Optimization Research on Vehicle Routing for Fresh Agricultural Products Based on the Investment of Freshness-Keeping Cost in the Distribution Process

In cold chain logistics, fresh agricultural products are susceptible to deteriorate due to the passage of time in the distribution process. To reduce the loss of cargo, this research integrates the traditional refrigeration cost into the freshness-keeping cost invested in the process of transportation and unloading goods. We rely on the investment of freshness-keeping cost to reduce the cargo damage cost caused by the distribution process and then propose a new vehicle routing problem (VRP). According to all relevant costs, this research builds a mathematical model with the goal of minimizing the total distribution cost. A hybrid ant colony optimization is designed to solve the problem, and the effectiveness of the model and algorithm are verified through two sets of comparative experiments. To determine which products should be invested in freshness-keeping cost to reduce the total distribution cost, we perform numerical analysis on the relevant parameters in the model. Results provide decision-making references for cold chain logistics distribution enterprises in the design of distribution routes.