BrightSide Produce: Tackling Limited Healthy Food Access Through Produce Distribution
David F. Pyke
Knauss School of Business, University of San Diego, USA
Iana A. Castro
Fowler College of Business, San Diego State University, USA
Gabriel Garzo
Knauss School of Business, University of San Diego, USA
Jenna Sharp
Knauss School of Business, University of San Diego, USA
Volume 16: 2022, pp. 5-34; ABSTRACT
This case study focuses on inventory management and the application of the newsvendor inventory model to provide recommendations for BrightSide Produce, a produce distributor that delivers fresh fruits and vegetables to its network of partner stores located in underserved areas of San Diego County, CA. It highlights the challenges and community impacts of limited access to affordable healthy food in these areas and describes the approach BrightSide Produce used to address them. Students are presented with questions that require them to exercise newsvendor model calculations, test their intuition, and compare financially optimal inventory policies with BrightSide Produce’s current policies. The case study concludes with open questions about addressing limited healthy food access in underserved communities. An extensive teaching note provides materials for teaching the newsvendor model, including detailed explanations of all calculations that students are asked to perform, along with an approach to structuring the classroom discussion. A companion spreadsheet for instructors contains all formulas and solutions.
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