Beyond the supply chain: digital ecosystem orchestration to advance circular strategies for food waste

Purpose This study aims to examine how digital platforms enable orchestration across circular food supply network ecosystems to support food waste reduction. Focusing on ecosystem-level coordination rather than individual firms or dyadic relationships, the study explores how digital platforms facilitate the orchestration of actors, resources and circular practices across interconnected organisations. Design/methodology/approach An embedded single-case study of a UK food supply network ecosystem was studied. The ecosystem comprised six embedded sub-cases involving 27 organisations across hospitality and food service, food technology, food supply, food charities, food upcycling and recycling and policy influencers. Semi-structured interviews and secondary data were analysed. Findings The study highlights how digital platforms enable circular food waste reduction through orchestration across supply network ecosystem partners. The findings reveal three interconnected mechanisms of digital platform orchestration: digital coordination, capability redistribution and legitimacy alignment, which collectively enable actors to synchronise actions, share capabilities and institutionalise circular practices across the ecosystem. Originality/value This empirical study enriches the supply chain literature by extending the focus on circular food waste reduction from a firm-level capability perspective to an ecosystem-level orchestration process. The findings reveal three recursive mechanisms of digital platform orchestration – digital coordination, capability redistribution and legitimacy alignment – that explain how interconnected actors collectively enable and institutionalise circular practices across food supply network ecosystems.