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The total cumulative energy demand was about 2.64 GJ in the case of fresh carrot and 6.67 GJ in the case of dried carrot value chain. Climate change impact was about 121 kg CO2 eq for fresh carrot and 111 kg CO2 eq for dried carrot.

This paper presents the results of life cycle analysis (LCA) of fresh and dried organic carrot produced and supplied in Sweden. Cumulative energy demand (CED) and climate change impact have been investigated using cradle-to-consumer gate approach. The functional unit (FU) was 1 ton of fresh product at farm. The major life cycle stages were agricultural production, post-harvest process, and transport. The total CED values were 2.64 GJ and 6.67 GJ per FU for fresh and dried carrot respectively. Regarding climate change impact, the values were 121 kg CO2 eq and 111 kg CO2 eq per FU for fresh and dried carrot respectively. The drying process increased CED but reduced the climate change impact. In addition to reducing climate change impact, the drying process increases shelf life and selling price.

These guidelines on quality and processing of organic foods have been prepared as part of the Core Organic Plus funded project “SusOrganic - Development of quality standards and optimi-sed processing methods for organic produce”. They intend to support actors in the organic food processing sector to simultaneously increase resource efficiency and product quality of their produce by providing deeper insights in raw material, process and product relevant aspects. The main focus of the presented work lies on the preservation of fruits, herbs, vegetables, fish and meat by the means of drying and chilling/freezing. THE AIMS OF THESE GUIDELINES ARE TO PROVIDE THE PROCESSORS WITH: • Drying related aspects • A deeper understanding for naturally occurring heterogeneities in raw materials and their impact on drying characteristics • Information on the impact of pre-treatment and holding time between preparation and drying on the resulting product quality • Information on the impact of drying and the related process settings on product quality • Information on improved drying strategies and process control concepts • Best practice examples for processing • Best practice based on LCA and LCCA • Food drying and related food logistics • Chilling and Freezing related aspects • General aspects of superchilling • Superchilling for organic meat and fish • Effects of freezing and freezing rate on organic fruits

Biomass from agricultural residue has significant potential as renewable energy resource. Therefore, cost-efficient processing and supply of agricultural residues are important to strategically plan and utilize this energy resource. This chapter describes the agricultural pruning to energy (PtE) value chains and presents the life cycle cost analysis (LCCA)-based cost assessment results, focusing on almond and peach tree pruning data obtained from Spain during 2015–2016. Along the main life cycle stages of PtE system, costs of harvesting, off-farm storage, transport, biomass loss, and management of biomass supply chain were considered. In terms of functional unit cost, the life cycle cost (LCC) was calculated to be about 126 €/t for almond PtE and 115 €/t for peach PtE value chain. In both cases, the harvesting stage was found to be cost at hot stage followed by the storage stage. The cost at harvesting stage was about 83% (of 126 €/t) and 82% (of 115 €/t) in the case of almond and peach cases, respectively. Similarly, the share of operational cost was about 74% and 76% for almond and peach cases, respectively. Therefore, more efforts should be made to improve the performance of logistics operations and management of such PtE initiatives.

The paper presents a report on the performance evaluation of a newly developed smart logistics system (SLS). Field tests were conducted in Spain, Germany, and Sweden. The evaluation focused on the performance of a smart box tool (used to capture information during biomass transport) and a web-based information platform (used to monitor the flow of agricultural pruning from farms to end users and associated information flow). The tests were performed following a product usability testing approach, considering both qualitative and quantitative parameters. The detailed performance evaluation included the following: systematic analysis of 41 recordable parameters (stored in a spreadsheet database), analysis of feedback and problems encountered during the tests, and overall quality analysis applying the product quality model adapted from ISO/IEC FDIS 9126-1 standard. The data recording and storage and the capability to support product traceability and supply chain management were found to be very satisfactory, while assembly of smart box components (mainly the associated cables), data transferring intervals, and manageability could be improved. From the data retrieved during test activities, in more than 95% of the parameters within 41 columns, the expected values were displayed correctly. Some errors were observed, which might have been caused mainly by barriers that could hinder proper data recording and transfer from the smart box to the central database. These problems can be counteracted and the performance of the SLS can be improved so that it can be upgraded to be a marketable tool that can promote sustainable biomass-to-energy value chains. © 2018 by the authors.

