BrigadierTurtle13414
In your replies to at least two peers, address the questions below:…
In your replies to at least two peers, address the questions below:
What considerations should decision makers keep in mind or prioritize when components of the triple bottom line don’t agreefor example, when an environmentally beneficial decision may negatively affect profit, or the reverse?
Which approach that your peers suggested in their initial posts do you feel would be the most effective, and why?
MUST GIVE AN ANSWER FOR EACH PEER
PEER 1:
Most farms if not all can produce the best produce and take great care of their livestock. Supermarket chains can incorporate farm to table principles into operations by visiting local farms and select what generate the most profit at the brand stores. Of course, the best choice would be local farms, understanding how produce grows, are chemicals used, are the livestock well taken care of. Farms are sells itself by its products. To keep us with demand supermarkets would have to know the process, get a lay of the land on timing when products can be delivered to their stores.
The benefits of incorporating farm to table would be freshness of their products, cost, transportation, job opportunities, and supporting the local community. Risk would be not being able to keep up with demand, weather can be damaging to farms, not passing inspections can almost certainly cause grocery chains to lose business with customers not having product on the shelves.
Communication would be the first step supermarkets must implement, whether is crops not growing, concerns on livestock, any situation that could lead to issues in the long run. Knowing the lead times when products will be delivery is an essential data all companies must have, also, keeping records of the high and low demand to understand what they are profiting on.
As the COO, my factors would be how well the farms does in the community; you want customers to shop from your local supermarkets but having their locals’ farms attached to their brands benefits everyone. Cost, some products grow faster during certain seasons such as Cabbage (Spring), Apples (Summer), Bananas (Fall), and Avocados (Winter). Having an agreement in place to only supply the supermarket brand to side opportunities does not affect the day-to-day supplies. We want customers to shop at our store brands, so providing them the best farm raised products from your local farm, would give our customers the best of both worlds. Amazing shopping experience and with top notch products.
References:
Snap-Ed Connection. https://snaped.fns.usda.gov/seasonal-produce-guide
PEER 2:
When it comes to implementing a farm to table mentality in a local grocery store, the first thing that should be done is gather data on local farmers and what they grow. While people will still expect to see items all year, such as oranges, it may be possible to locally source some fruits, vegetables, dairy products or meats at various times during the year, and then highlight those offerings. Opportunities to do this exist first by engaging the operations team to improve existing processes as they apply to triple bottom line (Soomo Learning, 2020). Taking an existing supply chain link, and either advertising it as locally sourced (which may not have been done before), or improving the current process by finding a local tomato vendor from June through August will help cut down on shipping costs, storage fees and will also give customers the opportunity to support their local farmers.
Data and communication with local farms will be necessary. Understanding the supply and demand of the store will be key in identifying whether a farm can support the local need. Perhaps an apple orchard only has downed apples to offer the grocer. Understanding the quality of apples can help the operations team know whether they should sell the apples individually, or perhaps buy them in bulk to use in their bakery section to make pies and filled donuts.
Further data points include understanding the cost to purchase from a year-round vendor versus one that can only supply seasonally. Perhaps the cost of fruit or vegetables are cheaper when purchased in bulk, but freighting and storage are overhead costs. Where there could be a savings to purchase local and utilize a FIFO mentality in order to stock shelves accordingly.
The COO could use six sigma philosophies to create an efficient and profitable transition from farm to table. Utilizing the DMAIC method, a COO could determine the best local farmers, the best purchase models, the best way to support local, lower carbon emissions and put money back into the local community (Soomo Learning, 2020). By using six sigma in operations, there would be a way to deploy DMAIC when identifying and freighting goods, as well as reduce defects in metrics pre six sigma guidance (Soomo, 2020).
I would overall support the shift to farm to table locally. Freight cost would reduce carbon emissions. Operating with less warehouse space saves in fixed costs, and helping local people gain recognition for the products they create would be beneficial to the local community. By using advertising techniques to highlight where farmers are from, I could sell local goods, and by creating lucrative contracts for second tier products, I could create my own line of locally sourced goods (like the pie example, or perhaps build my own line of fresh or frozen baked or cooked goods for the store that source local for dinner time pick up).
Resource:
Soomo Learning. (2020). People, planet, and profit. https://www.webtexts.com
