This paper develops a cost function that considers a local food supply
chain system with multi-product. Additionally, heuristic algorithms are used to
demonstrate the application of the proposed cost function. This study
contributes to the existing body of supply chain management-related literature in
several ways: by considering the case of transporting multiple fresh food
products that have different quality deterioration rates in a single load, it better
reflects the real world scenarios of small scale retailer operations; and by dealing with
the challenge of the trade-off between cost and quality requirements where quality
deterioration is managed within the minimal acceptable quality levels at the point
of delivery.