Visa and Uber Eats announced Monday they were launching a new program to help small- and medium-sized businesses transition to greener and more sustainable packaging solutions.
The two companies said they would provide $1 million to qualifying restaurants in five cities worldwide for use in purchasing sustainable packaging solutions. Restaurants in New York, Los Angeles, London, Paris, and Madrid that use Uber Eats are eligible to apply for funding.
“Building on the success of our shared support for small and medium-sized businesses, I’m very happy to be turning our efforts with Visa towards how we can help restaurant owners reduce packaging waste and contribute to the fight against climate change,” says Pierre-Dmitri Gore-Coty, SVP and Global Head of Delivery for Uber. “Single-use packaging is used in nearly every takeout order worldwide—with Visa and our restaurant partners, we can work towards reducing waste and helping small businesses thrive.”
The new initiative, announced in Davos, Switzerland, comes as the companies highlight their shared 2022 Grants for Growth program supporting U.S. small business owners still recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic. As part of that program, businesses received $10,000 in microgrants to use for payroll, outstanding debt, technology infrastructure upgrades, and other immediate operational costs.
“With consumers continuing to express desires to live more sustainably, businesses across sectors have a notable opportunity to adopt more sustainable practices to meet this demand,” said Douglas Sabo, Chief Sustainability Officer, Visa Inc. “Visa is excited to expand on our partnership with Uber Eats to help small businesses to not be left out of the sustainable business transformations this moment requires.”
A 2022 U.S. National Restaurant Association study found that even though the transition to sustainable packaging is a priority for many restaurants, supply chain issues make the cost of transitions prohibitive. Uber Eats and Visa said they hope their new program will help small business owners take steps toward the sustainability transition.