The document discusses key considerations for establishing and operating a successful distribution center for fruits and vegetables. It addresses questions around ideal location, required storage and handling equipment, storage space needs, product placement based on season, necessary storage conditions, staffing needs, capital requirements, and profitability. Key aspects covered include supply chain management, reducing waste, storage techniques, logistics, facility layout, operations, and quality control.

1. Sunil N. Sadawarte
DISTRIBUTION CENTRE FOR
FRUITS AND VEGETABLES
OPERATIONS

2. What should be the ideal location for the distribution centre?
What kind of storage and handling equipment is needed?
How much storage space is required for the different products?
Where should the products be located in the distribution centre and does that location depend on the time of
year?
What kind of storage conditions are needed in each location to reduce the keeping quality loss?
What kind of storage policy should be applied?
How much manpower will be needed?
What should be the capital involved and what should be the debt equity ratio?
What is the profitability?
Frequently asked questions for a distribution centre business
NOTE: These questions are answered though out the presentation

3. Distribution centre for fruits and vegetables Supply Chain

4. What is a Distribution centre for fruits and vegetables
It is a facility/ware house where fresh fruits and vegetables are collected from farms,
wholesalers, APMC markets, importers and graded, sorted, washed, cut, packed and
then supplied to retailers, supermarkets, grocery chains, processing industry, institutions,
direct delivery to customers (B2C) according to the orders.
The role of distribution centres
The role of distribution centres increases turnover and profit and also brings competitiveness for
the firm by providing customer needs in a high level. It is the most important link between the
farmer/ supplier for produce deliveries to customer with the optimum cost, in the required service
level and on time delivery with assured quality.

5. Farm to Collection Centre to Distribution Centre
Provide gentle harvesting and handling to avoid cuts, abrasions, and bruising damage that allow decay-causing
micro organisms to enter the tissue.
Harvest produce at the peak of quality.
Harvest during the cool part of the day. (usually just after sunrise or if light is available in the night)
Make successive plantings and use several varieties of varying maturity to spread the harvest season.
Shade is cheap and important. Hold produce in a shaded area while awaiting transport. Perform sorting and
packing operations in a shaded location.
Take care to avoid bruising in transportation to the packing shed, during unloading, washing and grading.
Most of the farms use subsoil water hence if the produce is washed on the farms chlorine treatment should be
used to reduce the microbial contamination.

6. Farm to end user cycle

7. Typical wastage of fruits and vegetables

8. Price escallation

9. Storage of fruits and vegetables
The storage of fruits and vegetables has a great importance to the establishments that
commercialize it, because they are very perishable and sometimes become a detriment to
the establishment, due to the great quantity of product waived because of loss of quality.
It is known that the management of a stock of fruits and vegetables is more complex than a
stock of processed products as the first ones need rapid commercialization and special
conditions of storage to reduce its loss of quality, because it reflects in reduction of its
commercial value

10. It is known that the management of a stock of fruits and vegetables is more complex than a stock of
processed products as the first ones need rapid commercialization and special conditions of storage to
reduce its loss of quality, because it reflects in reduction of its commercial value.
Fruits and vegetables are living commodities and highly perishable in nature. It is extremely important
to understand the and biological nature of fruits and vegetables and shelf life of fruits and vegetables
Every fruit or vegetable has well defined properties like colour, taste and overall appearance. The
diversity of marketed fresh fruits and vegetables in type, quality, and lifetime is enormous and is still
increasing due to changing consumer preferences, globalisation of markets and technological
innovations.
The assortment of a distribution centre is a list of the products that are handled or in stock during a
specific period of time. A year can be divided in one or more planning periods. The supply of many
perishables depends on the seasons. The numerous changes in the assortment during the year make
the activities in a distribution centre non-repetitive.
Distribution of vegetables and fruits is a complex process

11. Location for Collection Centre (CC) and Distribution Centre (DC)
In India most of the distribution centres are located in the metros.
The location not only determines where a new set of facilities must be located in an existing network of
facilities and customers, but also how much capacities can be allocated to the new facility.
Collection Centre
CC must be located in the radius of 50 km. max from the captive source of produce. If that is not possible
due to large area it should be located preferably near the highway and a 2nd grade city.
Skilled and unskilled work force should be available.
Distribution Centre
DC should be within a 5- 6 km radius from the APMC market
Adequate water supply and electricity should be available.
Easy entry and exit for the transport vehicles should be possible.
In case of a rental property the scope for expansion with adequate parking area for logistics should be
considered as a top priority.

