Importance High competition among chain retailers makes the quality of products one of the main aspects influencing sales revenue. Fresh products are a component of a product mix retailing companies offer, thus forming the corporate image as a whole. The retailer holds a key to quality management and prompt managerial decision-making if it is able to forecast the quality of imported goods before they are delivered. Objectives The research aims at forecasting the quality of imported goods for trading and purchasing companies. Methods Drawing upon the analysis of scientific literature on logistics, quality management and systems approach with reference to perishable products, we find out that companies practice the quality management method applicable to cold storage of such products using sensors that enable them to adjust temperature and humidity for storage and transportation purposes. As a novelty of the proposed model, we devise a pattern for planning the quality of imported goods, especially for fresh products, using quality indicators declared in documents for customs clearance. As the proposed model provides for, product quality evaluation the customs service makes will be a baseline criterion to forecast further quality of goods, considering storage and transportation aspects. Results We propose a model enabling to forecast the quality of fresh imported goods, take prompt managerial decisions so to make the corporate activities profitable. Conclusions and Relevance The quality forecast model may be applied by any large trading and purchasing company that offers fresh imported goods. The proposed model will help companies control and plan the quality of goods before the delivery date, and take prompt managerial decisions when the quality of goods may deteriorate, so to avoid losses for the company, and keep/improve the corporate image by offering fresh and high quality products to consumers.
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