A study by the Food Chain Centre (FCC) has revealed significant efficiencies that can be made in the chain supplying 16,000 schools through he government-funded School Fruit and Vegetable Scheme.
The Value Chain Analysis study was part of a series of initiatives being carried out by the FCC, all looking at ways to cut cost and add value to the supply chain. Working with selected industry bodies and FPJ, case studies of best practice will be released over the next few months, to benefit the wider industry.
The FCC analysis followed Gala apples grown in Worldwide Fruit grower Richard Day’s Kent orchards through harvesting, processing and delivery, by Croydon Fruiterers, to a primary school in London.
The government’s NHS purchasing agency is working towards a target of saving three per cent on a budget of £38 million - and is looking to the supply chain to deliver greater efficiency.
By analysing the chain from the picking stage through distribution, the study identified a raft of changes to the process that would eventually lead to a 20 per cent cost saving.
The study threw up a number of potential improvements, including better delivery planning, improved packaging, using a picking train on the farm, and installing a fridge in every school.
At the beginning of the project, only 25 per cent of schools had a fridge. It was identified that if this increased to 100 per cent, the whole chain would benefit because more varieties of fruit could be made available and suppliers would be able to move to more flexible delivery schedules.
The study found a communication breakdown was also leading to inefficiency in the delivery process. Deliveries were made three times a week, with fruit stored over the weekend. It was proved that making deliveries every other working day on a fortnightly cycle would retain the same storage regime, once each school had a fridge, but would reduce deliveries by 20 per cent.
Huge on-farm savings could be made through the use of a picking train. Rather than using static bins for apple pickers to walk to and from, a picking train follows the team around the orchard. The process can be more closely supervised and both productivity and quality are improved. The system was used for the first time in the UK on Day’s farm, near Tunbridge Wells, and will be widely deployed during the next harvest.
The value chain analysis indicates that there is even more potential to develop the picking train and further projects are now being explored.
“Sometimes the simplest improvements that can lead to the greatest savings are only spotted when the chain is looked at as a whole,” said Joanne Denney-Finch, chairman of the FCC, which was established by the Curry Commission in 2002. “By bringing together everyone in the chain and helping them to take a step back, analysing the movement of goods and information in both directions, the weak points are easy to identify and the solutions are easy to implement.”
Peter Whitehead, FCC’s business manager, above, told FPJ that similar work has been carried out on six chains and it would be applicable to any area of the business. “Our aim is that the work benefits not only the businesses that take part, but the wider fresh produce sector,” he said.
Further information, plus details of more FCC initiatives, will be made available to members of the FPC and NFU, as well as to BPC and HDC levy payers. Case studies will also appear in FPJ.
The SFVS study is available now at www.foodchaincentre.com
