A DISCRETE STOCHASTIC MODEL TO DETERMINE FOOD QUALITY BY USING SIMULATION: A STRAWBERRY CASE STUDY

ABSTRACT The agri-food supply chain (AFSC) sets a series of challenges in the production, storage, distribution, and transportation processes, as the market's requirements for fresh food combine food quality and safety attributes. This research suggests a discrete event modeling to study the behavior of food quality in all supply chains (SCs) in terms of temperature and time variables in a stochastic manner. The ProModel software was used to simulate strawberry quality in the SC, considering a distribution route to export the fruit from Mexico to the United States. The suggested model together...