There is a lack of detailed research on logistics management in agribusiness enterprises, yet at the beginning of the 21st century, logistics determines both the functioning and development of enterprises. Consequently, its importance is very significant. Agribusiness enterprises are quite diverse in terms of seasonality, the type of transport required, the warehouses used, and storage periods. In many industries, there are strong links between enterprises and raw material suppliers and customers. The food sector is quite innovative in terms of products (attention is paid, for example, to health aspects), but less so in terms of processes. Enterprises must focus their attention on customer requirements. For example, for fruit consumers, freshness and cleanliness are the most important factors, while uniform shape and size are less so. To meet the most important consumer demands, efficient logistics in enterprises is necessary. The basic principle in the food industry is to ensure appropriate product quality, especially safety (for example, through fast transport and storage under appropriate conditions). It is also required to check the quality of raw materials (sometimes performing microbiological, chemical, and organoleptic analyses). As a result, temporary storage and waiting for further operations often occur. When analyzing transport and storage, one should refer to each type of enterprise separately.
Fruit and vegetable processing is one of the important sectors of the food economy in Poland. It covers various areas of industrial activity related to the production of juices and preserves, including frozen forms. Producing approximately 5-5.5 million tons of vegetables annually, Poland is among the leading producers in the European Union (third place with about a 9% share). The most important vegetables include beetroot, cabbage, and carrots (first place in the EU), as well as onions and cucumbers (second place). Processing accounts for about 20-30% of vegetable production. Poland is also a significant producer of fruit. In 2008, domestic harvests amounted to 3.8 million tons, which accounted for 10% of total production in the EU. Polish specialties were apples, currants, and cherries (the largest production in the EU).
The purpose of this article is to present the level of logistics in agribusiness, using the example of fruit and vegetable processing enterprises. The data for the analysis come from survey research conducted from December 2009 to March 2010. Surveys were sent to all enterprises in the agri-food sector from the REGON database. A total of 8,498 surveys were sent. 512 surveys were returned (6%). Enterprises were assigned to an industry according to their declaration under the Polish Classification of Activity (PKD), and the size of the company was determined by the number of employees. The following enterprise sizes were distinguished: micro-enterprises (up to 9 people), small (10-49 people), medium (50-249 people), and large (250 and more people). Among the surveyed enterprises, there were 33 entities involved in fruit and vegetable processing. Most were small enterprises (54.5% – 18 units), followed by medium-sized ones (33.3% – 11), and the fewest were large and micro-enterprises (6.1% each – 2 entities each). The data analysis primarily used tabular and graphical analysis due to the nature of the data obtained on a nominal or ordinal scale.
Most enterprises in the fruit and vegetable industry described their market position as rather strong – 71%, and as very weak – 3% (Figure 1). These enterprises competed with each other, but also with entities from other countries. It seems that entities capable of competing remained on the market. In the case of food industry enterprises, price-cost advantages resulting from lower prices of agricultural products are still the primary source of competitiveness.
The article comes from the magazine “Logistyka” 3/2011.