Background and Purpose
○Under the influence of the three-year-long COVID-19 pandemic, consumers have come to prefer non-face-to-face purchase, which has led to a rapid increase in online transactions. In the supply sector, such as agrifood corporations, integrated marketing organizations, cooperatives, etc., their sales to online platform businesses are increasing, and such trend is expected to expand further.

○Logistics is infrastructure for facilitating commercial distribution. Agrifood distribution requires a logistics system suited to the rapid development of online operation and digitalization. In the era where a new concept of distribution, new forms of distribution businesses, and new methods of distribution are prevalent, logistics is becoming more important to the extent that the success in the distribution market relies on competitiveness in logistics rather than on product competitiveness amidst the expansion of the demand for more rapid, personalized logistics services.

○As for agricultural products, there are grains such as rice that can be stored and transported at normal temperature. Still, most of the products require a consistent cold-chain system in the process of production, storage, loading and offloading, and transportation. Currently, the way of handling agricultural products is much behind that of handling industrial products, due to the lack of facilities, equipment, and relevant skills associated with adequate storage and transportation. The distribution of agricultural products in the production areas and through wholesale remains backward in terms of transportation vehicles/equipment, logistics facilities, and a logistics information system.

○The logistics connection is weak among the places of production and the wholesale and retail stages, with redundant cost and inefficiency. Product standardization has a long way to go due to problems in classification and packing standards, etc. and it poses a stumbling block in the expansion of online transactions. There are also other problems like sticking to traditional practices of transportation in different regions and systematic problems like VAT. Online transactions are small in size and are scattered, acting as a factor burdening both producers and consumers. Such problems require more detailed survey and analysis to come up with ways for more efficient operation of logistics.

(For more information, please refer to the report.)