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In this subsection, the supply chain is described and the various players and their roles in the chain are explained. This is based on the interviews with the players in four fruit chains as noted- the Mango, Peach, Strawberry and Grape chains. The supply chain players and their roles are consistent throughout the four case studies. Therefore, in this chapter all the descriptions and definitions are valid for all four case studies unless noted.

Supermarket refers to a specific supermarket which participated in this research. The name of the supermarket is confidential due to ethics considerations. Supermarket with capital S is used throughout the thesis to distinguish between the supermarket subject of the study and other supermarkets in Australia.

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growers and decides with whom to trade- in effect, the supplier. However they follow the Supermarket policy and strategies so that the interviews with category managers and their responses are used to represent the supermarket chain as a business not a person.

Direct grower refers to the growers who supply the Supermarket directly. These growers are large enough to be able to provide high quality produce for a longer period of time during the season. In addition, these growers own more orchards than the other growers that enable them to provide large volumes of fruit. Direct growers are also able to market other growers’ produce to the Supermarket. They could play two roles in the Supermarket chain- as grower and supplier.

Marketer refers to one of the supply chain players that trades with the Supermarket. The suppliers do not own orchards, but they supply fruit to the Supermarket. Their role is to link the growers to the Supermarket by sending their crop to the Supermarket. The in-depth information about how the suppliers deal with the growers and the Supermarket will be provided in the following sections.

Indirect Grower refers to the small or medium size growers who supply the Supermarket through the suppliers or direct growers. These growers are able to produce quality fruit but because of the volume they produce, the Supermarket prefers not to deal with them directly. Supplier refers to the businesses that supply fruits to the Supermarket directly including both direct growers and marketer. The term supplier is used in the thesis when the role of marketer and direct grower are similar. The Supermarket deals with the direct grower and supplier in the same manner. For example, the Supermarket ordering policy would be the same for both direct grower and marketer. These two players play the role of supplier to the Supermarket. All the descriptions below are based at the national level of trading. The Supermarket category managers deal with the suppliers in such a way as to be able to supply fruits at the national level. It is notable that due to long distances between the east and west coasts of Australia, the Supermarket plans the western side independently from the eastern side. This research investigates the eastern side and national level refers to this area which includes the five capital cities of Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide and Darwin. The

Chapter Six Supermarket’s western division acts in the same way as in the eastern side. The western side is capable of managing, producing and consuming the fruit at the same state, Western Australia. There is no movement of goods between eastern and western states.

The Supermarket’s purchasing strategy is direct supply from the suppliers in private negotiations. This strategy enables them to provide consistent quality fruit to their consumers. They reduce the uncertainty involved in quality and volume of produce by this strategy. In addition, each category manager deals with smaller number of suppliers which enables them to collect history of trading for each of them. The detailed description of how the Supermarket deals with the direct growers and marketers in terms of planning, ordering, pricing and quality will be provided in the next sections.

Figure ‎6-1 indicates the whole-of-chain fruit Supermarket chain. All the players from the beginning point of the chain to the end point of the chain, which is retail outlet, are shown in this diagram.

Indirect growers use third party logistics companies to transport the produce to the marketers. Marketers and direct growers also apply third party logistics companies to deliver the produce to the Supermarket’s distribution centres. The figure only shows one DC, but, there are in fact several DCs in the capital cities. The fruits then are delivered to the retail outlets according to the store’s demand. The Supermarket uses its own trucks for delivery to the retail outlets.

Indirect Grower Marketer Logistics Company Indirect Grower Logistics Company Marketer Logistics Company Logistics Company Supermarket DC Retail Outlet Retail Outlet Suppliers

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The third party logistics companies do not add value into the supply chain in terms of increasing the price. There is no purchasing contract between the suppliers and logistics companies. The transportation company receives payment based on the size and distance of transportation. Their role in the supply chain does not impact on the contractual relationships between the Supermarket and suppliers, and marketers and indirect growers. Therefore, they are not considered in this study as major players in the supply chain. The relationships between the Supermarket DCs and the retail outlets are considered as internal relationships. This part of the chain also does not impact on the contractual relationships between the Supermarket and the suppliers. As a consequence, the major players in the chain are Indirect Growers, Marketers, Direct Growers, and Supermarket. These players are shown in bold colour in the figure above.