As society marches toward a tech-driven future, technology adoption has become a prerequisite for global competitiveness. Despite food being the essence of sustenance and a historically contested resource, the role of its modern-day facilitators, i.e. the foodservice industry (FSI), has been under-represented in the technological context. The present study investigates the barriers to technology adoption in the FSI and formulates a comprehensive policy strategy to address them. It takes the case of India, an emerging economy with a large population and rich resource base, and a significant consumer and producer in the global value chains. Based on a scoping literature search and expert inputs to identify the barriers, it adopts a phased methodological approach. Phase 1 performs modified total interpretive structural modeling (M-TISM), and matrices impacts cross-multiplication applique and classmate (MICMAC) analysis of the selected barriers. Phase 2 documents the study context guided by strategic tools, including a social-technological-economic-environmental-political-legal-ethical (STEEPLE) analysis, threats-opportunities-weaknesses-strengths (TOWS) matrix, an extended situation-actor-process-learning-action-performance (SAP-LAP) inquiry and the novel Longitudinal Influencer-Facilitator-Initiative (L-IFI) framework. Phase 3 comprises an argumentative discussion of inputs tailored to the Indian FSI and relevant to other emerging economies. Lastly, the study implications and real-life applicability are highlighted, encouraging a systems-thinking perspective for future researchers.