The globalisation of the food supply chain has resulted in that trust of suppliers is defined by the ability to comply with dependable systems. What is the best way to evaluate the effectiveness of your supply chain and the quality of your suppliers?

The food supply chain is moving towards global producers, suppliers and retailers with greater integration of the supply chain. The system has been made to meet the demand of consumers for the year-round availability of safe and price competitive food products. A parallel trend is the ecological concerns of the consumer, and the demand for eco-friendly, and locally produced food products is on the rise. Food producers and retailers must be able to trust that their suppliers not only meet product specification requirements but also other aspects such as ethically and sustainably produced food.

Various types of quality assessment, certification and verification schemes have been utilised to assure the quality of the products. Some certification schemes work very well, but some may not address the real risks of the stakeholders or not be cost efficient for smaller producers. New approaches to supplier evaluation that take into account the level of risk, the various stakeholder needs, and allow the flexibility to include various types of suppliers within a common system will be evaluated in this project.

Food supply chain management is a continual process. Even relatively small improvements in efficiency can lead to large added value. There are a number of technological advances that can be used in the food production area ranging from nano-detection of pathogens, to automatic sorting of quality beef, to the removal of internally mould infected apples. In order to get the most out of technological advances, the new technology needs to be integrated into the quality control system of the food producer. Methods to determine which technology will give the most benefit based on total system evaluations will be developed.