A revolution of the 'Farm-to-table' channel

Abstract

Agricultural products are indispensable components of daily life. Nowadays, most cities in China, food supply is already setup, however the whole food supply chain is quite long with low efficiency. After the harvest of agricultural products, they have been transported to multi-hierarchical markets and go through plurality sales links by simple vehicles before meeting consumer. Due to the existence of an imperfect agricultural product supply system, specifically the inadequate infrastructure for cold-chain transportation and low-level storage technology, agricultural products and aquatic products, among others, suffer huge loss rates ranging from 15% to 30% during picking, transportation, and storage as well as during processing in other logistics sectors. Thus, some unscrupulous producers or agents add preservatives to the agricultural products in order to keep them looks with good quality. Besides, for the producers, though they do their utmost for farming and cultivating，they still living at the bottom of the social ladder with low income. For the consumer, owing to the increasing standard of living, the improvement of the logistical system and the structural adjustment of modern agricultural products, more and more consumers no longer just pursue the goal of having sufficient food to eat. Instead, they hope to eat better and healthier and prefer fresher or more diverse food options with high quality and nutrition. This thesis aims to study the existing agricultural product system in Guangzhou, focusing on the agricultural products supply model and discusses ways to revolutionize the “farm-to-table” agricultural products channel by proposing a new supply model in a regional scale to narrow the gap between consumer and producer in two main methods. On one hand, establish Agricultural Association to coordinate the whole system and guide the local farmer cultivate agricultural product and deliver their product to the consumer with high efficiency. On the other hand, attract the costumer come to productive area that they not only get the product directly but also understand the process of production. In these ways can guarantee the safety, freshness, and nutritional value of agricultural products, improve farmer’s income and satisfied consumer’s requirement by achieving a high-efficiency, low-pollution and energy-saving “farm-to-table” channel for local agricultural products.