Carbon Trading In Fresh Food Supply Chains With Refrigerated Logistics Services Sharing

Fresh food is a special category of commodity,and its improper storage and transportation will lead to massive spoilage.At present,the cold chain in China is not well developed and still has a long way ahead compared with the cold chain in developed countries.The main reason is that the cost of cold chain in China is too high.Especially,the lack of cooperation among cold chain enterprises,which means cold chain investments are low,scattered and chaotic,has caused a high vacancy rate of refrigerated logistics facilities,and this has pushed up the cost of cold chain.Under carbon policies,the waste of cold chain resources not only increases the cost of cold chain but also produces more carbon emissions.Therefore,refrigerated logistics services sharing is of great significance,which helps to improve the utilization rate of refrigerated logistics facilities.Meanwhile,with the implementation of national carbon trading mechanism in China,carbon emission permits have become important resources in supply chains.Refrigerated logistics services sharing will lead to the imbalance between the allocation and consumption of carbon emission permits,which creates inner carbon trading opportunities in fresh food supply chains.Under this background,we attempt to coordinate supply chain members so that refrigerated logistics facilities and carbon emission permits are fully utilized.Under carbon policies,we develop a carbon trading model in a fresh food supply chain with refrigerated logistics services sharing and explore strategies about refrigerated logistics services,fresh food pricing and carbon trading to increase the utilization rate of refrigerated logistics facilities and carbon emission permits.The main content contains:(1)The collaborative cold chain investment model in a fresh food supply chain with refrigerated logistics services sharing.We establish a cold chain investment and pricing model in a one-manufacturer-one-retailer fresh food supply chain to maximize its members' profits.Decisions about investment levels of cold chain construction and advertisement are optimized.In particular,we discuss the role of consumer food safety awareness to motivate cold chain investment in fresh food supply chains so that food safety is guaranteed.(2)The inner and outer carbon trading model in a fresh food supply chain under carbon cap-and-trade policy.We study the decisions on the internal trading price of carbon emission permits,the retail price and the price of refrigerated logistics services in different carbon trading options,without carbon trade,inner carbon trade,inner and outer carbon trade.Pricing strategies for fresh food,emission permits and refrigerated logistics services are provided for supply chain members.We also reveal the relationship between carbon trading and refrigerated logistics services,and investigate their joint influence on the supplier-retailer cooperative relationship.(3)The joint replenishment model of retailers in a fresh food supply chain under carbon cap-and-trade policy.We investigate a fresh food supply chain comprising a large-scale supplier and multiple small-scale retailers under a carbon cap-and-trade policy.Retailers' joint replenishment and the carbon trading behavior of supply chain members are studied.We assume that three replenishment strategies are available for the supply chain.Under each strategy,a bargaining framework for supply chain members is set up to maximize their profits,where the price of the refrigerated logistics services provided by the supplier and the retail price of fresh food are optimized.Moreover,we investigate the role of carbon cap-and-trade policy.(4)The strategic alliance model of suppliers in a fresh food supply chain under carbon cap-and-trade policy.We consider a fresh food supply chain composed of competitive suppliers,unique suppliers and a retailer.The optimal decisions about the internal trading price of carbon emission permits,the service level of refrigerated logistics and retail price are provided for unique suppliers,competitive suppliers and the retailer,respectively.On this basis,we depict the process of alliance formation and reveal its influences on the fresh food supply chain and food market.We also analyze the influences of two types of competition and bundling sale.This study helps to enrich the research on carbon policies,fresh food supply chains and resources sharing behavior.It also leads to higher utilization rate of refrigerated logistics facilities and carbon emission permits,which reduces the cost of supply chains and guarantees food safety.Therefore,this research is of great theoretical and practical significance for the efficient,low-carbon and safe operation of fresh food supply chains.