In logistics systems implemented in agriculture, information is a source of much broader activities than is the case, for example, in industrial production or trade. We are accustomed to treating information in logistics as a source of activities related to the physical flow of products, such as: storage, picking, movement, or sales. In this specific solution, information plays a much greater role. This is because the specificity of the entities forming the supply chain is unique. On one hand, we have a market increasingly occupied by large commercial entities that apply their own market rules and use various mechanisms to reduce operating costs; on the other, there are mostly small agricultural producers, most of whom practice traditional forms of activity. Despite the growing awareness among producers regarding the applicable market rules, they are unable to meet market requirements for various reasons.
In this case, the presence of a dominant entity in the supply chain – a wholesale market implementing modern solutions and involving producers in joint activities – is an opportunity for them to cooperate effectively with a demanding market. In the presented solution, information not only supports the implementation of specific logistics functions but also precedes the moment the product appears, inspiring specific production activities.
The presented logistics system for regional product markets is a specific way of organizing and executing the flows of information, products, and money along the supply chain, through which the product flows from the producer to the final customer. Within the system, producers, distributors, trading companies, and companies providing services that add value to products, such as appropriate packaging, labeling, storage, movement, etc., cooperate with each other. The implemented project focuses on improving the distribution and sale of agricultural and horticultural products in the Greater Poland region. It can be extended to the area of other voivodeships. It can also cover the distribution of other food products such as meat, fish, dairy products, etc. A characteristic feature of the currently implemented system is the leading role of the wholesale market as a collective representative of small and medium-sized producers to the market, mainly hypermarkets and retail chains.