50 Best pivots to focus on a fund-raising drive in partnership with founding donor S.Pellegrino & Acqua Panna, delivering recovery-focused digital content and a major virtual summit in September
The organisation behind The World’s 50 Best Restaurants is replacing its annual ranking, awards and related events with a three-pronged campaign, entitled 50 Best for Recovery – supporting restaurants worldwide in partnership with S.Pellegrino & Acqua Panna. The aim is to provide tangible financial relief where possible, as well as create and collate helpful resources for restaurant businesses as they emerge from the pandemic and seek actionable advice and support.
Today it announces the 50 Best Recovery Fund, with the generous backing of founding donor S.Pellegrino & Acqua Panna. The fund will be utilised to support a range of non-profit organisations working in different parts of the globe to aid the survival and eventual revival of the restaurant sector. Funds will be raised through donations from 50 Best’s partners as well as a range of accessible initiatives through which diners will be able to give back to their beloved restaurant industry.
50 Best also launches a 50 Best Recovery Hub online at theworlds50best.com/recovery – gathering and generating content that will offer advice, information and inspiration for the sector, as well as for food-lovers looking to play their part in sustaining and rebuilding our industry. At the same time, 50 Best will continue to recognise the passion, skill and determination of restaurants, chefs and their teams as they push towards reopening and revitalisation.
50 Best will host a virtual Recovery Summit over several days in September, with a clear focus on exploring how the restaurant world can thrive once again. Comprising a range of events including masterclasses, talks, case studies, interviews and discussion forums, the Summit will gather the global gastronomic community together online to share learnings,
promote best practices and explore visions of a post-pandemic world for restaurants and diners.
After consulting with the restaurant community and analysing feedback, 50 Best has concluded that these three pillars support the areas where restaurants require assistance most. 50 Best for Recovery will provide essential fiscal stimulus, a source of reliable and regularly updated information and create a focal point where the community can share its experiences and look to the future.
William Drew, Director of Content for The World’s 50 Best Restaurants, says: “With 50 Best for Recovery, we aim to utilise our network, our relationships and our global reach to provide tangible help to as many restaurant businesses as possible across the world. We stand alongside our partners in supporting the gastronomic community as a whole and fervently hope we can assist in promoting and accelerating the rebirth of restaurants of all types after this unprecedented period of suffering. We truly believe we can and must all work in unison to give back to the restaurant sector and ultimately help shape a fresh and positive future.”
Over the coming weeks, 50 Best will launch a series of fund-raising initiatives to encourage further contributions to the Recovery Fund, from corporate donors and consumers alike. This will include a 50 Best ‘Bid for Recovery’ Auction in June, offering food lovers the opportunity to bid for out-of-this-world gastronomic experiences from the restaurants and chefs featured on the most recent list.
It will also publish an e-cookbook entitled Home Comforts: simple lockdown recipes from the world’s best chefs and bartenders, which will be downloadable in return for a small donation, as well as a #50BestRateMyPlate social media contest open to foodies across the globe. Home cooks will be challenged to prepare dishes inspired by the cookbook, with the best offerings judged by the relevant chefs and posted on 50 Best’s social feed. Further details of how to participate in all these fund-raising programmes will be released prior to each individual initiative.
The 50 Best team continues to offer its heartfelt support to all those businesses and individuals suffering from the effects of the global pandemic. The organisation is hugely grateful to all those in the hospitality world who are dedicating their time and skill to help others, as well as to its partners.
50 Best would like to thank founding donor S.Pellegrino & Acqua Panna for its support.
Stefano Marini, CEO Sanpellegrino Group, says: “Over the last 120 years, the Sanpellegrino Group has always been close to the gastronomy industry family. In such a challenging time we want to be even closer, to help it restart stronger than ever.”
The launch of 50 Best for Recovery follows the announcement in March that the proposed event programme for The World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2020 – which was due to take place in Antwerp, Flanders in June – has been postponed until 2021. Furthermore, the annual list of the world’s finest dining destinations will not be released this year in any format. Instead, those restaurants voted onto the 2020 ranking-designate will be fully recognised in 2021, circumstances permitting. The promotion and celebration of leading restaurants will be more vital than ever in rebuilding confidence and excitement about eating out among the dining public and will therefore continue to be a focus for 50 Best.
All details of the campaign will be available on the 50 Best for Recovery webpage and Recovery Hub as they are announced, as well as via Instagram @TheWorlds50Best and Facebook @50BestRestaurants.
