Cross-industry Collaborations in the Convergence Area of Functional Foods

Convergence processes are based on the activity of distinct industry sectors showing crossindustrycollaborations. The aim of this paper is to analyze cross-industry collaborations betweenthe food and pharmaceutical sectors in the convergence area of functional foods. Selectedcompanies from food (Nestlé/Danone) and pharmaceutical (Martek/Bayer HealthCare) sectorsare analyzed using the determinants of motivation and industrial scope. The analysis shows thatfood companies are more active in cross-industry collaborations than pharmaceutical companies.The latter are more active at the front-end of the value chain focusing on research anddevelopment, and delivering their ingredients to food companies that due to their higherexpertise in consumer marketing launch the products. While the first cross-industrycollaborations were based on an exploration motivation, those that follow focus on exploitation.Acquisitions and licensing agreements are dominant in inside-out and outside-in processes,whereas strategic alliances and joint ventures are based on a coupled process between the foodand pharmaceutical sectors.