The Global Food and Drink Initiative

Specialty Food and Drink Diversity and Inclusion Initiative will be a 6-month business incubator program offered in two groups, each with a total of five purveyors. The program will take their businesses to the next level by positioning each to be competitive within the specialty food and drink marketplace.    

This incubator will provide support in the areas of product development, business development, media training and networking. Established experts with businesses currently in the food and drink marketplace will provide critical information and advice to participants through workshops, discussions and assignments.  

In addition, participating businesses will get the opportunity to use the business skills, media training and networking received throughout the program by participating in 1 – 2 industry trade shows that will allow them to interact with media, buyers, distributors and other decision makers in the industry who can offer exposure and expansion of their product(s).

Black women are the fastest-growing demographic of entrepreneurs in the U.S. Yet, more than 50% of Black female business owners are self-funded due to a lack of access to capital. That includes many Black women pursuing their passion for specialty food and drink ventures. A 2020 Goldman Sachs report states that the funding rejection rate for Black business owners is three times higher than that of white business owners.  

The difficulty in obtaining funding also limits these Black entrepreneurs from accessing formal industry information, business and legal resources and professional networks that could help them develop, grow and scale their businesses. They receive few opportunities to learn about or take advantage of industry conferences and trade shows, which further limits expansion.  

Our solution will not eliminate the problem of Black women having limited access to capital. Still, it will create a more diverse and inclusive space for these businesses to develop, grow and thrive. Teaming up program participants with successful specialty food and drink industry leaders will expose them to thriving businesses, create sustainable operation systems, and develop media and marketing strategies. In addition, we will tap into our relationship with industry conferences to curate cultural trade show experiences to open new distribution opportunities and networks.  

In summary, our solution aims to give Black female business owners the tools necessary to remove some barriers to entry, access and opportunity. The incubator program will positively impact their ability to grow sales, sustain profits and create generational wealth.  

Our solution will focus on Black women-owned businesses that are unfortunately disproportionately impacted by lack of resources and funding, both very important elements in creating, growing and sustaining a business. In addition, these businesses are in the specialty food and drink industry which adds another layer of disadvantage as this space historically has not included diverse brands from people of color due to cultural biases and lack of exposure.

Therefore we feel our solution aligns with the Challenge as it aims to help solve the issue of how the specialty food and drink industry as well as its events and trade shows can be more diverse and inclusive by prioritizing the visibility of Black women-owned businesses, therefore contributing to their short-term and long-term success.

Our solution will serve Black women-owned specialty food and drink businesses located throughout the United States that are in the start-up or growth stage and looking for the expertise that can help them reach the next level of development. These Black women entrepreneurs are passionate about their product(s) and want them to be received and promoted in their authentic form.  

This solution will impact their lives by first connecting them to other business owners pursuing similar dreams. Sharing the knowledge gained from experience will be invaluable to them. Second, this solution will connect incubator program participants with our network of top specialty food and drink experts. These proven achievers are women of color who built successful food and drink enterprises inspired by family recipes and cultural traditions. They can help these Black businesswomen lay a solid foundation for growth and sustainability.  

Lastly, our solution will create an inclusive space to show these women how to navigate industries where most key players and decision-makers do not look like them, understand who they are or appreciate their products. A recent survey conducted by The Global Food and Drink Initiative revealed that Black business owners attending industry events have not felt welcomed. They reported not having the same positive experiences as peers who are not people of color. Our solution aims to change that by working directly with trade show and event organizers to promote more inclusive environments. 

Our solution will be open to Black women-owned businesses across the U.S. and will most likely include 3-4 states such as Georgia, Maryland, Washington, D.C. and Texas which is where several of the businesses we have engaged and assisted reside and operate.

The Global Food and Drink Initiative’s mission is to connect, share and preserve the history and cultures of the African Diaspora. Our presentation and distribution of information about Black food, drink and travel businesses expand the knowledge and acceptance of these enterprises.

Small Black-owned food and drink entrepreneurs receive support and encouragement through our publication Cuisine Noir Magazine and upcoming podcast and are connected to funding announcements, experts, programs and events that can help them launch, grow or sustain their businesses. We also have leveraged our network to provide coaching opportunities to business owners requesting assistance.  

Our mission and work are a direct investment in making certain Black-owned businesses, especially those started by women, receive the information, resources, and opportunities needed to sustain success now, in the future and for generations to come.

The coronavirus pandemic exposed serval inequities in America, one being that of Black-owned businesses and their ability to survive through the loss of business hours and operations, the need for advanced technology and staffing shortages.  Since 2020, there has been an outcry of support from organizations and corporations acknowledging the lack of diverse vendors in their retail stores and on shelves, lack of inclusion in participating in industry marketing, events and conferences and inequitable practices in funding, marketing and distribution. 

As a result, organizations and corporations in the retail such have implemented change by creating programs that focus on Black-owned businesses specifically by ensuring diverse and inclusive business practices that allow for exposure and promotion as well as fund grant and other financial opportunities to address their barriers to businesses’ success. However, the specialty food and drink industry has not been as fast to respond as well as implement, one reason is that they don’t understand the value and needs of Black-owned businesses enough to incorporate diverse cultural experiences that enhance the marketplaces, not take away. Another reason is that they have not adopted a change in practice due to now having the expertise.

