Marriott International has announced via its CANVAS program—a global concept lab for F&B ideas—a contest for bartenders and restaurateurs to enter for a chance to operate a pop-up bar.
The winner will receive up to $30,000 in seed money, guidance, and a pre-constructed, small-scale bar built inside a 20-by-8-foot shipping container in the Gaithersburg Marriott Washingtonian Center hotel in Maryland.
“Our newest outpost of CANVAS, Marriott International’s global F&B incubation lab, will go lakeside to Gaithersburg, and we can’t wait,” says Wolfgang Lindlbauer, Marriott’s global leader of F&B operations.
Marriott has assembled an experienced jury panel of local mixologists, business experts, and hotel operators to determine a winner based on the idea’s creativity, sustainability, and business acumen. It will also evaluate the concept based on popularity and ROI.
The CANVAS program was developed to attract, develop, and retain local talent in Marriott’s F&B operations.
The 284-room Gaithersburg Marriot Washingtonian Center is located near the RIO Washingtonian Center, which is 30 minutes from Washington, DC.
Applicants may submit their business plans at canvas-startup.com by noon on June 9, 2015.