The food system is defined as a network of actors, their institutions and activities related to the production, value addition and consumption of food. It is a complex system that operates across scales (i.e., from farm to local, national, regional and global), time, and institutional and regulatory frameworks (Hall and Dijkman 2019). Therefore, the system is influenced by a set of practices, relationships, values and rules and their interconnections that form the underlying structures and supporting mechanisms. System transformation, therefore, refers to bringing about lasting change by altering the underlying structures and supporting mechanisms (Abercrombie et al. 2015), and perpetuating this change so that it becomes the ‘new normal’ (Woltering et al. 2019). Triggering system transformation requires multiactor and stakeholder engagement and partnership in the scaling ecosystem to realize win-win collaboration, collective action, interactive learning and capacity development (Minh et al. 2020). Stimulating system transformation requires identifying the socio-technical innovation bundles that fit, designing and implementing effective scaling strategies, and fostering multi-actor engagement and partnership to achieve impact and trigger change across scales.