Our theory of change is to work directly with show organizers in tandem with our incubator program to expose them to the diverse businesses so that they can better understand who they are, what they have to offer and how they are very much a part of what is happening overall in the industry today.  As result, they’ll understand the importance of ensuring diverse businesses are included and know how to ensure their experiences are in alignment with that of their non-Black counterparts.

Finally, by empowering businesses to make strong business decisions and successfully strategize media and marketing opportunities will lead to successful and profitable businesses.  Many women will work with are learning as they go with no formal support. This program will change that and as a result, they will be able to teach and reach the next Black woman-owned business and it will continue to be passed down from there.

Our solution is currently not being formally implemented.

Our goal is to serve 5 businesses during year 1 and another 5 during year 2 directly through this solution. 

In addition, because our solution also includes creating resources that are accessible to all women in the specialty food and drink industry as well as a network, we will be able to indirectly serve more than 100 women yearly which still allows us to make an impact in their growth and sustainability.

The community we serve consists of professionals working in the food and drink industry as well as hospitality.  They are entrepreneurs, small business owners, chefs and restauranteurs working to create and sell their food products to a community of consumers.

Current stakeholders are consumers, trade show organizations, grocery stores and other specialty shops that aim to deliver the best food and drink products to their consumer base.

We work with the community to provide resources and information within our sphere of knowledge and influence and in addition, connect them to our stakeholders should the right opportunities present themselves.

In addition, we have and are currently having candid conversations with stakeholders who are looking to implement changes to be more diverse and inclusive so that they understand history, current day situations and how they can impact not just today but the future as well.

We have built trust by creating relationships that are authentic and supportive versus transactional which can be very common today.

Each community member has a story and that is where our work starts.  From there, it is engagement and support through our communications, emails and work that is visible to all.

We have chosen these methods because again, our work is not transactional.  It is about ultimately creating generational wealth in our communities and so that requires real relationships built on trust and support.

Our impact goals for the next year will be to formally work with Black women-owned businesses to provide a relevant, cultural and strategic program that will set them up for success for years to come and then repeat it for a second year. This will be achieved by not using partnering with the Truist Foundation but other partners working with us to achieve the same goals and outcomes.

From there, the goal is to scale and be able to replicate the program with even more women as it is expected that the specialty food and drink industry will only just continue to grow with the presence of Black-owned businesses becoming more visible. This goal will be achieved by gaining more support from partners and stakeholders all seeing the work that we plan to do, the need for it and most importantly the impact and difference it is making.

As part of the work we do, we publish Cuisine Noir, the country's first culinary lifestyle magazine to connect the African Diaspora through food, drink and travel.  Through our publication, we have interviewed and talked to hundreds of specialty food and drink business owners over the years.  We are currently the only Black organization and publication to operate in this space, making us the best candidate to advocate on behalf of Black entrepreneurs and businesses in this space.

In addition, our team leader has spoken about the need for diversity and inclusion in specialty food and drink at events, workshops and on partner social media accounts. She has also been a judge for specialty food and drink awards in the past. Therefore, with her leadership and experience, she is able to see the needs of this community of business owners to help guide ideas and input that can bring about change.

Lastly, under her leadership, she has been able to engage and build a team that is also passionate about doing work in this space.

We are applying for this opportunity because it is in alignment with the work we do as well as the values we hold as an organization.  With Black women being the fastest group of entrepreneurs, this also holds true in the specialty food and drink industry.  

There are several obstacles they face when starting, growing and maintaining their businesses and we have the knowledge and network to help them remove some if not all the barriers.

This award will be instrumental in helping us remove financial barriers of being able to work and support them on a different level of impact.  In addition, it will connect us to Truist Foundation experts who can help make sure our solution is qualitative and quantitative as well as impactful for the women we hope to serve by providing expertise and perspective.

In addition, through this partnership, we hope to learn how what technology products are available that we may not be aware of will be important to implementing this solution, especially for the purpose of collecting and measuring impact.

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We have identified the following partnership goals with the Truist Foundation:

1. Expertise of working with organizations of all kinds through their various Challenges.

2. Mentorship as we are a new nonprofit although we have been doing the work in the area of our solution for more than 10 years. We welcome a partnership that will help strengthen us as we continue to carry out our mission.

3. Financial support is very critical in being able to carry out our mission as well as opportunities such as this one in which we are applying for.

There are several trade shows that take place throughout the year.  These include:

• Summer and Winter Fancy Food Shows 
• Natural Products Expo East and West
• Sweets and Snacks Expo
• Western Foodservice & Hospitality Show
• Coffee Fest

We have attended all but Coffee Fest over the years and currently do work with the Specialty Food Association which produces the Fancy Food Shows.  We have been in discussion with them over the years about creating a space for more Black-owned businesses which they are open to so it is a matter of creating and implementing the right program with support to make this happen and look at how to sustain it over time so that the presence of Black-owned businesses at the show increase year by year.