Supply chain management - Co op - Essay Example

Recently, a food miles calculator has been developed in order to measure the distance traveled by the food products between production and consumption points (Food miles calculator). While discussing the food miles concept on the ground of a co-op supply chain management, it is necessary to understand the basic goal of such organisations. A co-op organisation aims to offer maximum benefits to its customers by emphasising on its pre-designed environmental and ethical notions. Hence, it is essential to examine whether the application of food miles would beneficial for the co-op organisations or not.

This paper will critically analyse the pros and corns of incorporating the idea of food miles into the corporate strategy. It will also explore the most appropriate stance the co-op can adopt in order to improve its business operation. Benefits of adopting food miles Through the application of food miles in its corporate strategy, the co-op supermarket can offer improved levels of services to its customer as well as to different segments of the society. Globalisation has eliminated international trade barriers in order to maximise cross-border trade for international expansion.

Hence, the world has been facilitated with effective circulation of ideas, languages, and cultural ideologies. Naturally, this trade liberalisation process has also intensified import and export of goods which are the central aspects of food miles. Globalisation has largely increased the scope of agricultural sector. It is obvious that large scale agricultural productions cannot be fully distributed in the domestic market; hence, it is crucial to export the food products to foreign markets where they have higher demands.

This process would greatly assist the farmers to get improved prices for their products from outside markets. When farmers get better prices for their food products, more and more people would be attracted towards agriculture field and it would in turn mitigate the issues associated with global food crisis. Similarly, higher rate of agricultural production would aid the economies to minimize unemployment rate which is a central factor in determining their economic growth rate. The increased export trade would also generate revenue for the governments.

As discussed earlier, the main objective of a co-operative supermarket is to provide improved services to its customers. Since it is impossible to produce every type of vegetable, fruit, or other food product in a region, every co-op supermarket is forced to depend on import trade in order to offer every type of food product to its customers. In the words of Lovejoy (2001), the supply chain principles suggest to extend the firm’s services beyond the immediate supplier and customer. The concept of food miles assists the co-op supermarket to deliver varieties of fruits and vegetables to its consumers by getting access to a large group of potential suppliers.

If the co-op supermarket stops the practice of food miles, then consumers may search for other stores that would meet their requirements. Demerits of adopting food miles The environmental concern of food miles reflects the idea that when a food product travels larger distance from the production point to consumption, it involves greater consumption of energy and thereby increased emission of greenhouse gases. The greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide absorb and emit infrared radiations which cause dreadful environmental issues such as green