Milk supply chain management in the tier of retailers and customers – a comparison between Taiwan and Germany

For the milk supply chain, there exists a tough problem specific to Asian countries, that is, people's consuming habits change with the weather. This phenomenon will result in a ‘surplus problem’. In practice, little is known about solving the mismatch problem. This study tries to adopt the Supply Chain Management perspective to examine the key tier of milk supply chain and identify what causes the mismatch. In-depth interviews and questionnaires were conducted both in Taiwan and Germany to get empirical data from milk supply chain members. Through the analysis of data, this study offers four strategies to milk suppliers: establishing a strong regional brand name, developing a leisure farm, increasing the product variety and offering diversified channels to customers. The results of this international comparison can be used as a universally analysed tool for applying to other industries in other countries.