Performance measurement in agri-food supply chains: a case study

Purpose - Measurement of the performance of entire supply chains is an important issue because it allows for "tracking and tracing" of efficacy and efficiency failures and leads to more informed decision making with regard to chain design. However, the choice of appropriate supply chain performance indicators is rather complicated due to the presence of multiple inputs and multiple outputs in the system. Therefore, this paper aims to evaluate the usefulness of a novel conceptual model for supply chain performance measurement in an agri-food supply chain. Design/methodology/approach - A conceptual model for integrated supply chain performance measurement is evaluated in a Dutch-German tomato supply chain by means of a case study approach. Findings - The proposed conceptual framework is found to be useful for measuring performance of the tomato supply chain. From the case study it is concluded that four main categories of performance measures (i.e. efficiency, flexibility, responsiveness, and food quality) are identified as key performance components of the tomato supply chain performance measurement system. Originality/value - This research evaluates a novel concept for measuring the performance of agri-food supply chains. This concept is the first step in developing an integrated performance measurement system that contains financial as well as non-financial indicators combined with the specific characteristics of agri-food supply chains. Based on a case study in the tomato supply chain, this concept is found to have potential.