The best evergreen knowledge on sustainable food systems. We collect analyses, reports, and frameworks, while also highlighting our key topics in the food industry. Here, we present the most interesting resources for you to explore and gain deeper insights.
As many corporate decision- and public policy makers are backpedaling regarding their sustainability ambitions and withdraw from earlier commitments. This raises important questions about the future and sustainability of our food systems.
- Can we rely on innovation ecosystems alone to shoulder the transformation of our contemporary food systems?
- What role do innovators and entrepreneurs, startups, scaleups and SMEs play in such a transformation?
- Or is it unrealistic and naïve to assume that one group of actors alone can sustain and accelerate the transformation?
We at Konsultori have reviewed and analyzed recent reports and whitepapers on food system transformation. We focused on the role the food innovation ecosystem plays in sustainably scaling innovations.
These reports come from very different actors with differing agendas—ranging from the business world to international institutions, civil society, and local policy. Although they highlight different aspects, their analyses concur on several key points.
Common ground on transformative food innovation
Let’s first look at their commonalities:
- All reports agree that the food system needs transformation, that cosmetic fixes and more of the same solutions will not produce the outcomes necessary if we want a sustainable, resilient and just food system.
As a FoodTank Op-Ed recently headlined: “The Global Food System Is Broken—and Fixing it Will Take More than Good Intentions”;
or, to frame it differently: “The global food system is not broken. It is just that it is designed in such a way that it only works for the few, not the many.”
- All sources highlight the importance of systemic, rather than isolated efforts; scaling requiring strong ecosystems and inclusive stakeholder engagement.
We at Konsultori are convinced that collaboration between diverse actors is at the heart of food system innovation and transformation, as we have pointed out and discussed at various occasions (e.g. at this year’s GITEX Europe in Berlin and last year’s ViennaUp.
- Food startups and innovative SMEs are recognized by all as pivotal sources of disruptive innovation. Realizing this potential – their success at scale – depends on supportive networks, access to finance, and collaborative platforms engineered by the broader ecosystem. That includes policy-making, access to infrastructure, to public and private funding and support in entrepreneurial capability building.
Different emphasis and highlights when scaling motivations
All 3 reports are worth looking into in their own right, since each emphasizes different elements of systemic transformation.
Mainstreaming Food Innovation: A Roadmap for Stakeholders
The World Economic Forum’s whitepaper, in collaboration with Boston Consulting Group, focuses on what they term ‘Hub-Based Scaling’. Their approach operationalizes scaling via dedicated Food Innovation Hubs that foster cross-sector engagement—involving startups, agribusiness, financial institutions, and government. The framework guides startups through early-stage sourcing, market-fit shaping, and achieving scale using tailored networks, investment, and knowledge exchange.
While the whitepaper, not surprisingly given its authors, puts a lot of trust and hope in entrepreneurs, it still acknowledges the need to collaborate and the role of network efforts.
Transforming Food and Agriculture Through a Systems Approach
The FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN) framework emphasizes the need for an integrated approach, blending knowledge management, governance reforms, and sustained investment to create enabling environments for innovation. Scaling, the FAO view, is not just about replicating technologies, but about transforming sector-wide practices through collaboration among government, research, and entrepreneurial actors.
The FAO’s credibility has come under some scrutiny in the past due to problematic corporate partnerships and possible conflicts of interest, but the report’s approach and other reform steps may signal a change of direction.
The scalability of urban food systems innovations – lessons learnt in 11 European cities
The Food Trails report focuses on scalable models within city networks, using flexible governance, strong partnerships, and local policy support to replicate innovations between urban contexts. This model excels at pilot-to-scale transitions, leveraging local leadership and start-up-driven experimentation and replication.
Food Trails is a four-year EU-funded Horizon 2020 project aiming to translate in Europe the Milan Urban Food Policy Pact’s collective commitment to integrated urban food policies into measurable and long-term progress towards sustainable food systems.
A special mention for its critical-analytical perspective needs to go to the IPES Report on the Long Food Movement.
IPES Report on the Long Food Movement
The IPES report looks into what food systems could look like by 2045 if business-as-usual is allowed to run its course and if big, corporate agribusinesses alone continue to dominate food systems.
As a counterpoint, the report envisions an alternative scenario: what could happen if, instead, civil society and social movements reclaimed the initiative.
Not surprisingly, the authors are sceptical when it comes to purely technological innovations, driven by market forces alone.
Konsultori: Driving Food Innovation and Scaling Impact in the Food Ecosystem
We at Konsultori find it encouraging that these diverse actors share significant common ground on food system transformation. This is especially important as attitudes toward sustainability strategies are shifting for the worse.
While all reports and whitepapers recognize the need for and the urgency of change, the proposed pathways may differ significantly. Still, we believe that for food innovators there is a lot of opportunities to make a contribution to systemic transformation, despite the obstacles.
Why are we participating in AWS’s Sustainable Food Systems Initiative?
The AWS Sustainable Food Systems Initiative aims to unlock and strategically support innovation potential within food systems. In this way, AWS is committed to proactively contributing to the transformation toward more economically, ecologically, and socially just food systems.
As we at Konsultori subscribe to the principles and approach laid out in the FAO report and are mirrored in AWS’ initiative, we are very happy to be part of and play a role in one of the projects awarded by AWS’ program.