Published Online:September 2025
Product Name:The IUP Journal of Supply Chain Management
Product Type:Article
Product Code:IJSCM020925
DOI:10.71329/IUPJSCM/2025.22.3.31-59
Author Name:Vikas Kumar and Kulbhushan Chandel
Availability:YES
Subject/Domain:Management
Download Format:PDF
Pages:31-59
The horticulture trade is fast and uncertain because produce is perishable and quality varies. Price formation often looks opaque to small producers. Prior research describes these frictions but seldom links concrete market design features to relationship quality and to settlement outcomes. This study addresses that gap. It tests whether grading and digital price information raise transparency. It then tests whether transparency builds trust and whether trust strengthens bargaining power. It also examines whether these changes reduce payment frictions. The design is a cross-sectional survey of 500 market participants with matched transaction and market day references. Measurement quality meets accepted thresholds, and discriminant validity holds. The model is estimated with partial least squares and bootstrapping. Results indicate that grading and digital price information jointly enhance transparency, which in turn strengthens trust. Greater trust augments bargaining power, and stronger bargaining power reduces payment frictions. Moreover, transparency reduces frictions. Two mediation paths are supported: digital price information improves trust via transparency, and grading raises bargaining power through transparency and then trust. The study advances theory by positioning transparency as an antecedent of trust and bargaining within perishable chains. Practically, it offers levers for managers and policymakers: mandate itemized charges and calibrated weighing, embed grading at entry, and expand simple price dashboards to bolster settlement discipline. Beyond the familiar transparency-trust link, the study demonstrates how concrete, verifiable design choices—including grading, calibrated weighing, itemized charges, and digital price references—convert trust into bargaining leverage and cleaner settlements, sharpening theory on mechanism design in perishable trade.
Perishable fruits and vegetables must be sold fast, and this compresses bargaining time and raises disputes over what quality was delivered and how the price was set. Official estimates indicate post-harvest losses for fruits at roughly 6.02-15.05% and for vegetables at 4.87 11.61%, making fair and speedy trade critical for producer income (Press Information