Common Cause, coopetition or competition? Resource contestation in food waste recovery networks

Food waste is a problem that occurs throughout the supply chain, squandering natural resources, and contributing to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. While attention has been directed at systems designed to facilitate movement of food from manufacturer to consumers, little is known on alternative practices to recover food products no longer desired by the consumers. Responding to calls for greater attention to systems elements in macromarketing and for work that challenges the WEIRD hegemony, we investigate the issue of how collaborative networks can support more robust food systems. A qualitative case study draws on prolonged participant observation and depth interviews to address the question, “How do stakeholders in collaborative networks achieve shared system outcomes?” We apply institutional logic and the concept of coopetition to explore the dynamics within a food recovery network. Our findings suggest that notwithstanding shared commitments to sustainability, competition and conflicting interests can compromise systems performance. This study contributes a new perspective of collaborative network behaviour and highlights shortfalls in current theory and practices resulting from reliance on data collected from WEIRD contexts.