12. Logistics plays the most important role in the distribution centre. . Vehicle routing determine the delivery
schedules for each vehicle.
The halls should be appropriate for logistic integration which consists value added services such as handling,
warehousing, and packaging.
The input output time of the truck tractor trailers to the hall should be minimized.
The input output time of light commercial vehicles to the hall should be minimized.
Products should be transferred to customers with at least transport and handling.
Investment costs should be minimized.
Operating costs should be minimized.
Loading and unloading of the produce should be planned in such a way that time required to do so is minimal
Logistics

13. Most carriers check their transport equipment before presenting it to the shipper for loading. The
condition of the equipment is critical to maintaining the quality of the products. Therefore, the shipper
also should check the equipment to ensure it is in good working order and meets the needs of the product.
Carriers provide guidance on checking and operating the refrigeration systems. All transportation
equipment should be checked for:
Cleanliness- the load compartment should be regularly steam cleaned.
Damage- walls, floors, doors, ceilings should be in good condition.
Temperature control- refrigerated units should be recently calibrated and supply continuous air circulation
for uniform product temperatures.
Odours- from previous shipments.
Insects- nesting in the trucks, vans.
Decaying remains- of agricultural products.
Debris- blocking drain openings or air circulation along the floor.
Lighting- in the hold of the truck, van.
Transport Equipment Inspection

14. Damage to walls, ceilings, or floors that can let in the outside heat, cold, moisture, dirt, and insects
Operation and condition of doors, ventilation openings, and seals
Provisions for load locking and bracing
With the doors closed, have someone inside the cargo area check for light. A smoke generator also can be
used to detect leaks.
The refrigeration unit should cycle from high to low speed when the desired temperature is reached and
then back to high speed.
Determine the location of the sensing element that controls the discharge air temperature. If it measures
return air temperature, the thermostat may have to be set higher to avoid chilling injury or freezing injury
of the products.
A solid return air bulkhead should be installed at the front of the trailer.
Equipment with a top air delivery system must have a fabric air chute or metal ceiling duct in good
condition.
Transport Equipment Inspection

15. The layout of distribution centres have a vital importance in terms of product conservation at the required service level
and delivering of products to the customer on time.
The layout of a distribution centre should be considered as a long term plan, with at least 5 years in mind with year on
year expansion especially when it is a rented property. It should be flexible and expansion possibilities should be
considered. The layout of distribution centre should be an integration of handling, storage, packaging and logistic that
includes value added services.
Turn around time of vehicles to the distribution centres should be minimized.
The products should be stored according to their characteristics.
Worker sanitizing area, Rest Rooms, Rest Areas, Change Rooms should be provided.
Adequate space for stores, cold storages ( Multiple)
Washing areas for fruits and vegetables crates should be designated
Quality control area for inbound as well as out bound produce should be designated
Solid waste disposal area should be designated as far as possible from processing area.
Layout planning of the distribution centre

16. Schematic layout for a distribution centre
Cold Storage Ripening
Chamber
Administrative
Office
Unloading BayLoading Bay
Inward QCDispatch Area
WashingArea
Stores Storage of fruits & vegetables
ready for processing
Outward QC
Processing Area for fruits and Vegetables
Processed & Packed
fruits & vegetables
Potato Onion &
Garlic Line
Sanitization
Rest
Rooms
Change
Rooms
Cafeteria &
Lunch Room
Crates
Washing
Solid Waste
Disposal
Lobby
Staff ParkingStaffParkingVisitorParking
AdditionalSpaceforCoveredStorage
Security Security
In GateOut Gate

