How Negronis Support the Slow Food Negroni Week Fund

As the official Giving Partner of Negroni Week, Slow Food works to foster sustainability, biodiversity, and equity in food and beverage communities around the world. In 2023, following the Negroni Week festivities, which generated over $600,000 in donations from more than 12,000 venues in 79 countries, Slow Food launched its Negroni Week Fund. This special fund supports Slow Food’s ongoing mission to advance cultural and biodiversity through programs like the Ark of Taste, Coffee Coalition, Wine Coalition, and the Snail of Approval program, as well as hospitality-focused projects dedicated to supporting eduction, wellness, community-building, and innovation.

“Through Negroni Week, we gain new connections to the food and beverage professionals that move the needle on achieving good, clean, and fair food for everyone.”
—Bilal Sarwari, Slow Food

“The Negroni Week Fund continues to be a major source of support for Slow Food USA and Slow Food International,” says Bilal Sarwari, Slow Food’s international councilor for the United States. “Through Negroni Week, we gain new connections to the food and beverage professionals that move the needle on achieving good, clean, and fair food for everyone. We also fortify relationships with our existing network because of this partnership—while raising the resources our organization needs to allow us to put energy where it’s needed most.”

Slow Food distributes the Negroni Week Fund in three ways: Innovation Awards, Education Scholarships, and Exchange Opportunities.

Negroni Week Innovation Awards

These $3,000–$10,000 micro-grants support innovative and community-based projects that support clean and fair values in the hospitality industry. In 2024, Negroni Week donations awarded 17 community-based projects. Among these were grants for mental health care for Latino hospitality workers provided through Another Round Another Rally; the promotion of local and sustainable wine production in the Loire Valley; and a zero-waste bar project in the UK. This year, Slow Food awarded projects from 14 countries, including a circular fermentation project for bartenders in Belgium, an Agave Professional Development Program in Mexico and the US, and a project supporting and empowering community-based coffee co-ops in Uganda.

“Thanks to the Negroni Week Fund, the Slow Food Innovation Awards are supporting community-based partnerships that will develop creative projects in countries responding to the most pressing challenges of the hospitality and beverage sector,” says Sarwari. “These initiatives include a wide range of focus areas, including mental healthcare resources (both in Spanish and English), more sustainable sources of wild honey, and strengthening the collaborations between cooks and farmers.”

Education Scholarships

To give less experienced hospitality professionals an opportunity to learn about sustainability and best practices within their community, this scholarship allows grantees to travel to Tales of the Cocktail in New Orleans and Slow Food’s Terra Madre Salone del Gusto in Turin, Italy, and Terra Madre Americas in Sacramento, CA. Bartender and Slow Drinks author Danny Childs helped select scholarship recipients and served as a host and guide to the scholarship cohorts. Scholarship recipients hail from all over the globe, including Nepal, Canada, Brazil, US, India, Mexico, and Europe.

These scholarships provide hospitality professionals with a unique opportunity to travel, learn, be inspired, and network within their community and to bring back what they gain from these experiences to their day-to-day professions.

“Our inaugural Negroni Week Fund cohort that joined beverage industry professionals at Tales of the Cocktail in New Orleans were an inspiration,” says Sarwari. “The members of our cohort demonstrated their commitment to equity in food and beverage by sharing their valuable skills and knowledge while being open to building new connections during the event. I’m proud to have been able to meet this incredible group and am cheered to see their alignment with Slow Food values.”

Slow Food Exchanges

These grants connect hospitality professionals with producer communities through hands-on field experiences, in-depth forums, networking, and public events. In July, Slow Food’s Midwest Ark of Taste committee hosted a “Grains for Eating and Drinking” event with the intention of connecting hospitality professionals that interact with Ark of Taste grains. Guests included producers, chefs, millers, and brewers, who got a chance to tour a nearby farm where they were able to see Ark of Taste grains growing in the field and learn from the grain producers. Afterward, they toured a nearby mill before visiting a local distillery to cap off the immersive farm-to-bottle experience.

“Slow Food USA aims to connect hospitality professionals with local producers through the Slow Food Exchange program, generously sponsored by the Negroni Week Fund. Each Exchange includes a field experience, in-depth forum, networking, and a public event,” says Sarwari. “Last year, our Midwest Ark of Taste collaborated with Kendall College, Janie’s Mill, and Silver Tree Distillery by bringing people together to explore the heirloom grain chain with a special focus on Bloody Butcher corn and Turkey Red Wheat. We believe that strong local food networks can change the world, and the Slow Food Exchange helps us achieve that goal.”

Click here to learn more about the Slow Food Negroni Week Fund. And be sure to head to negroniweek.com to find participating bars during Negroni Week that are supporting the impactful work of Slow Food.