How supermarket chains in Taiwan select suppliers of fresh fruit and vegetables via direct purchasing

This research focuses on evaluating the criteria used to select suppliers of fresh fruit and vegetables in the supermarket retail chains in Taiwan via direct purchasing. The research sample consisted of procurement managers from supermarket retailers. Interviews with these managers were conducted to produce the first stage expert questionnaire. Following this, the fuzzy Delphi method was adopted to screen the preliminary criteria and the fuzzy analytic hierarchy process was then used to discover the relative importance of each criterion. Research results revealed the most important supplier selection attributes to be procurement price, product quality, product consistency, and food safety. For suppliers of fresh produce, seeking to develop more collaborative relationships with retailers characterized by mutual advantages and trust need to understand how retailers choose their suppliers.