Innovation Ecosystems in the Food Industry: Creating Innovative Food by Sharing Knowledge – A Qualitative Study of the Swedish and Danish Food Industry

Abstract

The purpose of this thesis is to address the, by scholars and managers alike, expressed need of attention towards innovation in the food industry. Sprung from the critique of the existing food innovation system, the concept of an innovation ecosystem is studied. The research at hand aims to present a definition of what an innovation ecosystem in the food industry is, and to display the role such innovation ecosystem has in the creation of innovative food. The thesis employs a qualitative approach by a multiple case study of four ecosystems in the Danish and Swedish food industry. The data has been collected through semi-structured interviews with management at the researched organisations. The results suggest that the presented definition holds value. The role of an innovation ecosystem in the food industry is to facilitate knowledge sharing by organising activities at their local centre point and to connect actors to each other in order to enable development of innovative food. The type of knowledge shared was concluded to be Scientific, Technological, Market and Business knowledge. Furthermore, the role is to aid initiatives originating; top-down, bottom-up or internally, as well as provide such initiatives with the appropriate financing in the creation of innovative food. Implications for the Swedish food industry shows that actively searching for collaborations and sharing knowledge, favours the development of innovative food.