Reports

Analysis of waste in the vegetable value chain / Analysis of waste in the vegetable value chain

Published:

10/02/2022

Authors:

Rakel Halldórsdóttir, Ólafur Reykdal, Valur Norðri Gunnlaugsson

Supported by:

Matvælasjóður / Icelandic Food Innovation Fund

Contact

Ólafur Reykdal

Project Manager

olafur.reykdal@matis.is

The subject of this report is a discussion of waste in the wood chain of vegetables and ways to reduce it. The work was part of the project Increased quality, shelf life and less waste in the value chain of Icelandic vegetables, but the project was funded by the Food Fund in 2021.


The topics were as follows: (1) An overview of existing knowledge on food waste in Iceland was compiled. (2) Observations were made on supply chains and selected stores. Temperatures were measured in store refrigerators and sirites were used to record temperatures during the transport of vegetables. The parties concerned have received suggestions and had the possibility of corrections. (3) A survey of attitudes towards vegetable waste was carried out by parties outside the vegetable value chain. Information from all parties was compiled and solutions and innovation possibilities were identified. (4) A test was carried out on the processing of unsaleable vegetables and various methods for such utilization were identified.


In this report the waste in the Icelandic vegetable value chain is discussed
and possible solutions are suggested. The work was a part of a project on
improved quality, shelf-life and reduced waste in the Icelandic value
chain.
The following aspects were studied: (1) State of knowledge regarding food
waste in Iceland. (2) Examinations and temperature measurements under
transportation of vegetables and in supermarkets. (3) Investigation of
views towards waste of vegetables. (4) Possible product development
using vegetables otherwise wasted.

View report

Reports

Supply chain of Icelandic containerized fish to the UK / Supply chain of Icelandic containerized fish to the UK

Published:

01/04/2010

Authors:

Jónas R. Viðarsson, Sveinn Margeirsson

Supported by:

AVS

Contact

Jónas Rúnar Viðarsson

Director of Business and Development

jonas@matis.is

Supply chain of Icelandic containerized fish to the UK / Supply chain of Icelandic containerized fish to the UK

This report describes the progress and results of the project "value chain of Icelandic container fish to the UK" funded by the ACP Fund. The aim of the project is to promote improvements in the value chain of container fish with the aim of increasing the quality and value of the products. In the first part of the project, a statistical assessment is made of whether the price and quality of container fish go hand in hand, but the results from that analysis indicate that supply has a dominant effect on fish prices and that the effect of quality is completely overshadowed. One of the main preconditions for encouraging improvements in the container fish value chain is that it can be shown that increased quality has financial benefits. Therefore, attempts were made to increase the provision of information on the forthcoming supply, in addition to which the information that accompanied catches was added to the floor of the auction markets. This was done in the hope that it would boost buyers' awareness of quality and that it would have a positive effect on fish prices. However, this experiment did not yield the desired results. It is the project partner's opinion that the key to increasing the quality and value of container fish is to arouse more interest among sellers as well as buyers in quality. In this way, buyers will be more willing to pay a higher price for the best quality, thus creating a market-related incentive among sellers to deliver only the best possible quality. With this aim in mind, the project partners were responsible for the introduction of quality assessment in the classification of fish in the UK markets and it is hoped that this will be useful to buyers in identifying which exporters perform best. The website www.matis.is/gamafiskur was also launched, with the aim of disseminating information to everyone in the container fish value chain on the issues that are likely to affect quality and value.

This is a report on the progress and results from the project "supply chain of Icelandic containerized fish to the UK". The objective of the project is to contribute to improvements in the supply chain of containerized fish from Iceland with the aim to improve quality and value. Financial benefits are a necessary condition in order to motivate improvements in the supply chain of containerized fish. Experiments were therefore made where information on expected supply and labeling of bins at auction markets were improved. This however did not return the expected results ie it did not affect average prices. The key to increasing quality and value of Icelandic containerized fish is to raise awareness for quality amongst suppliers and processors. Processors need to identify the suppliers that are supplying the best fish and they also need to reward them with higher prices. This would create a market-based incentive for suppliers to supply only top-quality fish. In order to contribute to this an intake quality score system has been implemented at Fishgate and Grimsby Fish Market, collecting data on the performance of individual suppliers. Also, a web-based supply chain guide www.matis.is/supplychainguide has been published, where relevant information for each link in the supply chain will be gathered.

View report
EN