Oatly’s Big Idea Grant for Coffee is back! Now in year two, the Big Idea Grant for Coffee continues its initiative to fund sustainability projects from small, US-based coffee companies. This go round promises to be bigger than ever, with the Swedish oat milk company promising up to $400k in potential total grant funding for the initiative. Applications open today, September 21st, through October 28th, with winners announced in December.
Oatly believes, per their website, that the small businesses that operate day-to-day in the coffee space have a unique perspective to solving problems, and they are uniquely positioned to be thought leaders in finding the solutions. By providing funds to “help pursue strategies, projects, and innovative ideas,” the idea is that these companies will then be able to share what they learned with other and help work toward a more sustainable future.
Last year’s winners include 1A Coffee (Wilmington, VT), 321 Coffee (Raleigh, NC), Academic Coffee (San Jose, CA), Three Keys Coffee (Houston, TX), Don Carvajal Cafe (Bronx, NY), Build Coffee (Chicago, IL), and Junior’s Roasted Coffee (Portland, OR). Ideas have included a free grocery delivery service for the community, footprint shrinking measures like going fully solar, as well as fair pay initiatives across the supply chain.
And as of today, Oatly is ready to fund even more initiatives. To apply, all you need to do is head over to Big Idea Grant for Coffee page on Oatly’s website and tell them about you big idea on sustainability. But there is going to be stiff competition for the grants; last year, over 200 ideas were submitted for the seven spots. To help get your ideation mojo flowing, Oatly is putting out a zine featuring all the 2021 grant winners along with their ideas as well as posting the information on the Oatly website. Submissions must be in by October 28th, so get to thinking! For more information, visit Oatly’s official website.
Zac Cadwalader is the managing editor at Sprudge Media Network and a staff writer based in Dallas. Read more Zac Cadwalader on Sprudge.
