Piloting reusable plastic crates in the tomato value chain in Tanzania

This study shows that reusable plastic crates outperform traditional wooden crates in reducing postharvest losses and maintaining tomato quality throughout the supply chain in northern Tanzania. Traditional wooden crates have a weight loss of 1.9% from farm to retailer, and the plastic crates only h...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Mvungi, Henry, Ernest, Zablon, Mwambi, Mercy, Bruno, Theresia, Kok, Melanie, Dijkxhoorn, Youri
Format: Artículo preliminar
Language:Inglés
Published: CGIAR System Organization 2025
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/174169
_version_ 1855523962091470848
author Mvungi, Henry
Ernest, Zablon
Mwambi, Mercy
Bruno, Theresia
Kok, Melanie
Dijkxhoorn, Youri
author_browse Bruno, Theresia
Dijkxhoorn, Youri
Ernest, Zablon
Kok, Melanie
Mvungi, Henry
Mwambi, Mercy
author_facet Mvungi, Henry
Ernest, Zablon
Mwambi, Mercy
Bruno, Theresia
Kok, Melanie
Dijkxhoorn, Youri
author_sort Mvungi, Henry
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description This study shows that reusable plastic crates outperform traditional wooden crates in reducing postharvest losses and maintaining tomato quality throughout the supply chain in northern Tanzania. Traditional wooden crates have a weight loss of 1.9% from farm to retailer, and the plastic crates only have a loss of 1%. Reusable plastic crates minimize compression damage and overloading, leading to lower weight and quality losses compared to traditional wooden crates. Additionally, tomatoes transported in plastic crates achieved higher market value, as better quality resulted in improved prices.
format Artículo preliminar
id CGSpace174169
institution CGIAR Consortium
language Inglés
publishDate 2025
publishDateRange 2025
publishDateSort 2025
publisher CGIAR System Organization
publisherStr CGIAR System Organization
record_format dspace
spelling CGSpace1741692025-12-11T21:41:13Z Piloting reusable plastic crates in the tomato value chain in Tanzania Mvungi, Henry Ernest, Zablon Mwambi, Mercy Bruno, Theresia Kok, Melanie Dijkxhoorn, Youri crop quality postharvest losses tomatoes value chains This study shows that reusable plastic crates outperform traditional wooden crates in reducing postharvest losses and maintaining tomato quality throughout the supply chain in northern Tanzania. Traditional wooden crates have a weight loss of 1.9% from farm to retailer, and the plastic crates only have a loss of 1%. Reusable plastic crates minimize compression damage and overloading, leading to lower weight and quality losses compared to traditional wooden crates. Additionally, tomatoes transported in plastic crates achieved higher market value, as better quality resulted in improved prices. 2025 2025-04-14T14:02:42Z 2025-04-14T14:02:42Z Working Paper https://hdl.handle.net/10568/174169 en Open Access application/pdf CGIAR System Organization Mvungi, Henry; Ernest, Zablon; Mwambi, Mercy; Bruno, Theresia; Kok, Melanie; and Dijkxhoorn, Youri. 2025. Piloting reusable plastic crates in the tomato value chain in Tanzania. FRESH Initiative Working Paper. Montpellier, France: CGIAR System Organization. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/174169
spellingShingle crop quality
postharvest losses
tomatoes
value chains
Mvungi, Henry
Ernest, Zablon
Mwambi, Mercy
Bruno, Theresia
Kok, Melanie
Dijkxhoorn, Youri
Piloting reusable plastic crates in the tomato value chain in Tanzania
title Piloting reusable plastic crates in the tomato value chain in Tanzania
title_full Piloting reusable plastic crates in the tomato value chain in Tanzania
title_fullStr Piloting reusable plastic crates in the tomato value chain in Tanzania
title_full_unstemmed Piloting reusable plastic crates in the tomato value chain in Tanzania
title_short Piloting reusable plastic crates in the tomato value chain in Tanzania
title_sort piloting reusable plastic crates in the tomato value chain in tanzania
topic crop quality
postharvest losses
tomatoes
value chains
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/174169
work_keys_str_mv AT mvungihenry pilotingreusableplasticcratesinthetomatovaluechainintanzania
AT ernestzablon pilotingreusableplasticcratesinthetomatovaluechainintanzania
AT mwambimercy pilotingreusableplasticcratesinthetomatovaluechainintanzania
AT brunotheresia pilotingreusableplasticcratesinthetomatovaluechainintanzania
AT kokmelanie pilotingreusableplasticcratesinthetomatovaluechainintanzania
AT dijkxhoornyouri pilotingreusableplasticcratesinthetomatovaluechainintanzania