Research on Outsourcing Preservation Strategies in Fresh Agricultural Product Supply Chains Considering Supplier Competition Under Carbon Constraints

Fresh products have a short shelf life and are prone to spoilage. This imposes stricter requirements on preservation conditions. Meanwhile, refrigeration and transportation generate substantial carbon emissions. As a result, operating the fresh-product cold chain faces severe challenges. This study examines a low-carbon fresh food supply chain with competing suppliers and a retailer. We build decision models under three preservation strategies: self-preservation, outsourced preservation, and differentiated preservation. Using a Stackelberg game, we analyze how the TPLSP’s cost advantage, competition intensity, market size, and consumers’ freshness and low-carbon preferences affect members’ decisions and profits. The results show a unique threshold for the cost advantage. When the TPLSP’s cost advantage exceeds this threshold, outsourced preservation outperforms self-preservation. Further analysis shows a negative correlation between the threshold and competition intensity in markets where consumers are highly sensitive to freshness and low-carbon attributes. In markets with weaker consumer preferences, the threshold is positively correlated with competition intensity. In addition, when the market size is small or consumer preferences are high, fierce competition reduces supplier profits. Finally, the study suggests that outsourced preservation is suitable for two types of market environments: high competition intensity, high consumer preference, and small market size; low competition intensity, low consumer preference, and large market size.