Prevalence and Antimicrobial Susceptibility Status of Gram-Negative and Gram-Positive Bacteria on Handheld Shopping Trolleys and Baskets in Supermarkets in Ndola, Zambia

Background: Supermarkets are a place visited by individuals with different health conditions daily where microbiological contaminants through touch onto fomites such as trolleys and baskets can be passed on to other people hence potentially spreading infectious diseases. This study aimed to investigate the presence of Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria on handheld shopping trolleys and baskets and their antimicrobial susceptibility status against commonly used antibiotics in Zambia. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted. Trolleys and basket handles were swabbed and standard microbiological methods were used to identify the bacteria and disc diffusion to determine their antimicrobial susceptibility status. Data was collected from December 2021 to April 2022. Data was analysed using IBM Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 22. Results: Twenty-eight percent of the 200 total samples were found to be culture-positive and predominant isolates were Staphylococcus aureus (17.3%), Pseudomonas species (4.5%), Escherichia coli (2%), Corynebacterium species (2%), Staphylococcus species (1.5%) and Enterobacter aerogenes (0.5%). Staphylococcus aureus showed the most resistance to azithromycin (17%) followed by ciprofloxacin (2.8%), nitrofurantoin (2.8%) and chloramphenicol (2.8%). Escherichia coli showed 100% resistance to amoxicillin, cloxacillin and ampicillin, 75% resistance to ciprofloxacin and the least resistance to azithromycin (25%) while it was susceptible to nitrofurantoin. Staphylococcus species, Corynebacterium species, Enterobacter aerogenes and Pseudomonas species showed no resistance to any antibiotics. Conclusion: The study showed the presence of microorganisms with considerable antimicrobial resistance to antibiotics in Zambia on trolley and basket handles indicating the need for more initiatives to address proper hygiene in public environmental sites for better infection prevention and control.

The microbial content of unexpired pasteurized milk from selected supermarkets in a developing country

Objective:To determine the presence and levels of microbes in unexpired pasteurized milk from randomly selected supermarkets in Kingston,Jamaica.Methods:The quantitative study used a stratified random sampling technique in the selection of the 20 representative milk samples from six(6) supermarkets.Microbiological tests such as methylene blue reduction,standard plate count(SPC),coliform plate count(CPC),purity plate culture,gram staining and biochemical tests were performed to examine the microbes in purchased unexpired pasteurized milk.Results:One sample(BCr016) had a pH of 4.0.a rancid odour and curdled appearance.It decolourized within one hour during the methylene blue reduction test and was classified as class 4 milk.Seven of the samples were sterile with no microbe growth on the plate count agar and violet red bile salt agar(VRBA).The milk samples that appeared to be safe for consumption were all 10,11,12 and 13 days before expiration.The VRBA sample BCr016,had a colony count of 13 400 CFU/ mL.There was the presence of Escherichia coli in sample LCr021 which had a standard plate count of 1 580 SPC/mL and a coliform count of 500 CFU/mL.Enterobacter sp.was present in colonies from BCr016 and all the other milk samples.Conclusions:Unacceptable levels of Entembacter spp.and Escherichia coli were found in most of the samples.Effective measures to ensure safe milk for human consumption such as the phosphatase test and methylene blue reduction test should be routinely performed on each batch of milk processed by dairy plants.

Strategy Analysis of the Biggest World Supermarkets With Open Capital and Which Act in the Brazilian Market

In view of the growth of retail, as well as the performance of large multinational supermarket branch in the Brazilian market, the purpose of this article is an analysis of the strategies of Casino, Carrefour, Walmart and open in the country capital, analyzing their operational, financial indicators socio-environmental initiatives. In order to achieve the main objective of this work, the construction of a method that validates this search was necessary. The main strategies and indicators of the three groups in four areas： corporate strategy, operational areo, financial areo, social and environmental issue, were analyzed. Study of qualitative, descriptive and exploratory character is realised through the importance of these three companies worldwide. As conclusions, it has been the expansion strategies that geared toward developing countries, adherence to new store formats, specializing in electronic commerce, as well as the superiority of Walmart （net sales） and Casino （Profitability）.

