Fruit and Vegetable Quality

CHAPTER 1

Food Supply Chains: From

Productivity toward Quality

WIM M. F. JONGEN

INTRODUCTION

ALTHOUGH the phrase food supply chain has been widely used, there
is no accurate definition of the term. In this introductory chapter an
approach will be used that contains two primary elements. It uses a
consumer-oriented approach and focuses on product flows between com-
panies in a specific supply chain. Traditionally, food supply chains have
been characterized by two distinct features (Jongen, 1996):

1. One-way communication through the chain from producers of raw
   materials and/or primary products to the users of end-products


2. A poor understanding of the concept of product quality, which is still
   predominantly based on technical criteria and producer-focus partic-
   ularly with respect to costs and productivity
   In a growing market as experienced for some decades in most West-
   European countries, this approach has been very successful. However,
   in the last decade the market situation has changed dramatically. In ad-
   dition to market saturation resulting from steadily increasing production
   levels, other developments have had a large influence on the market. For
   example, the size of the market is limited by the reduction in the rate of
   population growth, and, in a number of countries, the saturation point
   for caloric intake has been reached. Other important changes include de-

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