Call for Proposals: Slow Food Negroni Week Fund

Deadline: 07-Apr-24

Slow food foundation invites you to apply for the second edition of the Slow Food Negroni Week Fund with a special focus on the beverage and hospitality sector.

Hospitality professionals worldwide struggle with access to training and education that would take them to the next level in the beverage industry. They also lack opportunities to interact with producers for their professional and personal development, and to gain a deeper understanding of the origins of beverage. At the same time, hospitality professionals play a key role in conveying fundamental values, such as sustainability, social justice and equity.

Funding Streams

• Educational Scholarship
  • The goal of the scholarship is to give less experienced and connected professionals an opportunity for training, networking and focused learning on sustainability in the industry.
• Negroni Week Innovation Award
  • They are looking for community-based partnership that want to develop innovative projects responding to the current challenges of the hospitality and beverage sector and that center good, clean and fair values ​​in the industry.
  • Priority areas
    • Good
      • Trainings, exchanges, implementation and dissemination of best practices that improve professionals’ ability to choose good products and a more conscious consumption for better access to good food & beverage for all.
    • Clean
      • Trainings, exchanges, implementation and dissemination of best practices that face the challenges of climate change in innovative ways contributing to make the local hospitality & beverage system more environmentally sustainable.
    • Fair
      • Trainings, exchanges, implementation and dissemination of best practices that contribute to the promotion of fair recognition of workers in the sector, support people’s empowerment to counter the risks of incurring mental health problems and address existing inequalities in the sector.

What do they offer?

• Educational Scholarship
  • A cohort of 15 people per event will receive lodging, a $1000 travel stipend, registration, connection and training with a Slow Food ambassador, and a special Slow Food program during the event. In addition, two calls beforehand and one afterwards will help the cohort connect with one another and provide professional and logistical support.
• Negroni Week Innovation Award
  • The total amount allocated to cover the stream of funding II) Negroni Week Innovation Award is $120,000, earmarked for initiatives all over the word, with a minimum funding of $3,000 and a maximum of $10,000 for each project.
  • Grants may be used to cover all – or part – of the total project budget. The remaining part must be financed through other resources or co-funding. Grants can be used to finance a wide range of activities, from seeding entirely new initiatives to scaling up existing ones. The granted funds may only be used for and balanced with the expenses anticipated in the project within the scheduled project duration. Grants can cover purchases, services, travel costs and communication tools, etc. They can also be used to cover consultancies and staff costs, as long as they are functional and commensurate with the proposed initiative.
  • The project timeline may be up to 10 months and must end by May 31, 2025. Under no circumstances will extensions be allowed.

What are they looking for?

• Educational Scholarship
  • Thirty individuals will receive full support to attend Tales of the Cocktail (New Orleans, USA in July 2024) or Terra Madre Salone del Gusto (Turin, Italy in September 2024). The goal is to give less experienced and connected professionals an opportunity for training, networking and focused learning on sustainability in the beverage industry. Applicants must be above legal drinking age, currently employed in the beverage industry, and interested in incorporating Slow Food values ​​of “good, clean and fair food and beverage for all” into their work.
• Negroni Week Innovation Award
  • The call is open to partnerships of at least two organizations where:
    • the lead applicant is a no-profit organization with a legal status in and active in its region operating in the hospitality & beverage sector; the lead applicant will be the signatory of the contract and will be the party responsible for the project with Slow Food;
    • the partner/s are civic, private organization/s or informal associations operating in/with the hospitality & beverage sector.

Eligibility Criteria

• Educational Scholarship
  • Applicants must fit into the following criteria:
    • Be currently employed in the hospitality and beverage service industry and above legal drinking age.
    • Be a first-time event expected.
    • Be willing to share a simple report after the event.
• Negroni Week Innovation Award
  • Applications (which includes an activity plan with timeline and budget) must be submitted through the online platform before the deadline.
  • The Lead applicant must demonstrate that they operate primarily in the hospitality & beverage sector.
  • The call is open to collaborations of a minimum of two organizations, with the lead applicant submitting the proposal, and entering into a grant agreement in case the proposal is selected.
  • Individuals or informal associations without a legal status cannot be Lead Partners.
  • Each Lead Applicant/Partner can present only one proposal within the 2024 calls for proposal.
  • Proposals must address one of the priority areas identified in Point 2.

Deadlines

• Educational Scholarship
  • April 30, 2024
• Negroni Week Innovation Award
  • April 7, 2024

For more information, visit Slow Food Foundation.