Abstract
The research aims to examine the level of readiness among third-party logistics in Malaysia in fruits distributors. Z-Fruit Ltd is selected as the case study for this research. Z-Fruit Ltd faces insufficient resources in dealing with their market expansion into East Malaysia as well as the South East Asia region. Through a literature review, this study examined the characteristics of fresh fruits logistics and determine how third-party logistics may possibly assist in solving their supply chain problems. A quantitative research method was used for this research study. Survey data were collected from 150 registered members of Federation of Malaysia Freight Forwarders (FMFF). The collected research data has revealed that 40% of third-party industry in Malaysia are not ready to handle the fresh perishable logistics. Through the research data, it showed that the criterion of Z-Fruit Ltd set towards the third-party is available and practicable in the existing market, however it is considered as pretty niche among the industry standards. This can be seen with most third-party vendors providing warehousing and consolidate freight services but not the temperature-controlled service in avoiding any operation complexity and business risk. In short, outsourcing is the most strategic method for Z-Fruit Ltd to solve their insufficient resources at the current stage. The conducted research study provides Z-Fruit Ltd a selection criterion in searching for a dependable third-party logistics partner.