Conventional processes, marginal improvements

Carrier facilitated transport processes often achieve spectacular separations between closely related species because of the selectivity of the carriers. However, no coupled transport process has advanced to the commercial stage despite a steady stream of papers in the academic literature. The instability of the membranes is a major technical hurdle, but another issue has been the marginal improvements in economics offered by coupled transport processes over conventional technology such as solvent extraction or ion exchange. Major breakthroughs in performance are required to make coupled transport technology commercially competitive. 

Food supply chains have specific properties that pose many constraints on managing the flow and quality of products. For example, products of food supply chains are perishable and may show considerable differences due to biologic variety even when genotypes and production processes are standardised. Food supply chains may consist of many, often small, actors, making collaboration and alignment more diflicult. In addition, margins in the food sector are small, especially in conventional food supply chains with mass products, requiring supply chain actors to improve efiiciency of their processes. 

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