17. Shelf life of fruits and vegetables is the period of time until which a product becomes unacceptable.
The keeping quality loss of fruits and vegetables is based on biological processes which remain active after the
harvest. The static keeping quality is the average number of days that a product is ‘fit for use’ if it is kept under the
same storage conditions. Storage conditions which maximise the keeping quality result in minimal keeping quality
loss. The following items are examples of factors that influence the keeping quality:
Initial keeping quality- The initial quality of an agricultural product varies because of differences in the cultivars
used, the production method, the season and the production region.
Storage time- Short storage times reduce the keeping quality loss.
Temperature- Each product has its own optimal temperature. Many agricultural products that now or in the past
from tropical or subtropical climates are chilling sensitive.
Relative humidity- A low relative humidity accelerates the dry out and therefore the ageing of a product. On the
other hand, a high relative humidity makes the product an ideal medium for all kinds of microorganisms.
Handling- Some perishables are very susceptible to mechanical damage like shock and vibration. Suitable
packaging can reduce the effects of shock and vibration during handling. Handling has, in general, a negative effect
on keeping quality.
Ethylene- The gas ethylene, a plant ripening hormone, plays a role in the interaction between products. High
concentrations of ethylene accelerate the ripening and decay of a large number of products. The production of
ethylene as well as the influence of this product interaction on the keeping quality are dependent on the
temperature.
Odours- Products like onions and garlic produce odours that are adsorbed by fruits such as melons.
Shelf life of fruits and vegetables

18. A distribution centre performs activities such as storage, conditioning, accumulation and consigning.
A distribution centre has two main functions: warehousing and distribution.
Warehousing includes all activities concerned with storage and retrieval of products.
The distribution function concentrates on the centre’s groupage and shipment of customer orders.
Groupage is the combination of one or more customer orders in a single consignment.
All products that are received in the distribution centre are subject to inspection and quality control.
The storage equipment such as racks and shelves creates in the storage accommodation locations and storage
space where products can be stored.
An important activity in a distribution centre for fruits and vegetables is the conditioning of products.
Adequate storage conditions such as relative humidity and temperature, minimal handling and avoidance of
product interactions such as odour and hormone transmission can reduce keeping quality loss.
An area in the storage with specific storage conditions is called a zone.
Distribution centre operations

19. By order picking the articles are collected from the storage accommodation and moved to the staging area.
In the staging area, customer orders for more than one item of the assortment or for a product that has to be
collected from several locations are accumulated before shipment to the customer.
Picking personnel or pickers move the products in the distribution centre.
Personnel need training to know what a specific article looks like, and whether the article picked for shipment
is the same as is ordered by the customer.
An administrative system such as a warehouse management system (WMS) can support the day to day
operations by giving storage and retrieval advice to the pickers. A storage policy determines on the
operational level where a product can be stored and a retrieval policy which product can be retrieved.
Distribution centre operations

20. A correct and fast information flow between the personnel is a requirement in the coordination of the
distribution chain of perishables.
Uniform article coding and barcodes are essential to achieve the necessary quality of the information
and speed of the information flow to the customers.
The short lifetime and the fast handling of the articles hinder the separate introduction of barcodes in
the distribution centre.
The storage time is too short to give all incoming articles a detailed internal code or sticker.
Due to the absence of a uniform article coding and the special conditions needed by perishables, all
articles that are kept in stock need a fixed slot or location in a distribution centre for perishables.
Personnel still have to check by visual inspection that the correct article is handled.
Wrong quality or incorrect packaging frequently result in rejects.
Distribution centre operations

21. Collection Centre (CC) Distribution centre (DC) operations- Flow Diagram
Farm
Whole seller/
Importer/
APMC
Outward QC
Produce to
designated
storage area
for processing
Cleaning/ Washing / Sorting/ GradingCC/ DC Receive
Produce
Inward QC
S. I gives prodn. schedule to pickers
Pickers/
Processing Man
power pick
material from
storage area for
processing
according to the
picking slips
Processing &
Packing
Storage of multi products
according to the customer order
Dispatch Rejects for
second/ third
Sale
Dump to Waste
Disposal
Information on
shortfall for
production
Production Schedule to CC/ DC
Administration Sales/ Accounts/ Purchase/ HR/
Stores
Dispatch Report
for daily billing

