Hospitality Group Raises $1 Million for Food Insecurity in Miami

For years now, the Genuine Hospitality Group owned by James Beard Award-winning chef Michael Schwartz and chief executive officer Sunil Bhatt has been quietly working with the non-profit Rethink Food. This January, both parties celebrated a milestone as Genuine Hospitality has officially raised over one million dollars to fight hunger in Miami.

Rethink Food is a nonprofit organization based in NYC that partners with local restaurants to create a more sustainable and equitable food system. In Miami, Genuine Hospitality, known for some of the city's favorite spots, such as Michael’s Genuine and Amara at Paraiso, stepped up to help.

"This partnership came about in 2020," says Matt Jozwiak, founder and CEO of Rethink Food. "Sunil and I have a mutual friend in New York City, he saw we had raised a lot of money to give to small businesses and restaurants to make meals for communities. Sunil reached out saying 'I have to do something, and I have to do it now.' He knew Miami was really struggling during COVID, like every city in America so he really insisted on this program.'"

According to Feeding America in Miami-Dade County, 10.4 percent of the population experiences "food insecurity," while 72 percent of the food-insecure individuals fall below the threshold for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and other nutrition programs.

In 2021, Genuine Hospitality restaurants implemented an opt-out program where two percent of guests' checks would go toward Rethink Food. With great feedback and generosity from diners, the program raises money that is distributed among local restaurants and community organizations such as Cecibon, Pack Supermarket, and Le Jardin which provide community meals daily.

"We take the credit but in reality, they're doing all the work," says Chef Michael Schwartz. "As Sunil says, we just take the money and give it to Rethink. They're the ones who give it to the right people who do the right things for the community. To be honest I wasn't fully on board at first, it wasn't until I really understood the impact we could have, that I went to the partner restaurants in Little Haiti, heard the stories, and met the people. Then we were all in, but they really do all the work."
After raising over one million dollars, which translates to over 200,000 meals distributed in Miami, the next goal is to have more Miami restaurants join the cause.

"Now we want them to see what we're doing, see how easy it is, and see how impactful it is," says Schwartz. "Miami restaurants can follow suit, and it doesn't have to be the way we're doing. Rethink will work out a way that's comfortable for each restaurant and every little bit helps. Our work is focused in Little Haiti, but there are so many neighborhoods that other restaurants could have an impact with other restaurant partners."

While Jozwiak of Rethink Food never thought the partnership would grow this much, he is now excited about what that could mean for Miami communities.

"Genuine Group made a sizable and realistic dent in food insecurity in Miami," he tells New Times. "Now we're really excited to have all this attention from other restaurants that want to get involved. If we found about 25 to 35 restaurants of this size to do this, we could essentially create free meals at every single community center in the Miami area. So we're looking for those really strong partners, and we're encouraging more and more people to reach out."