Sustainable Innovation through Developing Hybrid Agri-Food Supply Chains: A Case in South-Eastern Spain

Abstract

We analyze the incipient development of short supply chains for fresh fruit and vegetables from conventional agri-food chains, leading to the emergence of hybrid chains. We have sought to answer the research question of how and why hybrid food supply chains has been initiated by studying this phenomenon in south-eastern Spain. We analyzed the 20 main Spanish fruit and vegetable exporters, identifying the 9 that have developed short channels. Subsequently, we conducted a case study of the one considered most relevant, identifying the stages of this short chain, analyzing the tasks to be performed in the different phases of the SCS, studying which are common to both and where the differences in the processes arise. The results show the synergies that make them coexist successfully, such as the sharing of personnel, infrastructures and services, complementarity in the product range, thus avoiding food waste, or knowledge of consumer tastes and needs.

Keywords

• sustainable innovation
• hybrid supply chain
• short agri-food supply chain
• agri-food supply chain
• case study