Special Edition
Special Edition, October 2010
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Author(s): Fatimah Mohamed Arshad
Keywords: Agri-food marketing, fresh fruit and vegetables, structural perspective
Abstract: This paper examines the development of the new supply chain in Malaysia and its structural implications to the local fresh produce (fruits and vegetables) industry, particularly the small producers. It traces the growth of the new retail formats such as hypermarkets, departmental stores and supermarkets. The growth of these new retailers intensified in the late 1990s, as globalisation brought in capital-rich multi-national retailers into the local marketing scene. The structural differences between the new supply chain and conventional marketing are compared. Within less than a decade, the new super retailers were able to capture a significant market share of the local fruits and vegetables at the expense of the small time local retailers. Their procurement system which emphasises on consistent supply and rigid quality standards indirectly cuts off the small farmers from the supply chain. New type of intermediaries, packing houses have emerged replacing the traditional middlemen role usually performed by small time wholesalers or traders at the farm level. To integrate the small farmers into the new supply chain entails are formation programme that enhances productivity, product quality and institutional restructuring towards cooperative movement.
3. Food Consumption Trend: Transforming Issues into OpportunitiesFull Text Download here
Author(s): Mad Nasir Shamsudin, Jinap Selamat, Alias Radam, Abdul Ghariff Ramin, Tey Yeong-Sheng, and Ahmad Hanis Izani Abdul Hadi
Keywords: Food consumption, supply chain, value creation
Abstract: Economic development has driven the Malaysian food consumption trend to move from basic staple to non-traditional staples – wheat-based, meat, fruit and vegetable items. More affluent Malaysians are also prompted to dine away from home. This paper attempts to acknowledge and grasp the changes in the Malaysian food consumption trend with deliberation for turning relevant issues into opportunities. Income, own price, relative prices, and demographic factors are the driving forces behind the changes in the Malaysian food consumption trend. Of the widening role of income growth, food demand has shifted toward high quality-differentiated characteristics – freshness, safety, texture, and appearance, and consumers are willing to pay for these quality characteristics. The essence of transforming these issues into opportunities is by responding to consumer expectations. An aligned market-led supply chain is proclaimed to offer differentiated and complex food products, which explicitly specifies the value creating activities via information sharing. The Malaysian agri-food supply chain players must also adopt value creation and delivery approach to produce food products that have sufficient value for customers who are willing to pay.