Spatial Accessibility of Bakeries and Supermarkets in Belo Horizonte, Brazil

The recent events and constant global changes show the importance of rethinking city planning.In this context,the 15-Minute City concept got important as it brings people closer to activities and services,through short trips by active modes,being the key to a sustainable city.Based on this concept,this paper analysed the spatial accessibility of residents of Belo Horizonte(Brazil)to two establishments essential to the quality of life:bakeries and supermarkets.The analyses were made through the influence areas,spatial clusters,and the Local Indicators of Spatial Association.The results showed that bakeries are more accessible than supermarkets,which are not accessible to the entire population,especially in low-density and low-income regions.In addition,areas with potential for new projects were identified by the relationship between existing facilities(supermarkets or bakeries)and population density/income.Finally,the results highlight the challenges for developing sustainable cities considering the 15-Minute City concept throughout the territory of Belo Horizonte.

On Whether International Chain Supermarkets Should Follow the Trend of Cyber-Shopping in China

Shopping online has become a fashionable and convenient pattern of consumption in China,and the percentage of Chinese cyber-shopping is on the growth.At the same time,many international chain supermarkets are also taking up enormous market share.Should they follow the trend of online shopping? This paper tries to analyze from three aspects that it is not the right time for those international chain supermarkets to alter their business conception of entity sales to electronic commerce and online business in China.

Split-order consolidation optimization for online supermarkets:Process analysis and optimization models

The large-scale online supermarket is a newly emerging online retailing mode which brings great convenience to people.Online supermarkets are characterized by having large amounts of daily orders with potentially multiple items,diverse delivery times,and a high order-split rate.Multiple shipments for one order caused by order splitting result in high cost and disturbance and a large number of discarded consumable packages at online retailers and customers,causing severe damage to the environment.Accordingly,research on split-order consolidation fulfilment is critical for the advancement of the practice and theory in the context of highly complex online retailing.This paper first analyzes the characteristics and the challenges associated with the split-order consolidation problem that online supermarket is confronting and summarizes the new operational process of split-order consolidation fulfilment.Then,a time–space network optimization model is built,and its corresponding solution algorithm is presented to solve the questions of where and when to consolidate the split orders.Finally,the computation results of the numerical experiments are provided to verify the effectiveness of the algorithm,and a sensitivity analysis of the relevant parameters is performed.This work highlights the effect of order consolidation processes and fulfilment methods on the order fulfilment decision-making for online supermarkets.The purpose of this article is to help pave the way for more effective online supermarket management and order implementation.

Research on the Innovative Decisions of Supermarket Private Brands and Designated Manufacturers

One of the core competencies of a supermarket lies in its branding.With the continuous development of the market economy and the ongoing evolution of consumer demand,private brands have progressively emerged as significant contributors to supermarket growth.However,a pivotal developmental challenge for supermarkets is navigating the innovative decision-making process between private brands and designated manufacturers.This paper aims to investigate the innovative decisions between private brands and designated manufacturers,along with the relevant promotional strategies employed during entry into the United States market.

Part Supply Method for Mixed-Model Assembly Lines with Decentralized Supermarkets

In-house part supply affects the efficiency of mixed-model assembly lines considerably. Hence, we propose a reliable Just-In-Time part supply strategy with the use of decentralized supermarkets. For a given production sequence and line layout, the proposed strategy schedules tow train routing and delivery problems jointly to minimize the number of employed town trains and the traveling time, while ensuring that stations never run out of parts. To solve this problem, a mathematical formulation is proposed for each sub-problem aiming at minimizing supply cost. Then, a dynamic programming algorithm for routing and a greedy algorithm for delivery are developed, both of which are of polynomial runtime. Finally, a computational study is implemented to validate the effectiveness of the strategy, and to investigate the effects of the delivery capacity of tow trains and storage capacity of stations on supply cost.

A dynamic delivery strategy for material handling in mixed-model assembly lines using decentralized supermarkets

Material handling has become one of the major challenges in modern production management.Consequently,this paper intends to investigate the part delivery of mixedmodel assembly lines with decentralized supermarkets and tow trains.Besides,uncertain exception disturbances,including tow train failures and adjustments of the production sequence,are also considered.To solve this problem,a heuristic-based dynamic delivery strategy is proposed,which dynamically schedules the route,departure time,quantities and types of loaded parts for each tour.To evaluate the performance of this strategy,it is used to solve an instance in comparison with the periodic delivery strategy,experimental results are reported and their performances are compared under different metrics.Moreover,a multi-scenario analysis is employed to determinate the long-term decisions,including the number of tow trains and the route layout.Finally,the critical storage is suggested to be set for each station to avoid part starvation resulting from disturbances,and its effect on the delivery performance is investigated.