The utilization of agricultural prunings as renewable energy sources requires effective and efficient logistics systems. The objective of this paper was to map out logistics activities along the agricultural pruning-to-energy (PtE) value chains. It describes the logistics performances based on the existing and potential pruning biomass supply chains focusing on prunings from fruit tree, vineyards, olive groove, and up-rooted tree branches. A logistics audit analysis approach has been used for detailed assessment of logistics performances. The analysis was based mainly on primary data gathered using a structured data survey format targeting the existing and potential PtE initiatives in Spain, Germany, Denmark, France, and Poland. The analysis considered the major stages of the chain, such as pruning, harvesting, processing (e.g., baling and chipping), storage, transport, and the linkage between the different stages. The paper identified the constraints along the logistics chain and recommended appropriate interventions to promote the marketing of agricultural pruning focusing on the supply of quality bales and chips for renewable energy production, and to increase the sustainability of renewable energy generation from PtE initiatives. The study has indicated that there are economic, social, and environmental benefits of PtE initiatives, as well as opportunities to increase the implementation and sustainability of the system.

The demand for locally produced food is increasing as global food supply system has considerably affected the confidence of consumers by increasing tonne-kilometres, food safety risk, environmental impact, and disconnecting local food producers and consumers. However, local food suppliers are not in the position to compete with large scale food supply systems due to high logistics costs. The overall objective of this study was to improve the logistics management of local food supply chains. In this thesis, food traceability issues and the local food supply chains were studied based on literature reviews and five case studies in Sweden. The thesis comprises of six papers. Paper I considers food traceability issues. Paper II deals with comparison analysis of small scale abattoir and large scale abattoir in terms of animal supply and meat distribution. Paper III focuses on box-scheme based organic food delivery system, while Paper IV deals with coordination and regional integration in local food delivery system. Papers V and VI consider the case of clustering producers, determining collection centres, and forming coordination and integration within the network and further integration into large scale food delivery systems. The best locations of collection and distribution centres were determined using Centre-of-Gravity and Load-Distance techniques and Geographic Information Systems tools. Optimising food transport routes were done with Route LogiX and ArcGIS network analyst tools. Effective food traceability system is an important tool to be considered as integral part of food logistics system as it facilitates the integrated management of food supply chain as a whole. Compared with large scale abattoirs, the local small scale abattoir could reduce travel distance, time, and emission and could improve animal welfare, meat quality and safety, and customer satisfaction. The integration of logistics managements along with clustering, coordination, and optimisation techniques, could reduce the transport distance, time, trips, and emission, and improve the vehicle capacity utilisation in the local food supply chains. As a consequence of reduced transport distance, number of vehicles and improved vehicle capacity utilisation, negative environmental impacts of local food supply systems could be reduced. The study revealed that the integrated logistics network has implications for improving food traceability, logistics efficiency, food quality and safety, the potential marketing channels, economic benefits, and competitiveness of suppliers; and for attenuating negative environmental impact and promoting sustainable local food systems.

