Applications are now open to small business owners who qualify for one of American Express’ signature grant programmes in 2025: Backing International Small Restaurants and Backing Historic Small Restaurants.
Together, the “Backing Small” programme grants will provide US$3.95 million in funding and other resources to help small and independent restaurants around the world preserve their history and legacy while celebrating their cuisines and invigorating local economies.
“American Express is proud to back local champions who strengthen their communities, and that includes many small and independent restaurants,” said Madge Thomas, Head of Corporate Sustainability and President, American Express Foundation. “Food brings people together, and we aim to offer these restaurants the support they need for their spaces and operations so they can continue to grow and be pillars in their neighborhoods.”
This year, Backing International Small Restaurants is open for the first time to applicants in New Zealand. Eligible restaurants in Auckland are able to apply for one of five grants valued at $25,000 NZD each. The Restaurant Association is supportive of this programme, with CEO Marisa Bidois commenting: “We are pleased to see American Express extending its global support for small restaurants to New Zealand. This initiative acknowledges the critical role that our small hospitality businesses play in shaping our local culture and economy. The Restaurant Association is committed to championing initiatives that provide real, tangible benefits to our industry, and this is one of them.”
Grantees from past years say the funding helped them make much needed infrastructure changes. Sue and Dale Messina from Bojak Brewing, a 75-seater brewery in the Melbourne suburb of Dandenong were one of the 13 grant recipients in Australia in 2024. They used the grant to upgrade equipment and facilities in their business.
“The American Express grant was great because it helped us afford improvements that we couldn’t have made otherwise. We installed permanent gas heaters in the outdoor beer garden, making it a perfect year-round spot for families and beer lovers alike. The grant also enabled us to invest in new kitchen flooring and better equipment like a new density meter to provide more precise measurements and streamline the brewing process, as well as a carton box-taper to improve efficiency when packaging beer.”
Applications for the Backing International Small Restaurants programme are now open and close on July 1. Apply here.
American Express launched both Backing Small programmes when many restaurants closed their doors during the pandemic, evolving them over the years to support small restaurant owners in addressing their current needs. As the founder of Small Business Saturday in 2010, American Express has brought communities together by connecting small business owners with local customers when these businesses needed the foot traffic. Since 2020, our grants have supported nearly 5,000 small businesses across six countries and 50 U.S. states, Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico. Learn more about American Express’ community impact here.