JUST IN TIME POTATOES

When Australia’s top two supermarkets launched fierce competitive strategies based on “Freshness”, a major Australian potato chips manufacturer reacted by allowing two days for potatoes to be harvested, chips manufactured and available for sale on supermarket shelves.
This time compression is expected to have a major impact on both harvesting and postharvest practices of the potato grower community in South Eastern Australia, responsible for the last potato harvests of the Australian potato harvesting season and to bridge it with the following season.
Since not all the growers supply potato chip manufacturers and given this critical harvesting region is quite limited geographically, the key respondent technique was used within a case study approach.
The case study is developed around a grower who is actively supplying the potato chip industry internationally.
It addresses the concept of “postponement” as a “postharvest” technique.
This paper outlines the strategies contemplated by potato growers to be able to supply the potato chips manufacturer in order to meet the new “freshness” requirement.

II Asia Pacific Symposium on Postharvest Research Education and Extension: APS2012

N.K. Veerapa , S.P. Singaraju, S. Muthaly

food security, supply chain, postponement, freshness

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2013.1011.28