Intresset för mat med en uttalad identitet är stort idag. Konsumenter vill veta var maten producerats och uppskattar mat med ursprung i till exempel den egna hembygden. Det finns också ett ökande utbud av lokala matprodukter i butiker och restaurangmenyer, på marknader och via andra försäljningskanaler. Det växande intresset för lokal mat gäller även andra aktörer i livsmedelskedjan, myndigheter och forskare. Många producenter stöter på problem som handlar om logistik och transporter. Det finns därför ett behov av att öka förståelsen för den lokala maten och dess försäljningskanaler och utveckla metoderna för att distribuera den till marknaden på ett sätt som är effektivt, hållbart och anpassat till de lokala producenternas förhållanden. Denna rapport diskuterar hur lokal mat och närliggande begrepp kan definieras, logistikens roll i form av utmaningar och möjligheter, presenterar fallstudier och analyser för att belysa olika lösningar i olika sammanhang, samt introducerar en konceptuell modell för producenternas strategiska logistikutveckling. Syftet med projektet var att utveckla kostnadseffektiva alternativa strategier för logistik och flödeskedjor hos småskaliga producenter och distributörer av lokal mat genom samordning och integration inom sektorn, samt genom att undersöka möjligheterna att integrera små- och storskaliga aktörer i livsmedelskedjan. Projektet baserades på en övergripande kartläggning och tre fallstudier med kompletterande analyser. Projektet har använt deltagande aktionsforskning som utgångspunkt, och fallstudierna har involverat slutanvändarna för att säkerställa att projektets resultat skall komma till användning. Den övergripande kartläggningen baserades på litteratur, intervjuer med nyckelpersoner inom handelssektorn och inom olika producentnätverk, samt en producentenkät. För varje fallstudie har sedan datainsamlingen kompletterats, genom intervjuer med de aktuella producenterna, insamling av dokumentation från transportföretag och beställare, samt egna observationer och mätningar. Med hjälp av programvaror och kartdatabaser för geografiska informationssystem och ruttoptimering, samt statistisk bearbetning, har den insamlade informationen från de studerade systemen analyserats. I en avslutande del av rapporten beskrivs hur erfarenheterna från de olika fallstudierna använts till att skapa en syntes i form av en konceptuell modell för strategisk analys av de småskaliga producenternas logistikfrågor, samt identifieras behov av fortsatt forskning och utveckling. Projektet har ökat kunskapen om logistiksystemen för lokalproducerad mat och skapat ny kunskap som är viktig för att utveckla dem. Studien har visat att logistiken ses som ett viktigt problemområde för många av producenterna. Fördelen med korta transporter väger inte upp de nackdelar som småskaliga flöden och geografisk spridning och variation bland producenterna innebär för logistiken och transporterna. Samordning, optimering och integration kan ändå skapa möjligheter till att förbättra logistiken, vilket har demonstrerats i projektets fallstudier. En konceptuell modell för strategisk analys av logistiklösningar för producenter av lokal mat har utvecklats, som visar på att det finns behov av olika logistiklösningar för olika grupper av producenter, och att det måste finnas en stor flexibilitet i de lösningar som utvecklas. * Modellen använder två parametrar för att dela in producenterna i fyra grupper, med olika behov av stöd för strategisk logistikutveckling och val av försäljningskanaler: - avståndet till den huvudsakliga marknaden - verksamhetens omsättning * Samordning kan initieras med små medel baserat på personliga kontakter, men betydligt fler möjligheter skulle kunna identifieras genom en systematisk kartläggning. En analys av geografiska kluster bland producenterna visade på stora möjligheter till samordning, där det dessutom finns större logistikcentraler för livsmedel i närheten av de flesta av dessa kluster. * Optimering kräver programvara, planeringsresurser och kompetens, men kan vara en viktig möjlighet, med stor potential för transporteffektivisering. Det krävs dock att producentnätverk, handelsaktörer, myndigheter eller andra organisationer kan stötta producenterna. Optimeringsanalyserna visade på möjligheter att minska körsträckorna med upp till 78% om flera rutter kunde optimeras tillsammans och leveranstiderna kunde göras flexibla. * Integrerade logistiklösningar blir allt viktigare för att framgångsrikt utveckla även mindre företag inom livsmedelssektorn, vilket innebär både utmaningar och möjligheter. Personlig kommunikation är fortfarande mest ändamålsenlig för de allra minsta företagen, men för något större företag som vill expandera och leverera till livsmedelskedjorna är det nödvändigt med en fortsatt utveckling av kostnadseffektiva, användarvänliga system där marknadsföring, orderhantering och fakturering såväl som transportplanering kan integreras med elektronisk kommunikation.