Algorithmic Food – How “Software is Eating the World”

Abstract

In this paper, we explore how algorithms have empowered customers and promoted their preferences, while turning the sourcing of food from the purchase of a valuable good into a simple transaction. Focusing on the generative character of algorithms in the organizing of food, we study the changing nature of food retailing in the UK over the last 20 years. Theoretically we focus on the role that algorithms and thus technology have played in the transformation of the organizing of food and shed new light on how the latter has undergone tremendous changes. Our study enhances the current understanding of the impact big data has and will have on many organizational aspects and demonstrates that we need to have a better and more critical understanding of its consequences.