The aim is to advance the conceptualisation of island entrepreneurship by investigating how theisland context, for example, industry characteristics, social context and formal and informal institutions,influences the development of artisan food businesses in that context. An applied, qualitative and participatory research approach wasimplemented. Data were collected during a business development process focusing on food artisans in theAland Islands. In total, 19 business owners participated in the process. Key informants and public officers wereinterviewed, and the literature was reviewed. Interviews were analysed using phenomenography to identifyrepresentative categories, and the literature was analysed using content analysis. Island characteristics and context, local institutions, the quality of social capital and genderedinstitutions influence business activities positively and negatively. Island entrepreneurship entails mobilisingagencies to find innovative solutions that enable businesses to overcome obstacles. Most previous research treats business activities as entrepreneurship; however, as self-employment is essential in the island context,it should be highlighted in future studies. This study illustrates how the island context influences the businessdevelopment of small firms. Results indicate that local policies (1) benefitting female entrepreneurs, (2)supporting local businesses and (3) promoting locally produced artisan food could generate benefits for theentire artisan food businesses. Local policies that (1) benefit female entrepreneurs, (2) support local businesses and(3) promote locally produced artisan food have the potential to generate benefits for the entire trade. Policies canbenefit from an understanding of the role played by different ecosystem actors. Promoting self-employmentcan generate benefits for the local entrepreneurial ecosystem by providing agglomeration and helping to solvesome challenges caused by the characteristics of islands. Empirically, this research enhances the knowledge of post-productive responses in theisland context. Theoretically, the study advances the conceptualisation of research on the islandentrepreneurship context and the local food debate.