FineFood Productions “The Best Virtual Restaurant,” “The Most Creative Pastry Chef” and “Small Food Business” GRANTS PROMOTION

FineFood Productions FOOD BUSINESS GRANTS promotion (referred to herein as the “Promotion”) is sponsored and operated by FineFood Productions (referred to herein as “Sponsor” or “FineFood”). The following are the Official Rules and Regulations (the “Rules”) for the Promotion. Adherence to these Rules is mandatory for any entry and participation in the Promotion to be considered valid.

(1) START AND CLOSING DATES. The Entry Period (the “Entry Period”) for the Promotion begins on November 1st, 2023, at 8:00 a.m., Eastern Daylight Time (“EDT”) and ends at 11:59 p.m. EDT on December 31, 2023. Three (3) businesses (one (1) in each category) will be selected on February 3, 2024, and the winners will be announced on February 4, 2024.

(2) HOW TO PARTICIPATE. No service or product purchase is necessary. Making a service or product purchase will not increase or otherwise impact your chances of selection as the Promotion winner. Any interested participant can submit the application through the linked web pages by completing and submitting an online application. Any entrant that simply visits the FOOD BUSINESS GRANTS linked web pages may enter. Entrants must complete the mandatory submission form on the FineFood Productions FOOD BUSINESS GRANTS web page and provide the following:

a) Business Owner(s) Full Name

b) Email contact

c) Business Name and Address of Business Operation

e) Your Business Instagram link (mandatory)

f) 300 Words or less about your business (a short story about it and what makes it special)

g) A short video to post on Instagram about your business (no longer than 60 seconds). The following has to be included in the video: - you have to be present in the video - your work process - your products - your location

h) A separate file with your logo

Applications must be submitted no later than 11:59:59 PM EDT on December 31, 2023. No responsibility or liability is assumed for lost, late, incomplete, stolen, misaddressed, misdirected, or for any computer, telephone, cable, network, satellite, electronic or hardware or software malfunctions, failures, connections, traffic congestion, labour unrest, or unauthorized human intervention, or the incorrect or inaccurate capture of entry or other information, or the failure to capture any such information.

No other form of participation is accepted.

By submitting your application, you provide express consent and agree to FineFood Productions keeping you informed by commercial electronic messaging with business news, advice and exclusive offers tailored to your business from time to time. You can stop receiving these messages at any time by clicking ‘unsubscribe’ in any of our emails.

(3) ELIGIBILITY. To be eligible for this Promotion, you must be a budding entrepreneur and/or the owner of a for-profit food business (“participant”) or an employee of an eligible business with written permission from the owner, president or chief executive officer of the business, and fit the following criteria:

General Rules (apply to all):

  1. Be a revenue-generating Canadian business based in Ontario
  2. Willing to participate in a video interview and submit a video about your business
  3. Has an Instagram account
  4. Has its own business location (Health Inspected certified commercial kitchen) or works in a shared certified kitchen (no home-based businesses will be accepted)
  5. Has no more than 20 employees
  6. Has revenue of no more than $200 000 for the last fiscal year

“The Best Virtual Restaurant” category in addition to ‘General Rules’:

  1. The participating restaurant cannot have a physical dining-in area
  2. Customers can come in only to pick up or order at the location and pick up orders

“The Most Creative Pastry Chef” category in addition to ‘General Rules’:

  1. All pastries products have to be hand-crafted
  2. You have to have your signature pastry item

“Small Food Business” category in addition to ‘General Rules’:

  1. Doesn’t fall under ‘The Best Virtual Restaurant’ category
  2. Doesn’t fall under ‘The Most Creative Pastry Chef’ category

Please choose only one category as only one submission per business is allowed.

(4)RESTRICTIONS ON ELIGIBILITY AND ENTRY. THE PROMOTION IS VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW, RULE OR REGULATION and is open to residents of Ontario, Canada only. Only one entry per business. Please do not attempt to enter via multiple entrants or persons, as this may end up in disqualification from the Promotion. The entrant to the Promotion must be a resident of Canada who has reached the legal age of majority in their province/territory of residence at the time of entry. Employees, representatives, contractors or agents (and those with whom such persons are domiciled, whether related or not) of the Sponsor, its affiliates, advertising/promotion agencies and any other individual(s), entity or entities involved in the development, implementation, administration, judging or fulfillment of the Promotion are not eligible to participate in the Promotion.

(5)WINNER ANNOUNCEMENT AND PUBLICITY.

a)Each participant’s submitted short video (Reel) will be posted on the designated public Instagram account (@finefoodprod) and shared across other Instagram accounts belonging to FineFood Productions (@veronika.foodbusiness, @commercialKitchen.Mississauga).

b)All Instagram accounts belonging to FineFood are open and public, and anyone can participate in voting and see updates.

c)The three (3) winners (one (1) in each category) will be selected based on the highest engagement score (number of ‘Likes’ under the Reel dedicated to the participating business) and announced publicly.

d)No other Instagram promotions or ads will be accepted or run by FineFood for any participating business under any conditions.

e)All Reels for the participating business will be posted with similar hashtags.

f)It is up to the participating business to share the Reel about his/her business on his social media and invite his network to participate in voting (‘Liking’).

g)In case of multiple participants (at least two (2)) in the same category having the same engagement score (number of ‘Likes’ under the Reel) the time of voting will be extended for these accounts for another 24 hours.

h)In case there will be only one (1) business participating in any category, the minimum requirement for the ‘Likes’ to win the grant in this category for this account will be one hundred (100)

i)In case there won’t be any participants in any category, the grant for this category will be cancelled.

j)All Reels posted on the dedicated Instagram account submitted by the participants will be Archived on February 3, 2024, at 11:59 pm EDT to stop the voting process and count the score.

k)All Archived Reels will be unarchived on February 4, 2024, publicly available, and the winners will be announced publicly with notification to follow by email.

