<p>The commercialization of edible suboptimal foods thrown away seems a promising lever for tackling food shortage and waste. This paper constructs a Stackelberg game model to analyze the optimal distribution channel decisions of the suboptimal food supply chain consisting of a manufacturer and a retailer under the wholesale and consignment mode, respectively. Moreover, this paper performs the sensitivity analysis of key parameters including suboptimal food demand potential, marketing service cost coefficient and retail price. The results show that the optimal distribution channel strategies of the manufacturer and retailer are obtained for those who are profit-driven under different conditions. The suboptimal food demand potential, the preference of consumers to the suboptimal food, marketing service cost coefficient, retail price and price discount are key factors. Interestingly, the Pareto improvement for the whole suboptimal food supply chain can be reached under consignment mode, which means that the manufacturer and retailer not only achieve higher expected profits but also reduce food waste. This study provides important support for increasing firms’ profits in the suboptimal food supply chain and promoting sustainable development from a game theoretic approach.</p>