As the world is moving into a sustainable era, achieving zero hunger has become one of the top three Sustainable Development Goals, applying a considerable amount of pressure on the agri-food systems to make decisions contemplating the sustainability dimensions. Accordingly, making effective supply chain decisions holistically while achieving sustainability goals has become a major challenge faced by the present agri-food systems. Thus, to address the challenge, a novel supply chain configuration addressing multiple supply chain decisions to reduce global warming potential (GWP) and post-harvest losses have been presented by taking the banana supply chain in Sri Lanka as a case study. In the proposed approach, farmers have been clustered based on their geo positions using K-Means clustering followed by route planning within clusters using a heuristics approach. Retailer points are catered by assigning to wholesalers optimally modeling as an assignment model and then route planning executed using a heuristic approach. The solution generated from the above approaches has been implemented on a simulation platform to calculate the overall supply chain performance including the transportation component, in terms of the net GWP, post-harvest losses, and lead time including routing operations. Simulated supply chain performance has been compared with the existing system and verified the performance of the proposed supply chain configuration. The suggested configuration has reduced the net GWP by 15.3%, post-harvest loss by 2.1%, lead time by 28.2%, and travel distance by 20.47%. The proposed configuration can be further improved by adding dynamic characteristics to the model.

Agri-food supply chains have the potential to make a significant contribution to achieving sustainable development goals through ongoing improvements in their configurations. A range of strategic, tactical, and operational level decisions pertaining to the design and operation of sustainable supply chains have been studied in the extant literature. However, investigations into the adoption of multi-modal transportation as a strategic decision in the context of agri-food supply chains operating in constrained environments are limited. As such, in this study, the adoption of bi-modal transportation for the domestic vegetable supply chain in a developing country context under certain constraints was examined. A mixed-integer linear programming model was developed to determine the volume and direction of the product flow to achieve the minimum total food-miles and smallest emissions footprint. As a case study, a Sri Lankan mainstream vegetable supply chain was used to investigate the applicability of a combination of truck and railway modes to transport vegetables from farms to retailer locations via economic (consolidation) centers. The adoption of a bi-modal transportation structure demonstrated the potential to reduce food miles by 32%, transportation costs by 36%, contributions to global warming potential by 35%, and empty truck hauls by 38%, compared to a structure with truck-based, uni-modal transportation.

Zero hunger is one of the top three goals of Sustainable Development Goals which is achievable by reducing the postharvest losses of the food supply chain and improving food security. In developing countries approximately 40% of fruit harvest goes to waste due to not having proper mechanisms, coordination and best practices and poor post-harvest management. A pilot study has found post-harvest losses of fresh fruits and vegetables occur in 2.29%, 1.57%, 6.22% and 7.89% at farmer, collection center, wholesaler and retailer respectively, emphasizing the need of a reconfiguration. Following good practices in handling, introducing suitable bulk packing methods, vehicle upgrades and development of different supply chain configurations are some approaches in mitigating post-harvest losses. Therefore, it is timely to change the product flow of supply chain by reconfiguration. The existing configuration of fruit and vegetable supply chain is simulated as an agent based simulation model taking banana supply chain as a case study. Short supply chain branches were introduced as suggestions to avoid the congestion and banana getting exposed to mechanical damages. The reconfigured supply chain emitted 10% less GHG than the existing banana supply chain while achieving the efficiency in distribution flow.

Fresh-cut vegetables (FCVs) offer convenience and nutritional benefits, meeting the demands of today’s fast-paced lifestyle. While the Sri Lankan FCV market is still emerging, many developed countries have already embraced FCVs. This study aimed to identify consumer profiles in urban communities in Sri Lanka based on their preferences in FCVs and purchasing concerns. A cross-sectional survey was conducted using both face-to-face interviews and online questionnaires, resulting in 1722 responses. Descriptive and inferential statistics were employed, including correspondence analysis, Kruskal–Wallis test, factor analysis, and cluster analysis. The findings revealed that convenience, freshness, and affordability are key factors motivating the choice of FCVs over whole vegetables. Consumers showed a strong preference for fruit-type FCVs, followed by root vegetables, while bulbs, tubers, and chillies were among the least preferred. Among labeling information, expiry date and preservation method were prioritized, while nutritional information was less emphasized. Correspondence analysis indicated that natural disinfectants (e.g., salt, vinegar, and baking soda) are more commonly associated with plastic and rigifoam trays. Factor analysis reduced the 12 purchasing concerns into 03 key components as quality, safety, and presentation, explaining approximately 62% of the total variance. Based on standardized factor scores, consumer segmentation was performed through hierarchical clustering fol-lowed by K-means clustering. The analysis revealed three distinct consumer segments: 1) less concerned about all three factors (the smallest cluster); 2) moderately concerned about all three factors and quality-driven consumers; and 3) highly concerned about all three factors and safety-driven consumers. These insights offer practical guidance for advancing the commercial viability of FCVs in Sri Lanka. Future research will expand to include non-urban populations to improve generalizability.