Australian cafés and restaurants receive more than $250,000 in grants

Thirteen cafés and small restaurants in Melbourne and Sydney have each won a $21,500 grant from American Express to support their business. 

It’s the third year the American Express Backing International Small Restaurants program has rolled out in Australia and the first time the program expanded to include Melbourne-based venues.

“Since its inception, the program has delivered almost $520,000 directly to small Australian dining venues, helping them to continue delivering meaningful contributions to their customers and community,” says Robert Tedesco, Vice President of Global Merchant Network Services for American Express Australia and New Zealand.

Run in partnership with the International Downtown Association (IDA) Foundation and supported by Mainstreet Australia, small restaurant and café owners were invited to apply for grants each valued at $21,500 to put towards expenses or improving their business.

Suresh Manickam, CEO of Restaurant & Catering Australia, says: “Small restaurant owners have been working harder than ever and these grants will help alleviate some of financial pressure they’re facing.”

He adds the American Express Backing International Small Restaurants program has contributed more than $500,000 to Australian venues since it began three years ago.

The owner of Rising Sun Workshop in Sydney – one of the winning businesses – says the grant came at the perfect time for their business.

“We created this space to give city people a place to work on their bikes and it has grown into something much bigger – a community where everyone feels welcome,” says Rising Sun Workshop Co-founder Heleana Genaus.

“The Backing International Small Restaurants grant from Amex is helping us to keep improving our operations by making some much-needed changes to the kitchen and storage areas, which we wouldn’t have been able to make without it.”

Meanwhile, winners Sue and Dale Messina from Bojak Brewing, a 75-seater brewery in Melbourne, are using their grant to upgrade equipment and facilities in their business.

“This American Express grant is great because it’s helping us afford improvements that we couldn’t otherwise,” they say.

The Messinas will install permanent gas heaters in the outdoor beer garden, new kitchen flooring, and equipment such as a new density meter to streamline the brewing process and a carton box-taper to improve efficiency when packaging beer.

Globally, the program has more than doubled the annual grant funding to USD$1 million (AUD $1,486,000), up from USD$435,000 (AUD $647,000) last year, and expanded its support to restaurants in nine cities around the world.

Learn more about the 2024 Backing International Small Restaurants grantees here.