斑马条码打印机打印系统的设计与开发

系统主要是为斑马打印机在SuperMarket2.0系统下调用而开发的打印机驱动软件,是在Delphi7.0企业版开发平台上实现的。Zebra条码打印模块完成的任务是根据输入信息生成相应ZPL指令集,并输入到Zebra打印机中,由Zebra打印机解释执行,打印出条码标签,包括对汉字、英文、数字、条码和方框等对象的处理和打印。介绍了该系统设计和实现的关键技术。

The Role of New Retailing Formats in the Italian Local Development

In Italy, and particularly in its southern area, super-markets and hyper-markets still represent an expanding retailing format, as they were introduced years later than in other western countries. Today, they have become large retailers capable of influencing local development from an economic, social and urban perspective. The literature concerned with their effects on the local economy has focused on labour markets, price dynamics, and inter-type competition, neglecting their impact on macroeconomic factors such as GDP, value added specific sectors--agriculture, industry and services. This study tries to contribute to fill this gap by empirically investigating associations between key characteristics of these retailers and specific macroeconomic value added factors

Factors Influencing the Channel Choice of Consumers Buying Beef--Taking Yanji City as an Example

[Method]The paper was to understand factors influencing the channel choice of consumers buying beef.[Method]The selection behavior and influencing factors of beef consumption of Yanji urban residents in supermarkets and farmers’market were analyzed by constructing a binary Logistic model.[Result]Education level,monthly household income and household food expenditure to total income were positively correlated with beef purchase in supermarket,while age was negatively correlated with beef purchase in supermarket.[Conclusion]The main reasons that consumers buy beef in supermarket were type of beef,brand and clean environment,and in farmers’market were price,freshness and consumption habit.

Government drive,economic induction,and construction of food traceability systems:An empirical study based on supermarket samples from 'first-tier' and 'Olympic' cities in China

Food traceability systems are capable of overcoming or alleviating problems caused by incomplete and asymmetric information on food markets.This study conducts an empirical analysis using 308 supermarket samples from China's Beijing,Guangzhou,and Qingdao to determine the factors that influence supermarket behavior when operating traceability systems.The results show that operating profits(generated from food traceability systems),scale of operation,level of economic development(of a city),and government subsidies will positively affect the decision of supermarkets to use traceability systems.At the same time,government policies promoting food traceability systems should have a long-term role.

Marketing Strategy of Rural Supermarket Chain in Ningxia Based on the Long Tail

Based on the introduction of the Long Tail,the political,economical,social and technological environment for the development of rural supermarket chain in Ningxia is analyzed.The problems in the marketing strategy of Ningxia rural supermarket chain are pointed out,including single products and uneven level of quality,the products,which can not satisfy farmers' needs;low quality of the personnel and imperfect information system,thus the traditional way of marketing is challenged.In the end,from the perspective of products,position,price,and personnel,the marketing strategies for the development of Ningxia rural supermarket chain based on the Long Tail Theory are put forward.

Purchasing Patterns and Consumer Level Waste of Fruits and Vegetables in Urban and Peri-Urban Centers in the Philippines

Fruits and vegetables are inherently perishable hence they are considered as one of the most wasted categories of food. While several studies have been conducted to assess consumer level waste of fruits and vegetables, few have been conducted in developing countries like the Philippines. A survey, using a pre-tested questionnaire, and involving 500 respondents, was conducted in selected urban and peri-urban areas in the Philippines, to ascertain consumer level fruit and vegetable waste. The quantities of fruits and vegetables wasted by supermarket shoppers and those who purchased fruits in wet markets were comparably low at 3% - 4%. This low level of consumer fruit and vegetable waste was attributed to the small quantities (250 to 500 grams per purchase) purchased by consumers in both categories of markets. Consumer level fruit and vegetable waste, showed a positive correlation to household size. The level of fruit waste was positively related to household income, and negatively related to shopper’s age. Consumers who shopped in supermarkets, purchased larger quantities of fruit when compared to those who shopped in wet markets. Wet market shoppers on the other hand, purchased large quantities of vegetables. Decay, and quality loss manifested by shriveling, wilting, toughening, browning and softening were the main characteristics of fruits and vegetables discarded by consumers. The underlying causes of this waste, cited by respondents included “forgot to eat”, “poor quality”, “forgot to cook” and “overbuying”. Consumer efforts to minimize waste include buying enough for consumption, consuming or using immediately after purchase, planning their menus, improving storage and purchasing produce that is of good quality.

