Assortment Planning for Fresh Fruits to Maintain Its Quality and Increase Retail Profits Dyah Satiti, Endah Rahayu Lestari*
Agro-industrial Technology, Universitas Brawijaya, Malang, Indonesia
*endahlestari24[at]yahoo.com
Abstract
In the fruit business, ripening is carefully controlled to ensure the fruit reaches optimal ripeness for consumers. Meanwhile, fruits have a natural ripening hormone, ethylene, which affects not only their own ripening process but also that of other fruits. Excessive ripening will reduce fruit quality and shorten its shelf life. If the fruit is not sold by the end of its shelf life, the retailer will suffer losses. An assortment plan is essential for fruit retail displays to prevent excessive ripening and ensure consumers receive fruit in optimal condition. This study arranged fresh fruit products representing ethylene-sensitive and ethylene-producing fruit groups and non-fresh fruit groups. This study aims to find the assortment plan for display that maximizes profit while maintaining fruit quality. Numerical experiments evaluated how the arrangement affects the estimated profit for retailers. The results showed that an arrangement that considers fruit characteristics maintains quality and increases retail profits.
