Green logistics in food distribution – a case study

Environmental impacts, such as Green House gas emissions, have been introduced to supply chain management as an additional parameter to traditional key performance indicators such as cost, lead-time and on-time delivery. This paper analyses a case example from the food industry on how CO₂ emissions are structured in a value chain. The focus of the analysis covers food factory order-picking operations, transportation, warehousing and distribution aspects. The paper aims to demonstrate greening and CO₂ saving potential areas of development for thermo-controlled food logistics. The results show the energy-saving potential of several supply chain processes giving examples of distribution logistic online-temperature controlling possibilities. Greening decisions in supply chain design in the food industry are considered.