A Multi-Objective Model for Sustainable Perishable Food Distribution Considering the Impact of Temperature on Vehicle Emissions and Product Shelf Life

Amin Gharehyakheh, Caroline C. Krejci, Jaime Cantu and K. Jamie Rogers
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Amin Gharehyakheh: Department of Industrial Manufacturing, and Systems Engineering, The University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, TX 76019, USA
Caroline C. Krejci: Department of Industrial Manufacturing, and Systems Engineering, The University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, TX 76019, USA
Jaime Cantu: Department of Industrial Manufacturing, and Systems Engineering, The University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, TX 76019, USA
K. Jamie Rogers: Department of Industrial Manufacturing, and Systems Engineering, The University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, TX 76019, USA

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 16, 1-21

Abstract: The food distribution process is responsible for significant quality loss in perishable products. However, preserving quality is costly and consumes a tremendous amount of energy. To tackle the challenge of minimizing transportation costs and CO 2 emissions while also maximizing product freshness, a novel multi-objective model is proposed. The model integrates a vehicle routing problem with temperature, shelf life, and energy consumption prediction models, thereby enhancing its accuracy. Non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm II is adapted to solve the proposed model for the set of Solomon test data. The conflicting nature of these objectives and the sensitivity of the model to shelf life and shipping container temperature settings are analyzed. The results show that optimizing freshness objective degrade the cost and the emission objectives, and the distribution of perishable foods are sensible to the shelf life of the perishable foods and temperature settings inside the container.

Keywords: sustainable distribution; food perishability; multi-objective optimization; temperature prediction; shelf life; food waste; NSGA-II (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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