Shaping food innovation ecosystems: roles and activities of lead actors

This research aims to better understand the roles and activities of lead actors to develop a food innovation ecosystem. It empirically tested the innovation ecosystem approach to identify relevant actors and new roles for the development of a food innovation ecosystem in Europe. The results show that EIT Food already fulfils several roles required in a food innovation ecosystem and three distinct activities for transforming the food innovation ecosystem were identified. We highlight the importance of an orchestrator for the strategic development of food innovation ecosystems. Hence, the findings provide an orientation for organizations related to the agri-food sector but also decision-makers in the food system and contribute to better understanding innovation ecosystem development in general.