The winners will be asked to provide another video of themselves in the context of their business and approve a write-up about themselves to include in promotional materials on the FineFood website and social media used at FineFood’s sole discretion. The winners will receive a one-thousand-dollar ($1000) grant each in the form of a deposit cheque or Electronic Money Transfer directly to the account.

The winners must respond/reply within five (5) days of being contacted by FineFood, and review, sign and return any agreements required by FineFood including, waivers, releases, liability and indemnity agreements and intellectual property agreements. Failure to respond or cooperate will result in disqualification.

Failure to claim the grant money will result in disqualification, and FineFood reserves the right to award the grant to the entrant with the next highest score in accordance with the judging criteria described above.

(6)VERIFICATION. The Sponsor reserves the right, in its sole and absolute discretion, to require proof of identity and/or eligibility (in a form acceptable to the Sponsor – including, without limitation, government-issued photo identification, business records, or other acceptable alternative/s): (i) for the purposes of verifying a business’s eligibility to participate in this Promotion; and (ii) for any other reason the Sponsor deems necessary, in its sole and absolute discretion for the purposes of administering this Promotion. Failure to provide such proof to the complete satisfaction of the Sponsor within the timeline specified by the Sponsor may result in disqualification.

(7)ENTRY CONFIRMATION PROCESS. NO APPLICANT IS PART OF THE PROMOTION UNLESS AND UNTIL THE SPONSOR CONFIRMS THE APPLICANT AS AN ACCEPTABLE PROMOTION PARTICIPANT IN ACCORDANCE WITH THESE RULES. ALL DECISIONS ARE AT THE SOLE AND ABSOLUTE DISCRETION OF FineFood AND ARE FINAL AND BINDING. Entries which are incomplete, misspelt, inaudible, or incomprehensible are void and will not be considered for the Promotion. Any entries or winners shown to have provided inaccurate, false or misleading information or used or included intellectual property that the business entrant does not own will be disqualified, and their entry will not be considered. In the event that they have won the competition, the Sponsor will not pay the Prize money and/or may recall the Prize money, and an alternative winner may be selected. Any company which is disqualified will not be permitted to submit any further entries.

(8)INDEMNITY. By entering the Promotion, you hereby agree to indemnify FineFood and hold us harmless against any claims (however such claims may arise) for any use or display of any and all material submitted by you, including without limitation any such material published or referred to by us that infringes the intellectual property rights of any third parties.

(9)GENERAL CONDITIONS. This Promotion is subject to all applicable federal, provincial and municipal laws. The decisions of the Sponsor with respect to all aspects of this Promotion are final and binding on all participants without the right of appeal. Anyone deemed by the Sponsor to be in violation of the Sponsor’s interpretation of these rules for any reason is subject to disqualification in the sole and absolute discretion of the Sponsor at any time. The Sponsor reserves the right to cancel, withdraw, amend or suspend this Promotion (or to amend these Rules) in any way and for any reason whatsoever. Any attempt to undermine the legitimate operation of this Promotion in any way (as determined by the Sponsor in its sole and absolute discretion) may be a violation of criminal and civil laws, and should such an attempt be made, the Sponsor reserves the right to seek remedies and damages to the fullest extent permitted by law. By entering this Promotion, each entrant expressly consents to the Sponsor, its agents and/or representatives, storing, sharing and using the personal information submitted for the purpose of administering the Promotion.

BY ENTERING THE PROMOTION, YOU GIVE FineFood AN IRREVOCABLE AND PERPETUAL LICENSE TO USE ANY MATERIALS REFERRED TO IN THESE TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR MARKETING PURPOSES AND ON ALL FineFood ONLINE PROPERTIES WITHOUT PAYMENT OR COMPENSATION. FineFood will own all copyrights in the entry.

This section does not limit any other consent(s) that an individual may provide the Sponsor or others in relation to the collection, use and/or disclosure of their personal information.

In the event of any discrepancy or inconsistency between the terms and conditions of these Rules and disclosures or other statements contained in any Promotion-related materials, including, but not limited to, point of sale, television, print or online advertising and/or any instructions or interpretations of these Rules given by any representative of the Sponsor, the terms and conditions of these Rules shall prevail, govern and control to the fullest extent permitted by law.

The invalidity or unenforceability of any provision of these Rules shall not affect the validity or enforceability of any other provision. In the event that any provision is determined to be invalid or otherwise unenforceable or illegal, these Rules shall otherwise remain in effect and shall be construed in accordance with the terms as if the invalid or illegal provision were not contained herein.

To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, all issues and questions concerning the construction, validity, interpretation and enforceability of these Rules or the rights and obligations of participants, Sponsor in connection with the Promotion will be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the Province of Ontario and the federal laws of Canada applicable therein, without giving effect to any choice of law or conflict of law rules or provisions that would cause the application of any other jurisdiction’s laws. The parties hereby consent to the exclusive jurisdiction and venue of the courts located in Ontario in any action to enforce (or otherwise relating to) these Rules or relating to this Promotion.