The 50 Best for Recovery will focus on fund-raising, in unison with its partners, to provide tangible financial relief to the hospitality sector, as well as create and collate helpful resources and inspirational virtual events for restaurants and bars as they emerge from the pandemic.

The first element is the 50 Best Recovery Fund, launched with the generous backing of founding donors S.Pellegrino & Acqua Panna (for restaurants) and Perrier (for bars). The fund will be utilised to support a range of non-profit organisations across the globe working to aid the survival and eventual revival of the restaurant and bar sectors.

50 Best will action a series of fund-raising initiatives to encourage further contributions to the Recovery Fund from corporate donors and consumers looking to support the hospitality sector rebuilding process. This will include a 50 Best 'Bid for Recovery' Auction in June, offering food-and-drink lovers the opportunity to bid for out-of-this-world experiences from the restaurants and bars featured on recent 50 Best lists. Further details of how to participate will be released prior to each initiative.

50 Best also launches online 50 Best Recovery Hubs – gathering and generating content that will offer advice, information and inspiration for businesses. At the same time, 50 Best will continue to recognise the passion and skill of bars, restaurants, bartenders, chefs and their teams as they push towards reopening and revitalisation.

Over several days in September this year, 50 Best will host a virtual Recovery Summit for the gastronomic community, with a focus on exploring how the restaurant world can thrive once again. Comprising a range of events including masterclasses, case studies and forums, the Summit will share learnings, promote best practices and explore visions of a post-pandemic world.

The launch of 50 Best for Recovery follows the announcement in March that the event programme for The World's 50 Best Restaurants 2020 – originally due to take place in Antwerp, Flanders in June – has been postponed until 2021, circumstances permitting. The annual list of the world's finest dining destinations will not be released this year in any format. The precise format of The World's 50 Best Bars 2020 programme is under ongoing review and will be announced in the coming months.