NEW ORLEANS — Hospitality company Oyster Sunday has been named to Fast Company’s list of the World’s Most Innovative Companies of 2024. Based in New Orleans and New York City, Oyster Sunday is a “hospitality studio” for independent food and beverage businesses. It was founded in 2019 by New Orleans native Elizabeth Tilton.
“We launched Oyster Sunday to create a more sustainable business infrastructure for the hospitality industry, and are honored to have worked with some of the best independent hospitality brands in the world,” said Tilton in a press release. “Over the last four years, we came to learn that one of the biggest hurdles our clients faced was a lack of access to affordable healthcare for their teams. This led us to build our second company, OS Benefits, the first affordable health insurance and wellness benefits marketplace made for the hospitality industry, by the hospitality industry. To say that I am proud of what we’re now able to offer through OS Benefits is an understatement, and this recognition from Fast Company is a testament to all of the hard work and dedication of our team, our clients, and our industry.”
Since 2019, Oyster Sunday has worked with nearly 200 independent restaurants and hospitality brands. The list includes Bell’s in Los Alamos, Calif.; Via Carota and Raf’s in New York City; and The Chloe and Cafe Reconcile in New Orleans. In 2023, the team launched OS Benefits to address rising insurance premiums and other challenges for small businesses.
The venture’s growth caught the eye of the Fast Company editorial team.
“Our list of the Most Innovative Companies is both a comprehensive look at the innovation economy and a snapshot of the business trends that defined the year,” said Fast Company Editor-in-Chief Brendan Vaughan. “We saw extraordinary innovation across the board in 2023, but we also saw a handful of clear patterns: the growing footprint and impact of AI, the triumphant return of live events, and great leaps forward in climate tech. We face daunting challenges on many fronts, but the solutions we celebrate in MIC give me plenty of hope about the future.”
