Relish Works

What Relish Works does

Relish Works is a Chicago-based human-centered design firm and venture studio focused on the foodservice industry. Founded in 2017 by Mack Tilling, the company operates with 11-50 employees from its headquarters at 1 N Dearborn, Chicago, and is structured as a holding entity over four wholly-owned sub-brands: Back Of House (restaurant operator tools), Trust20 (foodservice worker training and skills), Food Foundry (a Chicago-based food startup accelerator built in partnership with Gordon Food Service), and Taste Agent (a Chicago-land comped-meal marketplace connecting restaurants with content creators).

The company's stated core methodology is human-centered design — conducting qualitative research with operators and workers (including proprietary studies like "Dining in the Future" and Gen Z labor trends) to identify industry pain points, then iterating on solutions through R&D, market placement, and business development. Its technology footprint is light on traditional software infrastructure (no app, no API, no SDK) and is instead centered on design-led product development and a marketplace platform (Taste Agent).

Relish Works makes money through a hybrid of innovation and R&D services and portfolio company operations. Revenue streams include managed innovation services for foodservice operators and recurring/marketplace revenue from its portfolio companies (e.g., Trust20 training, Taste Agent marketplace). Pricing is not publicly disclosed. Distribution is primarily regional (Midwest/Chicago-land), with GTM combining direct enterprise outreach (whiteboard sessions with operators and investors) and self-serve SMB channels (Taste Agent, Back Of House).

Name

Relish Works

Legal name

Relish Works

Website

https://relishworks.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Relish Works is a Chicago-based human-centered design venture studio that builds and operates a portfolio of foodservice-focused companies (Back Of House, Trust20, Food Foundry, Taste Agent), serving restaurant operators, foodservice workers, and content creators in the Midwest.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Chicago

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Innovation and R&D Services: Relish Works operates as an innovation arm for the foodservice industry, developing new products and technology through research and development, market placement and business development.
2. Portfolio Company Operations: Relish Works owns and operates portfolio companies including Back Of House (restaurant tools), Trust20 (foodservice training), Food Foundry (accelerator), and Taste Agent (influencer marketplace).

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Relish Works operates as an innovation hub and venture studio for the foodservice industry, applying human-centered design to research, iterate, and develop sustainable solutions to industry challenges. It builds and operates a portfolio of wholly-owned companies: Back Of House (restaurant management tools), Trust20 (foodservice worker training), Food Foundry (Chicago-based startup accelerator in partnership with Gordon Food Service), and Taste Agent (comped-meal marketplace connecting restaurants with social media content creators).

Product overview

Relish Works is a venture studio and innovation lab for the foodservice industry that operates a portfolio of sub-brands. The company pursues solutions through human-centered design, research and development, market placement, and business development. Its portfolio includes: Back Of House (restaurant management tools and solutions), Trust20 (foodservice worker training and skills platform), Food Foundry (accelerator program for food industry startups), and Taste Agent (influencer marketing platform connecting restaurants with content creators).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Back Of House: Provides restaurant owners with the tools and solutions to take their business to the next level.
• Trust20
• Food Foundry
• Taste Agent

Products and services

• Back Of House Provides restaurant owners with the tools and solutions to take their business to the next level.
• Trust20 Helps foodservice workers build the skills they need for the jobs they want, offering products, trainings, and resources.
• Food Foundry A Chicago-based accelerator program built in partnership with Gordon Food Service that supports, connects, and propels innovative startups reimagining the food and foodservice industry.
• Taste Agent A comped-meal marketplace that connects restaurants offering free meals with content creators in the Chicago-land area looking to grow their audience through social media promotion.

Quantifiable outcome

• 5x better engagement rate for influencers vs average food/beverage brand
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Gordon Food ServicecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGordon Food Service is a key strategic partner for Food Foundry, the Chicago-based accelerator program by Relish Works. This partnership enables Relish Works to leverage Gordon Food Service's established distribution network and industry expertise to support innovative startups reimagining the food and foodservice industry.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Techstars: Global accelerator network with food and restaurant-focused programs. Larger incumbent operating the same accelerator format Relish Works uses for Food Foundry, but across many verticals.

Emerging players

• Kitchen United: Ghost-kitchen and restaurant-tech platform serving multi-brand foodservice operations. Comparable as an emerging foodservice innovation company targeting restaurant operator pain points, though focused on off-premise formats.

Direct peers

• Food-X: Food-tech accelerator program operating cohorts of early-stage food and foodservice startups. Comparable to Relish Works' Food Foundry accelerator in cohort-based food innovation support.
• Redesign Health: Healthcare-focused venture studio that launches multiple companies simultaneously from a shared platform. Closely mirrors Relish Works' model of operating multiple wholly-owned sub-brands under one studio roof.
• Plug and Play Tech Center: Global startup accelerator with a dedicated Food & Beverage vertical that runs cohort programs and corporate partnerships with major CPG/foodservice brands. Directly comparable to Food Foundry's accelerator + corporate-partner model.
• Atomic: Venture studio that builds companies from scratch in partnership with founders. Parallel model to Relish Works' venture-studio approach, illustrating comparable capital-efficient company creation mechanics.
• Foodlabs: Berlin-based food-tech venture studio that builds and invests in food and agriculture startups. Closest direct peer to Relish Works' studio model focused specifically on the foodservice value chain.

Regional players

• 1871: Chicago-based technology hub and incubator supporting early-stage startups. Regional overlap with Relish Works' Chicago headquarters and overlapping startup-supporting ecosystem role.

Others

• IDEO: Global design and innovation consultancy. Comparable to Relish Works' human-centered design methodology applied to foodservice, but operating as a much broader, established incumbent across many industries.
• S2G Ventures: Food and agriculture venture capital firm investing across the food value chain. Adjacent capital provider and ecosystem participant in food innovation, comparable to the type of investor Relish Works' Food Foundry connects startups with.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/relish-works-inc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Subsidiaries4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments17 records

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Relish Works