European fresh-fruit supply chains increasingly depend on international trade to satisfy demand beyond domestic production capacity. This study proposes an integrated network and optimization framework to evaluate how trade structure, sourcing distance and sustainability objectives interact in food supply systems. Using European fruit trade flows as an empirical application, Complex Network Analysis is used to characterize the topology of the trade network and identify the functional role of countries as suppliers, importers or intermediaries. The results show that fruit miles have not decreased consistently over time, despite growing social and institutional attention to sustainable consumption. Fruits that can be produced within Europe present the greatest potential for distance reduction, while products structurally dependent on extra-European origins offer more limited improvements. Overall, the study contributes a decision-support perspective for analyzing food trade networks, combining descriptive network indicators with prescriptive optimization to assess opportunities for reducing transport-related impacts in agri-food supply chains.

Keywords

Food Miles, Trade Networks, Supply Chain Sustainability and Agri-Food Logistics.