From time to time, we like to take a moment to remind the world who Dish Works is and what we do. We’re frequently amassing social media followers and chatting with new and prospective clients, so there are often some newcomers to share our story with, and outline all the ways we help brands slam dunk their marketing goals every day.
So — hi! We’re Dish Works, a woman-owned food studio and test kitchen.
From our awesome HQ in Lancaster, PA (more on that in a sec), our dedicated team of chefs, videographers, editors, photographers, art directors and stylists combine their talents and passions to create exceptional food content.
We specialize in recipe development, food photography and videography, catering to a wide range of platforms. Whether it’s large campaigns, commercials, in-store displays, e-commerce or engaging social media content, like influencer or UGC-style recipe videos, we’ve got you covered.
Pretty much every day, we’re talking with marketing execs, brand managers and content strategists, and we completely grasp the challenges that they’re facing. Tight budgets, huge expectations, rapidly approaching deadlines … it can be brutal out there. Dish Works is here to help! Culinary content is what we do — it’s all we do.
Our Process
Dish Works makes content creation easy (dare we even say — fun?).
Our efficient, customer-first model sets you and your team up for success. We believe food content creation should be both affordable and stress-free, and we look forward to helping you bring your vision to life!
How do we do it?
It starts with the fact that we keep everything in-house. That means no freelancers or influencers to wrangle, no locations to book and way less logistics to keep track of. With our epic prop collection and mind blow-ingly skilled team, we have all the resources necessary to turn your food content dreams into reality. From cookbook, menu and product photography, to packaging, magazine, and editorial shoots, we ensure a seamless experience.
After clients reach out, we set up a call to talk. No matter if you’re looking to start a long-term relationship or you’re just looking for a one-time project, we take the time to get to know you and your brand’s goals, challenges and visions.
Then, you’re assigned a squad, pulled from the Dish Works team, including an Art Director, who does a deep dive on your brand and your needs before beginning to organize your shoot day(s).
Our People
We’re hard pressed to think of another workplace where you’ll find classically trained chefs, best-in-the-biz photographers and videographers, stylists who never run out of hustle, creative and meticulous art directors, insightful assistants and empathetic client specialists all under one roof. These are full-time, salaried employees who have worked together for years, and, if we may say so, take care of business like nobody else!
Frequent leadership training, off-site retreats, and just-for-fun team building help our team culture stay strong. We put an extra focus on communication, transparency, empathy and humor. We work really hard together, laugh a lot, and we’re always united in our goal to create the absolute best and most beautiful content for our clients.
It means everything for us to win our clients’ trust, and we take great care to ensure that every element of every shoot is in the service of making your content shine.
There are no food content Olympics (yet!), but if there were, we’re going for gold — every day.
To get to know a little bit more about the people that make Dish Works go, follow us on Instagram and TikTok, where our food styling videos sometimes go pretty viral.
@dishworks This. #foodcontentstudio #foodcontent #foodstylist #foodstyling #eggs ♬ Cobrastyle by Teddybears – FIFA Songs
Our Studio
It’s a buzzing hive of activity inside our 18,000-square-foot facility. We moved here in 2023 from a smaller space a few miles down the road. Inside, you’ll find a stainless steel kitchen that looks and acts like a commercial kitchen, but all the equipment and ovens are residential models. We chose this set-up because so much of what we do is for home kitchens, and we want to use measurements and equipment to ensure recipe development is successful in home kitchens.
Here, our culinary team tests recipes, cooks and bakes the most incredible dishes for our clients’ shoots, and generally keeps the good music and silly vibes flowing. Did we mention that they cook lunch for our team every day, which simultaneously reduces food waste, repurposes unused ingredients and shows off our culinary team’s incredible talents? Yes, it’s as dreamy as it sounds.
There are also multiple photo/video sets where we produce commercials, recipe videos and influencer-style content for our partners. Each one is customizable, with backdrops in every texture and color you can imagine. And don’t forget the props! Our props zone, which is a sort of high-end kitchen store/vintage shop hybrid, includes an amazing array of textiles, glassware, flatware, serving dishes and, honestly, pretty much anything else kitchen- or cooking-related you can imagine.
In our fully equipped, professionally lit home kitchen set, complete with an operational sink, stainless steel wall oven, fridge and the always-sunny-at-Dish Works window, we can swap out cabinet fronts, cooktops (gas or electric range) and counter options.
The studio also houses a big table where we can eat, chat or work together. There are also quiet spaces for taking calls or solo computer work. It’s important to us that our team has all the resources they need, from endless coffee to comfy conference rooms!
Our #1 goal is to do great work with cool partners. We would love to work with you to bring your brand’s content dreams to life. Ready to get started? Reach out to start the conversation.