Why Become
a FOODWORKS Partner?

FOODWORKS was born and bred in the industry by culinary professionals. The ability to continue growth in our communities is limitless through forming partnerships with culinary creatives such as yourself. Understanding the challenges & hurdles restaurants face daily, & how to overcome them together is just one of the reasons that set FOODWORKS apart. Our mission is to celebrate culinary creativity, culture & community.

What is a contract Food Service?

Food service contracts are essentially agreements between one or more parties and a food service provider. Food service contracts are essentially an agreement between one or more parties and a food service provider. Contracted operations are outsourced, meaning the food service is run by an outside, third-party food service company. 

FOODWORKS was developed in response to the changing landscape of Contract Food Service. We answer a need for variety, convenience, quality, and value in workplace dining. Backed by Compass Group, FOODWORKS adopts the values of this industry leader, honoring its commitment to high-quality dining, a focus on the local community, and responsible sourcing of food to celebrate your culture.

What We Do

We search out restaurants that share our standards in culinary quality and passion

We schedule the pop-up and finalize the details with the restaurant partners

Restaurant partners provide all the labor and products for cafe stations or pop-ups

We customize each opportunity based on the client's needs and expectations

How It All Comes Together

Our restaurant partners bring personality, global flavors, and exciting menus to workplace and institutional dining venues for a day, a week, or permanently.

Add Revenue & Growth Opportunity

Running a catering Pop-Up is an exciting way to introduce a new revenue stream to your business. Providing an opportunity to retain employees you’ve worked so hard to train & grow is priceless.

Where Community & Convenience Meet

You will be running Pop-Ups inside our client dining locations. These span from Fortune 500 companies to universities, hospitals, IT companies, sporting stadiums & more! We provide the convenience of dropping into a clean location using our onsite equipment, quality serving vessels, and point-of-sale (POS) systems. You just provide your food & valued team members.

A Quality Assured Partnership

Everyone on the FOODWORKS team has a hospitality-enriched background. That said, we value our relationships & are here to support you 100%. Our Experience Managers review data with you from your events & forever remain engaged to maximize your profitability. When we focus on collaboration, working safely & learning from one another, our results are second to none.

Marketing & Visibility

We work with a private public relations firm to ensure you are featured throughout all our social media outlets along with your own. Your menu & logo are included on our FOODWORKS website & provided to our customers digitally weeks before your scheduled event!

Great food builds great communities & you're invited to join ours!

Onboarding Process

Let’s get you vetted & adhering to our food safety Gold Standard.
It is priority one!

  • Restaurants must complete a Vendor Risk Assessment Questionnaire

    FOODWORKS will review along with licenses/permits, suppliers, and health inspections.

  • Restaurants are disqualified from joining FOODWORKS if:

    The restaurant’s last health inspection score/rating was not an “A” or equivalent.

    The restaurant reports that it has been implicated in a foodborne illness outbreak.

    The restaurant reports a history of its license/permit to operate being suspended or revoked, or other enforcement action.

    The restaurant has a history of having multiple or repeat critical or major violations.

  • Risk assessment site visit

    A FOODWORKS Experience Manager will visit the restaurant and commissary base of operations, tour the operation & review its food safety & and sanitation standards in action.

  • Ongoing qualification

    It is imperative to have a system to monitor the continuing compliance status of our restaurant partners & food truck partners. This includes but is not limited to:

    SANITATION & FOOD HANDLING EXPECTATIONS

    VENDOR RISK ASSESSMENT REQUIREMENTS

    WEEKLY RESTAURANT AUDITS

  • Once onboard together, we will review:

    UNIFORMS
    We need you and your team to look sharp!

    SERVICE AND SET UP
    We pride ourselves on providing great food and unparalleled customer service.

    MARKETING
    We’ll create branded collateral specifically tailored to each location and you.

See what our partners are saying

Poke on the Go

"As a small business restaurant owner, we are fortunate to be part of the FoodWorks family. Not only does the team provide us the opportunity to serve in top tier businesses and kitchens, they are constantly working with us on how to grow our business. The team has provided support in all areas of the operation; whether it is onboarding, serving at a new location, marketing and recurring service opportunities. They are well versed and knowledgeable with industry knowledge and want all parties involved to find success while working together. We look forward to continuing our partnership with FoodWorks."

Hummus & Pita

"Working with Foodworks has helped spread the word about what we do all over NYC!! Being able to serve all the vendors that work with Foodworks helps bring us to customers that might never have known about all the deliciousness we serve."

Empanada Mamma

"We’re delighted to serve the community through our partnership with the Foodworks program. This mutual relationship has helped us introduce our home style cooking and unique Latin flavors to a larger audience and enabled guests to discover our cuisine style."

Sweet Lew’s BBQ

"Foodworks has been a huge part of growing my small business with consistent revenue and brand recognition" – Lew, owner of Sweet Lew’s BBQ

Caviar & Bananas

"Partnering with Foodworks has been a great addition to our business network. The project has created opportunities for us to reach a whole new audience with our offerings. We look forward to expanding with Foodworks as C&B continues to explore markets outside of Charleston." – Joe Caradonna – CEO Caviar & Bananas

Verde

"Working with Foodworks has given us, at Verde, the opportunity to bring fresh food directly to hospital workers and those in their care. We believe that fresh food is the best fuel and we cant imagine a better environment to serve exactly that."

Manny’s

"Foodworks is a great way to share Manny's with all communities of Chicago."

Sweets and Meats

"Foodworks has been a tremendous business partner, enabling us to expand our business throughout the Greater Cincinnati area. Moreover, the additional opportunities and support provided to Sweets & Meats BBQ, provides added stability for our organization. The on-sites with corporate partners provide consistent work hours for our full-time staff and exposure for our business. As a BBQ caterer & food truck that experiences seasonality, these additional opportunities really provide sustainability for our business and have enabled us to grow. We are truly grateful for our relationship with Foodworks and have completed over 130 meal services since we began working with them in March 2022."

ODA

"Foodworks is a great way to share Manny's with all communities of Chicago."

Treebeards

"Foodworks offers small restaurants like ours a truly unique opportunity to introduce our scratch-made Southern cooking to individuals and companies that we wouldn’t ordinarily be able to. We have been impressed by their organization and professionalism and greatly enjoyed our relationship with Foodworks. "

White Rabbit

"At nearly every event we have customers that tell us they brought a friend or co-worker to try our food and are excited to share us with them. This is really helping expand our brand and customer base all over the Twin Cities!"

OLIVE

"As a local restaurant owner, Foodworks has been an incredible partner that helped us not only bring us a very healthy additional revenue year over year, but also helped us with promoting our brand in locations all over Chicago and Chicago land area. İ am looking forward to our continued mutual partnership throughout the coming years!"

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FOODWORKS is a restaurant and small business incubator committed to the future of corporate dining. Launched in Chicago in 2018, we partner with the best local restaurants and bring their food to office buildings everywhere through creative, technology-driven concepts. We look forward to hearing from you.

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