Eva Longoria, Texas company launch initiative awarding up to $75,000 to Latino food businesses in U.S.

Latino entrepreneurs who own food and beverage businesses can apply from anywhere in the United States for a prize of up to $75,000 to advance their ventures, Texas-based Siete Foods and Hollywood Latina star Eva Longoria announced this week.

The South Texas-born, family-owned food company said it has committed $2 million to Latino-owned businesses to be awarded over a five-year period to help Latino-owned businesses thrive in the food industry.

As part of its annual Juntos Fund, Siete Foods will award a total of $300,000 in 2024.

One recipient will be awarded $75,000; another will get $50,000; and a third one will receive $25,000. The remaining $150,000 will be distributed among other ventures with no prize being smaller than $10,000.

Applications, which are open to the first 400 eligible participants or until July 1, require a brief statement explaining why they need the grant and how it will impact their business, as well as a spending plan for all available fund amounts ($10,000, $25,000, $50,000, and $75,000). Applications can be written in English or Spanish.

Eligible businesses must be at least 50% owned by Latino entrepreneurs, be a food or non-alcoholic beverage business (not primarily serving alcohol), have been established and operating for at least 2 years, be based in the U.S., and have annual revenues of at least $50,000 and a maximum of $2,000,000 in 2023.

If selected as a Juntos Fund Semi-Finalist, the applicant will be required to provide documentation such as social security numbers to conduct background checks on all owners.

Applications must be submitted through an online application form along with any other required documentation. Siete Foods invited people with questions to contact them at hola@sietefoods.com.

Juntos Fund will also allow people to nominate their favorite Latino-owned business. It can be a restaurant, café or coffee shop, food truck, catering company, traveling cart or carrito, pop up or food stand, snack shop, bakery or panadería, or ice cream or dessert shop.

"As a Latino-founded business, we know firsthand the challenges entrepreneurs face and the importance of support. We believe in the value of 'Juntos Es Mejor' — together is better — and want to use our platform to help other business owners thrive," said Veronica Garza, Siete Co-Founder, President & Chief Innovation Officer in a release.

Hollywood star Eva Longoria grew up in Corpus Christi, Texas, not far from the Garza family in Laredo, Texas, and joined Siete Foods this year as an investor and strategic advisor.

The goal, as Longoria told Forbes, is "to build a billion-dollar food empire that celebrates our culture and that is made by Mexican-Americans with a desire to make Mexican-American foods more available."

"We're on a mission to create positive change in the communities that need it most. And like all things, we want to do this together," she says in a video promoting Juntos Fund released on Thursday.

While Latinos are the nation's fastest-growing consumers, contributing almost $3 trillion in purchasing power to the US economy, they still face disparities in business financing, an article by MYSA highlights.

Latino-owned businesses account for nearly half of net new small business growth over the decade 2007-2017, yet receive less than 1 percent of funding from today's top venture capital and private equity investors, according to a Bain & Company report.