Abstract

An outbreak of Covid-19 virus was very sudden which affected not only human
beings but also it severely paralysed the worldwide economy. The pandemic has affected
both manufacturing and logistics activities due to which there was a substantial decrease in
the demand and supply of various products. It also had a striking pressure on food supply
chain and its logistic management. The main aim of this study is to find out the supply chain
management problems in food industries due to the impact of Covid-19 virus. Various supply
chain disruptions have been discussed in this research paper and the main reasons that
affected the disruptions in the logistics management of food industry. The paper also deals
with the logistics in food value chains disrupting the quality and freshness of the foods. Paper
has been summarised with recent technologies and interventions taken by the Government
and Food Industries to overcome the challenges faced during the lockdown phase.

Background

The sudden lockdown in several countries such as U.S.A, South Africa, India, and
other European Countries disrupted the logistics and supply chain through the form of
working-class labourers at the manufacturing and shipment department, receiving of raw
materials from agricultural fields, food products, trade & logistics. Also, it brought
uncertainty in the demand of foods from the consumers due to panic buying and hoarding
behaviour of the consumers (Hobbs, 2020). The food processing sector is one of the
important pillars of India’s economy as there is a direct relationship between the agricultural
domain and the manufacturing domain of food industry.

India’s food ecosystem offers numerous opportunities for many businesses to invest
in the food sector. The basic need of this research proposal is to address the impact of covid-
19 on the supply chain management problems in food industries. The research could be
carried out by analysing the root causes of the disruptions in the logistics management, be it
in the food sector or any private or governmental sector logistics management. India will also
face the shortage of warehousing and cold chain capacities and large inventory of food grains
due to demand-supply volatility. The various interventions can be taken by the private and
public sector such as leveraging of technology, creating and maintaining digital platforms
between farmers and food industries, bringing innovative cold chain facilities into the norms
of company so that any such sudden outbreak in the future can be sustained without affecting
the supply chain and logistics management of food industry. The present situation is a lesson
for the acceptance of suppleness and robustness in supply chain to help a declining economy
of the country (Currie et al. 2020; Ivanov 2020c; Dolgui, Ivanov, and Sokolov 2020).
Therefore, in this context, a detailed analysis of the ongoing crisis and the reasons of supply
chain disruptions as well as the various challenges that was faced by the food industry is also
highlighted.

Review of Literature

Several researches have also been performed based on the agility and resilience due to
post and pre-disaster performance on the food supply chain and logistics (Atlay et al., 2018).
In this section, various studies on the uncertainty in supply chain and the adverse effect of
virus on economy has been studied. Due to the lockdown phase from March to August, the
manufacturing and logistics activities of food industries was closed which affected the
demand and supply of various finished products and also as a result of restrictions on the
retailers and various shopkeepers. Supply chain disruption in food industry is mainly defined
as the breakage in the production of food products and its distribution to other parts of the
country due to uncalled events such as natural calamities, machine breakdowns, outbreak of
virus, or an unexpected change in the capacity of production which can also lead to increased
cost of the food products (Mandwi Singh, 2020). Another research paper study showed the
supply chain management problems in food processing industry and the influence of these
problems on business performance. The study of these problems is implemented to find the
solutions of the problems to improve the business performance by streamlining supply chain
management (Catherine et. al,2017). COVID-19 has put stresses on bottlenecks in farm
labour, processing, transport, logistics and changes in demand of food. Along with the
management of logistics this research paper also faces on the food security and safety.
(OECD Response to Coronavirus (Covid-19)). This paper also explains the all the food
processing’s and its logistics that has been disrupted by labour shortages and shutdowns.
Also, various mode of transports such as bulk (ships and barges), containers (by boat, rail or
truck) and aviation industry were affected which resulted in the disruption of supply chain
management of food materials as raw materials for food industry faced difficulty in
transportation. Nguegan et. al studied the supply chain management problems in the food
industry and how these problems affected the business processes. Subhe et. al (2020) studied
the simulation model of the public distribution system (PDS) in various scenarios to
exemplify food supply chain and logistics disruptions. The paper also focuses on the
consequences of a resilient supply chain during the pandemic. It also shows the duplication of
model in order to re-route the delivery vehicles due to the restrictions in the inter-border
travelling. It also includes future scope and technologies to meet up the challenges that is
faced by the food industry and maintain its food supply chain network in the abrupt
situations. The various key facts of New Indian Food supply chains (FSC) which included
factors such as dominance of purchased food, Private sector-dominating purchased food
markets, rural-urban food and labour market integration via FSCs and the disruption of
India’s transformed food supply chains was also studied (Thomas et. al, 2020).

Problem Statement

Impact of Covid-19 on Supply chain and logistics Management of Food Industry-

Some of the major problems includes the production and supply cut of the food products after
the industries were shut down for a month as per the guidelines issued by the government.
The government also imposed restrictions on the movement of transportation vehicles
between the states and city due to the spread of coronavirus.

Research Question

1. How has the pandemic affected the supply chain and logistics management of
food industry in every country and how these disruptions have brought changes in
the Indian logistics system?
2. Due to impact of COVID-19, how will the food industries bring in the supply
chain innovations so that it is able to face such sudden situation in future?
3. How logistics is critical for a globalised food sector and what were the reasons of
these disruptions in supply chain and logistics management during the pandemic?
4. How the suppliers of food industry been affected and did this affected the living
and job losses of suppliers?
5. Due to prolonged lockdown has there been an accumulation of finished
perishable/non-perishable foods and did it affect the inventory management of
food industry?
6. How did the food industry and suppliers managed to mitigate their challenges of
logistics management and how did they revive their business during the lockdown
period?
 Methodology

Based on the earlier studies, impact of covid-19 on supply chain and logistics
management in food industry can be done using quantitative research approach because this
method is more reliable, less time consuming and data can be very easily collected from
operations and logistics department of various food industry. As per the research papers, the
target population to conduct the study should be supply chain professionals who has the
required knowledge about his department and knows all the operations from shipment to final
delivery of food products to the consumers in the food processing industry. The collected
data from the supply chain respondents will be analysed using statistical analysis in which
correlation and regression analysis will be used as a tool to find out the association between
the supply chain & logistics management and problems faced by the food processing industry
during the lockdown period. Regression analysis can be used to predict the future changes in
the logistics whenever a sudden disruption occurs in the near future.

Another method that will be used is the development of questionnaire and based on
the practical experience and knowledge of supply chain in the various food processing
industries the questionnaire can be circulated amongst the professionals. The study will be
aiming at gathering information related to the type of food products, be it perishable or non-
perishable food products or liquid products and its transportation to the consumers. The data
for the questionnaire can be evaluated by a telephonic talk or face to face conversation by the
supply chain professionals and the final draft could be mailed to the management department,
after which the challenges and problems faced by the supply chain and logistics management
of different food industry can be analysed and studied.

References

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Moderating Effects of Organizational Culture Within the Humanitarian Setting: A
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Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. 4 April 2020. Responding to the
impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on food value chains through efficient logistics.

IBEF. 2020b. Industry. India Brand Equity Foundation, Ministry of Commerce & Industry,
Government of India. https://www.ibef.org/industry.aspx.
Ivanov, Dmitry. 2020c. “Viable Supply Chain Model: Integrating Agility, Resilience and
Sustainability Perspectives – Lessons from and Thinking Beyond the COVID-19
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Mandwi Singh, Contingency Planning: Ways to Overcome FMCG Supply Chain Disruptions
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OECD Response to Coronavirus (Covid-19). 2 June 2020. Food Supply Chains and COVID-
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