Relish Agency

What Relish Agency does

Relish Agency is a UK-based product sampling and experiential marketing agency operating as a wholly owned subsidiary of the Whistl Group. Founded in the early-to-mid 2010s and incorporated in 2017 as Relish Agency Ltd, the company is headquartered in Bristol with an additional office in Marlow and operates with a headcount of 11–50 employees. The agency runs end-to-end sampling campaigns across more than 40 retail, subscription box, digital, and experiential channels, serving enterprise and mid-market brands in FMCG, beauty and cosmetics, food, drinks and alcohol, fragrance, health and wellness, and pet food. Named clients include Reckitt Benckiser, L'Oreal, Nestle, ASOS, HelloFresh, Clinique, Tommy Hilfiger, PrettyLittleThing, Craft Gin Club, GlossyBox, Deliveroo, Mike's Hard Seltzer, and Tails.com.

The core product portfolio centres on Product Sampling Services supported by Experiential Marketing and Insert Marketing as complementary lines, delivered through service channels including in-home, out-of-home, retailer distribution, digital sampling, direct mail, subscription box, influencer seeding, and bespoke brand gift boxes (with 700,000+ items reportedly delivered to date). The agency's only proprietary technology asset is "Try. Love. Buy.", an in-house consumer insights platform with MRS-accredited research capabilities for measuring sample impact from delivery through to consumer response. The agency also offers solutionized packages (Boost Sales, NPD & Product Launch, First-Party Data Collection, Boost UGC Creation, Customer Targeting) and bespoke services such as the ASOS Luxury Beauty Advent Calendar.

Relish operates a professional services, quote-based revenue model. Pricing is bespoke to each campaign and is not publicly disclosed. Demand generation is driven by an extensive case study library, an industry blog, newsletter sign-ups, and client testimonials rather than paid acquisition. The agency is wholly UK-focused, has won the ALF Awards 2024, and positions itself on its partner network, multi-year brand relationships, and measurement credentials rather than technology differentiation.

Name

Relish Agency

Legal name

Relish Agency Ltd

Website

https://relishagency.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Relish Agency is a UK-based product sampling and experiential marketing agency, wholly owned by Whistl Group, running end-to-end campaigns across 40+ retail, subscription box, and digital channels for enterprise brands in FMCG, beauty, food, drinks, fragrance, and health.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Product Sampling & Experiential Marketing Services

NAICS

Advertising Agencies (541810), Advertising Agencies (54181), Advertising Material Distribution Services (541870), Direct Mail Advertising (54186), Direct Mail Advertising (541860)

SIC

Services-Advertising Agencies (7311), Services-Advertising (7310), Services-Direct Mail Advertising Services (7331)

akta.pro primary industry

Activation/Experiential Creative Agencies (MPAAAAAO)

akta.pro secondary industries

Direct Marketing, CRM & Lifecycle (Email, SMS, Loyalty) (BPAFAAAJ), Shopper/Commerce Creative Agencies (Retail & Marketplace Creative) (MPAAAAAH)

Keywords

• Product sampling services
• Experiential marketing
• Insert marketing
• Subscription box sampling
• Brand activation agency

Headquarters

HQ city

Bristol

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Sampling Campaign Services: Relish Agency generates revenue by providing end-to-end product sampling campaign services to brands. This includes campaign strategy, product placement, fulfilment, and performance tracking through their Try. Love. Buy. consumer insights platform.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels10 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Relish Agency is a UK-based product sampling and experiential marketing agency that designs, executes, and measures sampling campaigns for consumer brands. It distributes product samples through more than 40 channels including subscription boxes, online retailer parcels, in-home and out-of-home placements, digital amplification, influencer seeding, and bespoke branded gift boxes. The agency complements distribution with the Try. Love. Buy. consumer insights platform, providing MRS-accredited research and real-time campaign performance measurement.

