Criteria Analysis of Food Safety using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) - A Case study of Thailand’s Fresh Markets
Chewaphorn Chaiyaphan, Kasin Ransikarbum
Abstract
Safety of food in the fresh market has been a critical issue for many countries, including Thailand. In this study, data related to the criteria pertaining to food safety in selected fresh markets in Thailand are collected and analyzed using selective analytical methods to understand the perspectives of stakeholders in food safety system. In particular, our study considered 2 methodologies in the analysis-1) Mixed Method Research based on questionnaires and interviews with an aim to analyze stakeholders’ behaviours and 2) Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), one of the Multi Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) tools, with an aim to analyze criteria weights for food safety. Our case study was conducted at two fresh markets in Ubonratchathani province in Thailand: Municipal Market and Donklang Market, by collecting samples of vendors and consumers. It was found that vendors considered rental arrangement as the most important factor with weight 0.5489 (54.8 percent), whereas consumers concerned with the market building and related environment the most with criterion’s weight 0.2480 (24.80 percent). This initial result can be used for further analysis of fresh market layout and design, subject to viewpoints of stakeholders.