The purpose of the paper is to explore how the perceived relationship quality is related to the innovation capacity in chains of the traditional food sector. Based on suggestions from theory and previous studies, empirical evidence is drawn from a survey of 90 traditional food chains including 270 companies from 3 European countries in 6 traditional food product categories. Heterogeneity across these chains is first examined based on cluster analysis that identifies three distinct clusters interpreted as reflecting three levels of intensity in innovation capacity: high, medium, and low. Next, we define measures of the chain relationship quality through characteristics such as trust, conflict and reputation. The quality of the chain relationship is then shown for each innovation capacity cluster and compared among the clusters. Results suggest that measures of the chain relationship quality may be important factors in providing both an institutional foundation and a member motivation for innovation. As chain relationship quality fosters sharing of resources necessary for innovation as well as sharing incentives, these results further strengthen the emerging conclusion from the literature that innovation can be catalyzed by policies encouraging firms to build strong relationships.