The food supply chain is a current focus for considerations of food safety and environmental
impacts. The objective of this study was to investigate local food supply chain
characteristics and develop a coordinated distribution system to improve logistics efficiency,
reduce environmental impact, increase potential market for local food producers
and improve traceability of food origin for consumers. The study was based on data from
90 local food producers and 19 existing large scale food distribution centres (LSFDC) from
all over Sweden.
Location analysis was done using Geographic Information System (GIS) to map locations of
producers and LSFDCs; to build cluster of producers; and to determine optimal product
collection centres (CC). The route analysis was carried out using Route LogiX software,
firstly for collection of food products from farms to CCs based on two scenarios, either
producers transporting their products (no coordination) or CCs managing coordinated
collection of products, and secondly for product distribution from CCs to potential markets.
When compared to the first scenario, the second had improved the number of routes,
driving distance and product delivery time by 68%, 50% and 47% respectively. In total, 14
clusters of producers were formed and 86% of these clusters could be integrated into the
LSFDCs. This network integration could make positive improvements towards potential
markets, logistics efficiency, environmental issues and traceability of food quality