The role of wholesale markets in food supply chain resilience

Over half of the world's population live in cities and rapid urbanisation is expected to continue in the future. Urban-regional food systems connect supply chain stakeholders from rural and urban areas, yet they are far from being resilient as was evident during the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak. This study examines the case study of the Rungis-Paris wholesale market in France to uncover how this wholesale market acted as a supply chain integrator in this regional food systems during the pandemic crisis. Findings show that the Rungis-Paris market facilitated the collaboration among regional food system actors to improve the supply chain resilience; collaboration practices included integrative partnerships, joint digitisation, cooperative reverse logistics, multi-stakeholder control, and collective learning. The supply chain collaboration enabled the creation of supply chain resilience capabilities anticipation, adaptability, and agility (Triple-A).