*2.5. Bio-Physical Postharvest Conditions*

Temperature management along the supply chain was assessed to determine whether storage conditions were a potential contributor to observed postharvest losses. Postharvest storage conditions were assessed based on continuous sub-sampling of mean fruit core temperature from point-of-harvest to retail point-of-sale using an EcoScan Temp 5 with thermistor probe (Eutech Netherlands). In SC2, the storage and transport temperature was also continuously recorded every 2 min using a Tiny Tag Tansit-2 temperature logger (Gemini Data loggers, West Sussex, UK). Temperature loggers were located centrally within the product load during harvest, storage and transport.

Truck routes were concurrently recorded every 2 s, using a Super Trackstick® (Telespial Systems Inc., Burbank, CA, USA) with global positioning system (GPS) referencing uploaded onto Google EarthTM. All loggers and GPS devices were time-synchronised to allow spatial and temporal cross-referencing of truck speed and product temperature.
