The challenges of logistics and urban distribution, up for debate

On 22 and 23 March, Barcelona hosted the first international summit "Sistemas Alimentarios Global.ES", with more than 25 countries taking part. The event highlighted the importance of sustainability in the agri-food value chain.

Prodeca's director, Ramon Sentmartí, moderated the round table "Logistics: smart supply and megacities", an opportunity to discuss the growth of cities, the challenges of feeding them and the opportunities technology and artificial intelligence offer for efficiency and sustainability gains. 

The round table featured  AECOC's director of corporate sustainable mobility, José Carlos Espeso, and Mercabarna's director of sustainability, strategy and innovation, Pablo Vilanova.

The debate centred mainly on sustainability, opening up reflections on climate change, artificial intelligence, new consumption habits and relocalisation.

Climate change and sustainability in cities

2010 was the first time in human history that more people lived in urban than rural areas. In this context, sustainable mobility is the answer to society's biggest problem with the current travel model, even as consumers have increased home deliveries. 

Answering a question about the role sustainability plays in logistics, José Carlos Espeso highlighted the change in consumer habits since the Covid-19 crisis, which has led them to consume more local produce, a trend also confirmed by Pablo Vilanova from Mercabarna. "Working with local produce has a positive impact on natural capital, but also a social impact on the local economy's community", added Vilanova. 

Artificial intelligence in megacities: pros and cons

At a time of constant change, artificial intelligence has opened up the possibility of transforming how logistics chains work. Thanks to AI, companies have moved to a proactive model in which operators anticipate market behaviour and adapt their resources ahead of those variables. To what extent can technology help local producers be more competitive and reach consumers better?

The key is efficiency. According to Pablo Vilanova, the technologies may not be mature enough, but new solutions will only take hold if they are efficient: sharing routes, pooling vehicles, optimising routes and so on. The other key, Vilanova says, is sharing data among all the players in the chain, especially with artificial intelligence, for shared learning.  

José Carlos Espeso agreed that work is needed on efficient urban goods distribution, often in cities not designed for today's logistics challenges. In this regard, "the more technology advances, the more it will connect the primary sector with consumers". On artificial intelligence specifically, while it can be an optimal solution for demand forecasting today, in goods distribution — beyond digitalising loading and unloading zones or dynamic route design, for example — it is still far from being a reality. 

Urbanisation and new consumption habits

Home delivery is one of consumers' preferred options and in Spain fewer than 10% of deliveries are made to pick-up and drop-off points. The famous "last mile" accounts for more than half the total shipping cost, 40% of supply chain expenses. Brands are working to be sustainable while offering more efficient delivery options to build customer loyalty.

The question is clear: are sustainability and instant delivery compatible? They are not, according to Pablo Vilanova. "The alternative to this 'here and now' e-commerce is local retail, and in cities that already have it, like Barcelona, the solution is precisely to encourage it". 

The other question is how cities must change to adapt to this new scenario. "Local authorities and private companies must work together to size the new flow in urban goods distribution, because home delivery is unstoppable. New models must be found, bearing in mind that medium-sized cities (over 150,000 inhabitants) will be at the centre of these changes", said José Carlos Espeso. Those solutions include some already applied in other countries: encouraging night-time unloading, convenience points for digital commerce, neighbourhood shops acting as lockers and goods delivery points, urban microhubs and micrologistics platforms.

The global context and relocalisation

Recent global events have exposed the fragility of Global Value Chains, which have become an unquestionable source of vulnerability. Western states and companies in every sector are urgently considering how to reduce dependency risk and increase resilience in the face of possible future crises or events.

"During the health crisis it was local distributors and producers who opened every day so the country would not go short. That answers the question of why we, as a society, must look after local retail", concluded José Carlos Espeso.