Today we’d like to introduce you to Tim Taylor.
Hi Tim, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
Chris Diamond and I met at the University of Oregon, where we both developed a passion for innovation and entrepreneurship. After graduation, we took different paths. Chris helped his uncle open and operate a restaurant in San Francisco before managing restaurants himself, while I worked in finance, consulting, and sales training.
As a sales training manager, I was responsible for ordering catering for new hire groups. At the time, the Portland catering landscape was dominated by national chains like Panera Bread and Chipotle. It always felt strange that a city with such an incredible food scene had so few options for office catering. At the same time, Chris was trying to figure out how to generate more catering revenue for the restaurants he managed. We stayed in touch, and the two challenges kept coming up in conversation. Eventually, it clicked: what if we connected local restaurants with companies looking for catered meals?
We chose Portland as the perfect place to test the idea. Our mission was simple: give companies access to great local restaurants and help them move beyond the bland sandwich platters and chain catering that dominated the market.
The early days were a grind. Our most effective marketing strategy was simply walking into offices and introducing ourselves. In fact, we landed our first client before we had even onboarded our first restaurant. After that first successful meal, the client asked for a different restaurant, so we went out and found one. Then the next client wanted something different, and we found another. We repeated that process over and over, growing one relationship at a time.
Today, Spork Bytes employs about 20 people, partners with nearly 90 local restaurants, and is on track to generate approximately $3.5 million in revenue this year. What we’re most proud of, however, is the impact we’ve had on our restaurant partners. In 2026, we’ll pay more than $2 million to locally owned restaurants, helping keep those dollars in our community while giving companies access to some of the best food Portland has to offer.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Not at all. Like most entrepreneurial journeys, ours has been full of challenges, setbacks, and lessons learned.
In the early days, we explored raising capital and applied to numerous startup incubators and accelerator programs. We were repeatedly told that we weren’t investable and faced rejection after rejection. Looking back, that ended up being a blessing in disguise because it forced us to build a sustainable business rather than rely on outside funding.
We also started the company out of the garage of a house that Chris and I lived in together. Living with your co-founder while trying to build a business can create its own set of challenges. As the company grew, we worked through those growing pains and eventually moved into a co-working space, which was a major turning point for both the business and our working relationship.
Another challenge has been building a network of restaurant partners. Our service depends on finding restaurants that are hungry for business, consistently produce great food, and are reliable enough to serve corporate clients. That takes time. We invested heavily in building relationships, vetting operations, and making sure our restaurant partners could consistently deliver a great experience.
Our biggest challenge, however, has probably been people. Finding, training, and managing great employees is something every growing business struggles with. Early on, we made the decision to hire our own delivery staff rather than outsource deliveries because we wanted complete control over the customer experience. While that decision helped us deliver a more consistent and reliable service, it also made scaling more difficult and required us to spend a significant amount of time building and managing a team.
Over the years, we’ve learned that those human elements, both with our employees and our restaurant partners, are actually one of our greatest strengths. In a world increasingly dominated by technology and automation, we’ve built a business that still relies heavily on relationships, trust, and people who genuinely care about doing great work.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
Spork Bytes helps companies create exceptional meal experiences for their employees by connecting them with the best local restaurants in Portland. We specialize in office catering, recurring meal programs, individually boxed meals, and large-scale workplace dining solutions. Our goal is simple: make ordering great food for your team easy while supporting locally owned restaurants.
What sets us apart is that we’re not just a marketplace or delivery service. We act as an extension of our clients’ teams, handling restaurant sourcing, menu planning, dietary accommodations, logistics, delivery, setup, cleanup, and ongoing program management. We combine technology with a hands-on human approach to ensure every meal is delivered accurately and on time.
We’re especially known for our deep relationships with Portland’s restaurant community. Rather than pushing clients toward national chains, we’ve spent more than a decade building partnerships with nearly 90 local restaurants, helping companies access the food that makes Portland unique. We believe great workplace meals should support the local economy and showcase the incredible talent of local chefs and restaurateurs.
The thing we’re most proud of is the impact we’ve had on our community. In 2026, we’ll pay more than $2 million to locally owned restaurants. We’ve built a business that helps restaurants generate meaningful revenue while making life easier for office managers, HR teams, and workplace experience professionals.
At our core, we’re a hospitality company. Technology helps us streamline the process, but what truly defines our brand is our commitment to service. Whether we’re delivering lunch for 15 people or coordinating meals for hundreds of employees across multiple locations, we want every client and restaurant partner to feel like they have a team that genuinely cares about their success.
We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up?
My favorite childhood memories revolve around baseball. My dad taught me how to play from a young age and coached my teams all the way through high school. While he taught me the fundamentals of the game, the lessons that stuck with me most had nothing to do with baseball. He taught me how to treat people with respect, work hard, stay humble, and carry myself with dignity regardless of the outcome.
A few years ago, my dad passed away, but the lessons he taught me continue to shape who I am as a husband, father, business owner, and friend. Looking back, the time we spent together on baseball fields means far more to me than any game we ever won. Those experiences gave me values that I’ll carry for the rest of my life and pass on to my own children.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.sporkbytes.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/spork-bytes
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@sporkbytes
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/spork-bytes-portland
- Other: https://info.sporkbytes.com/catering
