The aim of the article is to show the impact of market location and the distance from the supply network participants on the occurrence of innovative cooperation between the food industry companies and industry- and science-oriented entities. The methodological part of the article is based on probit modelling. The material necessary for the analyses present in this article has been collected by means of a questionnaire sent to the companies all over Poland. The conducted research confi rmed that the situation when the market or other participants of the supply network (suppliers, customers and competitors) are localised in close proximity to the food industry company has a negative impact on the occurrence of innovative activity between the company and other food industry companies or science-oriented units. On the other hand, the location outside one’s own region stimulates this kind of collaboration.