COVID-19 pandemic has brought a crucial juncture in world history.  The outbreak brought disruption not only in the public health system but also many other organized as well as unorganized sectors were severely interrupted. Halt in the transport system posed a serious restriction on movement of goods and people involved in the service sector. The slogan that COVID-19 brought – ‘break the chain’ – in order to contain virus transmission, very quickly was experienced even in the supply chain of essential commodities. Due to dense population and total dependence on neighboring as well as far-off places for supply of everyday essentials, cities were worst affected.

In this paper, we explore the impact of COVID-19 as a ‘game-changer’ for urban food systems in the Indian metropolitan city of Bengaluru. Game-changers are events which significantly alter the ‘rules of the game’ and social relations which constitute complex systems. As such, they have increasingly been explored as potential catalysts for fundamental transformations to sustainability. The systemic disruption to food systems caused by COVID-19 has the potential to be viewed as a game-changing event. We conducted interviews with 40 stakeholders from all the most prominent segments of food supply chains in Bengaluru. These interviews reveal how COVID-19 related restrictions have forced stakeholders to take on new roles and develop new relationships. Stakeholders also reveal how the pandemic has prompted reflection on the foundational values underpinning food system interactions, food related behaviour and patterns of exchange.