Ready to change the world? Become part of the Collective Spirit

【 This post is sponsored by Altos Tequila. 】

Altos Tequila is inviting bartenders around the world to participate in the Tahona Society Collective Spirit – an ongoing project to improve the global bar and hospitality industry in terms of sustainability, social responsibility and staff welfare. If you’re passionate about all of the above and committed to rousing real change in the scene, this is your big opportunity – the winner will get to make their big idea come to life, with 50,000USD in project funding and full support from the Tahona familia. 

Tahona Collective Society has established five Collective Spirit categories for you to work within (though of course, some ideas will fall into more than one category, and that’s great too):

Improving the working life and health of employees in the hospitality industry.  

Improving lives in the community around your bar, helping those in need, encouraging local creativity, etc. 

Getting creative to reuse anything that would normally be thrown away or abandoned. 

Trying to reduce consumption of energy and precious resources, or cutting out practices which produce waste. 

Protecting animals and cultivating crops in a way that is a sustainable permaculture, for the benefit of your bar and the environment as a whole. 

These categories are flexible, so don’t let them limit your ideas – instead, they’re meant to guide you and spark creativity. Project pitches won’t necessarily be picked on the basis of fitting into one category or another; instead, they’ll be judged purely on individual merit. It’s about the change you want to see, and how you plan to execute it. 

Your pitch doesn’t need to be fully developed, but should clearly outline your concept and how you plan to make it happen. Entries can be in English, Chinese or Spanish. After reviewing submissions, judges will select a group of finalists to attend the grand final in Mexico this November, where the global judging panel will choose one winner.

As mentioned above, the winner will be awarded 50,000USD, to be used to carry out the proposed project. That person will also become a Tahona Society ambassador and have continuing access to Altos’ resources to develop the project, to train other bars to join, and of course, spread the word all over the globe. 

To submit your proposal and/or sign up for the workshops, send an email to Altos Brand Ambassador China Nacho del Toro and Thirsty Work Productions via email at 

[e-mail] and [e-mail]. You’ll receive a full guide to the competition, inclusive of instructions for submitting your application.

The deadline for submissions is October 26, 2018.

To kick off the competition, Tahona ambassadors will also host workshops in five cities across China, designed to help get your ideas flowing and show you what the Collective Spirit is all about. They’ll share some inspiration from current projects in the hospitality industry which are paving the way for sustainability, social responsibility and staff welfare, alongside a class on zero waste and reducing and reusing, plus some wellness activities. Here’s the schedule:

• September 27: Guangzhou 

• September 26: Shenzhen 

• September 29: Beijing 

• October 11: Nanjing 

• October 15-16: Shanghai

To apply for a spot at a workshop in your city, contact Nacho via the email above or add him on WeChat (ID del_toro2). You don’t need to submit any materials to attend – just get ready to be inspired. However, space is limited, with preference given to more established bartenders, so be sure to get in touch early. You can also watch the final Shanghai session on October 16 via livestream, hosted by Altos and Tahona Society co-founder Dré Masso.

Do note that workshop attendance is not required in order to have your project considered – Tahona Society welcomes all proposals from all bartenders who want to make a difference.

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