22. The type of handling equipment and the degree of mechanisation determine the differences in
handling methods.
The dimensions in the layout such as the maximum height of a rack and the minimum width of an aisle
define the possible handling equipment and vice versa.
The chosen handling equipment and the degree of mechanisation are two of the factors that influence
the maximum handling capacity or throughput of the distribution centre and the productivity of the
personnel.
Modern equipment such as automatic carousels and automated sorters are often dedicated to the type
of transport packaging and require specific storage equipment and high investment.
The combination of racks, carts, and forklift trucks remains a flexible, low cost handling system.
Mechanisation

23. A slot plan describes for each planning period where in the distribution centre and how much
storage space must be reserved for each product or quality change group.
Slot planning is primarily used to optimise the efficiency of the order picking operations
The storage accommodation has a fixed number of classes with a specific storage space
requirement and the products are assigned to a class based on the turnover rate.
Modelling the management of distribution centres class based storage policy, but a lower order
picking productivity.
The random storage policy does not take account of the specific storage conditions needed for
perishables.
The influence of the daily requests for storage and retrieval during a whole year can be studied
with a simulation model that assigns incoming loads of products to zones.
The daily storage and retrievals follow the seasonal production and demand of the products. All
requests are handled on a first in-first-out (FIFO) basis.
Slot Plan

24. Appearance- Visual
Size- Dimensions, weight, volume
Shape and form- Diameter/depth ratio, compactness, uniformity
Colour- Uniformity, intensity
Gloss- Nature of surface wax
Defects- Morphological, physical and mechanical, physiological, pathological, entomological
Texture- Firmness, hardness, softness Crispness Succulence, juiciness Toughness, fibrousness
Flavour- Taste and smell
Sweetness Sourness- Astringency Bitterness Aroma (volatile compounds)
Off flavours and off odours
Nutritional value- Carbohydrates (including dietary fibre) Proteins Lipids Vitamins Essential elements
Safety Naturally occurring toxicants Contaminants (chemical residues, heavy metals) Mycotoxins
Microbial contamination
Quality Parameters for Fruits and Vegetables

25. Stock level- The average volume of a product that is stored overnight in a slot is equal to the allocated
storage space of that slot. Therefore, the ethylene production of a product is based on the allocated storage
space of that product instead of the actual stock level.
Temperature- It is the most important effect with respect to the keeping quality of perishables.
Handling- It causes shock and vibration and thus stress to fresh produce. The effect of handling on the
keeping quality depends primarily on the quality change group.
Odour- Products with strong odours have to segregated from other products
HVAC- Good and efficient HVAC reduces the ageing process of fruits and vegetables and increases the shelf
life
Insect control- Insects like house flies along with them bring micro organisms which attack the fresh
produce and start decaying process hence it is imperative to use insect traps.
Rodent management- Fruits and vegetables are susceptible to rodent attack and rodent traps should be
used.
Keeping Quality

26. Strict hygiene and good manufacturing practices
Use of Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points principles
Sanitation of processing line, product, and workers
Low temperatures during processing
Careful cleaning and/or washing before and after peeling
Good-quality water (sensory, microbiological, pH)
Use of mild processing aids in wash water for disinfection
Antioxidant chemicals such as ascorbic acid, citric acid, etc.
Calcium salts to reduce textural changes
Minimal damage during peeling, cutting, slicing, and shredding operations
Elimination of defective and damaged pieces
Gentle draining, spin- or air-drying to remove excess moisture
Correct packing materials and packaging methods
Selection of plastic films to ensure adequate O2 levels to avoid fermentation Correct temperature during
distribution and handling.
Basic requirements for preparation of minimally processed vegetables