, with special attention to vegetable products. Both foreign and domestic supermarkets are expanding in the region with different store formats. Five types of vegetable procurement system for the Sichuan supermarkets are identified. Chain characteristics such as product standards and logistics are examined. The future role for wholesale markets and the opportunities for small-scale farmers to participate in the development of supermarkets are discussed. Several hypotheses are proposed to further investigate the degree of vertical coordination along the vegetable supply chain, namely quality requirements, monitoring costs and institutional developments.

Full paper available at http://www.vegsys.nl/files/7e0512944d113dbda9f03e870cab35b5.pdf