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Food Waste or Not – That is not the only Question
A lot of food is wasted and this is often measured in binary terms (true/false). But why and is there a better option?
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Food for Though: Considering Food Quality in Routing Procedures
Traditionally, vehicle routing optimization procedures focus on reducing cost by either minimizing distance or duration traveled. For perishable food products, however, one additionally may want to consider quality impacts in related routing and scheduling operations.
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Limits to Growth: The Case of Alternative Food Networks
In 1972, commissioned by the Club of Rome, ‘The Limits to Growth’ was famously published. Through systems thinking and computer simulations, researchers showed that economic and population growth has limits given the finite availability of resources. Nearly 30 years later, we used a similar approach to see which limiting factors exist in the context of…
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Allow Me to Break the Ice – A Brief Introduction to Food Cold Chain Management
Cold chain management is gaining plenty of attention in recent months due to the specific storage and handling requirements of the COVID19-vaccines. Similarly, food cold chain management is a highly interesting field with multiple possibilities to improve operations.
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NutriSafe – How Simulations Can Facilitate Resilient Food Operations
2020 shows us once again how important resilient operations are for successful supply chains and society in general. Besides COVID-19, supply chains are impacted frequently by disruptions such as extreme weather events, climate change and infrastructure bottlenecks. In this context, the German-Austrian research project NutriSafe focuses on food supply chains. This post provides insight on…
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Ordering Food Online in a Sustainable Way
In a recent radio interview, I was asked how customers can order food or grocery products online in a sustainable manner. While obviously the choice of provider and products has a huge influence on sustainability, how products are delivered further plays a vital role, particularly in the context of last mile deliveries. For this post,…
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Integrating Dynamic Food Quality within Organic Fresh Food Supply Chains
Delivering food items is challenging, particulary for fresh fruits and vegetables. Such products often have short shelf lives and further require specific storage conditions. In earlier posts, we looked at common challenges, investigated strategies to reduce food waste and considered specific consumer preferences. This post discusses benefits of integrating food quality data and how having…
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Consumer-Driven Order Picking Strategies for E-Groceries
Demand in e-groceries is increasing. In practice, a wide range of business models exists. This post focuses on store-based home deliveries and a quite simple question: Which products should I ship to my customers?
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Facilitating Cargo Bikes for Sustainable Urban Last-Mile Distribution
At the opening of the thinkport VIENNA, I had the opportunity to drive and test electric cargo-bikes. Such bikes are not just fun to drive around, they are furthermore a promising alternative for last-mile distribution in urban city centers. With a focus on restaurant deliveries, a simulation and optimization-based decision support system was developed in…
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The Complexity of Cold Chain Logistics
Cold chain logistics is one of the most interesting aspects of food logistics. For scientists, it offers numerous complex and interdisciplinary research questions, while for providers, it provides various possibilities to reduce costs and improve food quality. Furthermore, efficiently managed cold chains offer a great potential to provide end customers with fresh and safe products…
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