Product overview

Relish Agency is an award-winning product sampling agency operating as part of the Whistl group, offering a comprehensive portfolio of sampling, experiential marketing, and insert marketing services. The core offering includes Product Sampling Services as the primary product, supported by Experiential Marketing and Insert Marketing as complementary service lines. The agency operates across multiple service channels including Subscription Box Sampling (partnering with Glossybox, HelloFresh, Craft Gin Club), Influencer Product Sampling, Brand Gift Boxes & Customer Experience Packs, In-Home and Out of Home Sampling, Retailer Distribution, Digital Sampling, and Direct Mail Sampling. The proprietary Try. Love. Buy. consumer insights platform provides measurement and MRS-accredited research capabilities. The company serves industries including FMCG, Drinks, Beauty & Cosmetics, Food, Fragrance, Health & Wellness, and Pets, with over 40 retail partners and channels to distribute samples through.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Product Sampling Services End-to-end product sampling campaigns for consumer brands, distributing physical and digital samples through in-home, retail, office, gym, university, subscription box, and direct mail channels across the UK.
• Experiential Marketing Creates captivating brand events and activations in prime UK locations to showcase products in real-world settings and drive consumer engagement.
• Insert Marketing Cost-effective promotional insert campaigns placed inside partner deliveries to inspire, educate, and convert new customers at scale.
• Subscription Box Sampling Placement of product samples inside leading UK subscription boxes (GlossyBox, HelloFresh, Craft Gin Club) to reach engaged, loyal subscribers primed for product discovery.
• Influencer Product Sampling Connects brands with content creators through influencer platforms, managing sourcing, selection, and physical product distribution to drive organic content creation and social reach.
• Brand Gift Boxes & Customer Experience Packs Designs, produces, and fulfils bespoke branded gift boxes and customer experience packs for B2B and B2C brands, including welcome hampers, prospect packs, loyalty rewards, and corporate gifting sets.
• In-Home Product Sampling Delivers product samples directly to consumers in their own homes for leisurely trial, evaluation, and feedback generation.
• Out of Home Sampling Brings products to life through in-store activations, office and gym distributions, and university campus sampling campaigns across the UK.
• Retailer Distribution Sampling Places product samples inside parcels from leading UK online retailers at the moment consumers are most engaged with a brand they love.
• Digital Sampling Extends campaign reach through retailer partners' digital channels including social media and CRM emails to amplify brand visibility and engagement.
• Direct Mail Sampling Door-drop sampling campaigns delivering products directly to targeted UK households via postal services for mass trial reach.
• Try. Love. Buy. Consumer Insights Platform Proprietary in-house consumer insights platform providing MRS-accredited research and real-time measurement of sample impact from delivery through consumer response.
• Advent Calendar Sampling Bespoke advent calendar creation and fulfillment services, including the ASOS Luxury Beauty Advent Calendar partnership celebrating 10 years in 2025.
• Bespoke Sampling Campaigns Custom-designed sampling campaigns tailored to specific brand objectives, audiences, and budgets beyond standard channel offerings.

Quantifiable outcome

• 81% of Clinique sample recipients are likely to purchase after sampling
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments7 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered core and secondary.

• GlossyBoxcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorGlossyBox is one of the UK's most recognised beauty subscription boxes reaching thousands of beauty enthusiasts monthly. Relish places client products inside GlossyBox deliveries for targeted beauty brand sampling campaigns.
• HelloFreshcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorHelloFresh subscribers are engaged home cooks interested in quality ingredients. Relish collaborates with HelloFresh to deliver sampling and loose insert campaigns for food, drink, and kitchen brands.
• Craft Gin ClubcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorCraft Gin Club has one of the most passionate subscriber bases in the drinks category. Relish works with them to provide hard-to-replicate audience fit for drinks brands seeking enthusiast consumers.
• ASOScoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorLong-standing partnership with ASOS for product sampling through their e-commerce platform, including the annual Luxury Beauty Advent Calendar celebrating 10 years in 2025.
• PrettyLittleThingcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorOver 5-year partnership with PrettyLittleThing for insert and sampling programmes in product despatches. Relish provides exclusive titles and prime inventory for their media plan.
• DeliveroosecondaryChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorFood and drink sampling through Deliveroo's delivery network, placing products in takeaway orders for discovery at the moment of consumption.
• L'OrealsecondaryChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorPartnership with L'Oreal for beauty product sampling campaigns across Relish's distribution channels.
• NestlesecondaryChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorPartnership with Nestle for sampling campaigns across various food, beverage, and consumer product categories.
• Whistl GroupcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRelish Agency is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Whistl group of companies. Whistl is the parent company providing operational infrastructure and group resources.
• NOMO (ASOS Brand)secondaryChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorNo More Missing Out campaign with NOMO and ASOS - case study partnership for product sampling.
• Tails.comsecondaryChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorAppointed Relish to supercharge insert media plan with exclusive titles and prime inventory unavailable through previous media agency.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Havas Play: Havas's global experiential and brand activation network running sampling, sports and entertainment marketing for FMCG/beauty brands; a wider-portfolio incumbent competing for the same clients as Relish.
• The Moment (Dentsu): Dentsu's UK experiential and brand activation arm producing sampling events and consumer activations for major brands; a scaled network competitor to Relish.
• Jack Morton Worldwide: Global brand experience agency within IPG, offering experiential marketing and sampling at scale; a larger, broader incumbent that competes with Relish on enterprise RFPs.

Direct peers

• MKG: Experiential marketing agency producing brand activations, sampling events and immersive consumer experiences; comparable in service mix and target client verticals to Relish.
• Hot Pickle: London sampling and shopper-marketing specialist focused on beauty, food and FMCG; offers subscription-box, in-home and in-store sampling similar to Relish's core services.
• Amplify: UK-based experiential marketing agency delivering brand activation, sampling and events to global brands; competes directly with Relish for FMCG and beauty experiential budgets.
• Innovative Sampling: Product sampling agency specialising in subscription-box, in-store and digital sampling for CPG, beauty and pet brands; directly comparable delivery model to Relish.
• Beattie Group: UK integrated marketing and brand activation agency with sampling, PR and influencer capabilities; serves consumer brands in similar verticals to Relish's FMCG and beauty roster.
• Sparks: Experiential and sampling agency (US/UK) delivering brand activations, retail sampling and shopper marketing for global CPG and beauty clients; overlaps with Relish in execution and audience access.
• Halo Sampling: Global product-sampling agency running subscription-box, in-home and digital sampling campaigns for consumer brands; a close functional peer to Relish in the same delivery model.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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

M&A

Investments

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

Frequently asked questions about Relish Agency