Practice and Exploration of Rural Sci-tech Service Supermarket:A Case Study of Jurong Economic Forest and Fruit Industrial Branch

The rural sci-tech supermarket in Jiangsu Province is an innovative model of rural sci-tech service. With reference to the concept of modern commodity supermarket, this model integrates variety, technology and achievement information into the sci-tech supermarket platform, provides various agricultural sci-tech services, and improves farmers recognition and acceptance of science and technology, so as to accelerate conversion of scientific and technological achievements and demonstration and popularization of new varieties, new technologies and new models. This paper analyzes practice of Jurong economic forest and fruit industrial branch and presents recommendations for building Jiangsu rural sci-tech service supermarket.

Analysis of the Competition in China＇s Supermarket Sector

China＇s supermarket sector has been growing with a high rate for ten years. Relying on the advantages of new formats and adapting to the economic change of China, several China＇s supermarket companies have replaced the traditional department stores to become the leading player in retail industry of China. Although the interesting phenomenon shows that although these supermarket companies have the inherent problems of shortage of capital and weaknesses in management, their expansion is more emphasized on sizes and speeds. Being weak in management and over squeezing ,margin from suppliers that might lead their position to be vulnerable. Their market share is taken by different competitors, more notably by foreign giant retailers. Competition will become more fierce and complex. Merging, making joint ventures with foreign investors, expanding into chain and fuU-format retailer, hunting for skillful people would be the key strategic options to keep the sector＇s growth.

Systemic Analysis of Supermarket Solid Waste Generation in Mexicali, Mexico

The common practice of managing solid waste (SW) generated by supermarkets in Mexicali, Mexico, consists of mix-ing all kinds of SW without any separation process. The concern of these actions is that does not involve some of these products to be reused or sold for recycling. The company ceases to receive an income of $ 3,881 Mexican pesos as an additional benefit by the generation of approximately 5,869 kg of SW than can be recovered in only one of its eleven branches in the city. However, the only two products that are valued by the supermarkets are wax boxes for fruits and vegetables which are sold to a company that subsequently resell them to fruit shops for reuse, and the cardboard boxes, whose weekly generation in one branch is 5,375 kg. They are separated from the waxed boxes and placed in a compactor to form bales from 300 to 400 kg each and then are collected for sale to a recycling company. As for the generation of different types of plastics that can be recycled, a branch generates weekly 339 kg. The model to simulate the generation of SW in supermarkets was performed using “system dynamics” as a tool for modeling and simulation in order to make better decisions to reduce generation of waste.

Does Customer Experience Management Impact Customer Loyalty Shopping at Supermarket？ The Case in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam

This research analyzes and answers the question ＂Does customer experience management impact to customer loyalty shopping at supermarket, in the case of Mekong Delta, Vietnam？＂, 321 customers of supermarkets in the Mekong Delta were interviewed by questionnaire. The descriptive statistics, factor analysis, Cronbach＇s alpha, structural equation modeling, and multi-group structural analysis methods were used in this study. The results confirm that customer experience management impacts to customer loyalty shopping at supermarkets. There are six components of customer experience management including brand name, space, commodity, staff, parking lot, and the presence of other stores in supermarkets. In particular, the commodity composition has the strongest impact on customer experience management and satisfaction and directly influences on customer loyalty. In addition, elements of customer experience management affect customer loyalty indirectly through sensory experience, social experience, and satisfaction. The results of multivariate analysis show that age group, spending per shopping at supermarkets, and marital status of the client do not change the relationships in the research model. Meanwhile, the relationship of the different models of the client group income, gender, education, occupation and customers is different. This study adds value to consumer behavior and customer experience management literature.