Fermented cocoa bean logistics in an emerging country: an Agent-Based Modelling approach

Abstract

This research aims to create a simulation model of the actors' interactions in the distribution of fermented cocoa beans in order to minimize transportation time and costs, ensure quality, and integrate information delivery within the cacao agro-industry supply chain using an Agent-Based Modelling (ABM) approach. With the enactment of the Village Unit Cooperative (VUC), it is hoped that farmers will realize the importance of cocoa bean quality in terms of fermentation, which will be provided to cocoa factories to comply with the Indonesian National Standard (SNI) 01-2323-2008. Two proposed scenarios were evaluated, and the first scenario was selected because it can reduce distribution transportation time by 94%. The results of this simulation show that by implementing efforts, such as rearranging the interactions between supply chain actors, strengthening the involvement of supporting logistics institutions, and systematically integrating the management of logistics elements will result in distribution time efficiency, transportation cost savings, and improved cocoa bean quality.