The annual World’s 50 Best Restaurants Awards will not be held this year.
Organiser William Reed confirmed the cancellation of the ceremony and associated events which were set to be held in Antwerp, Belgium, on 2 June.
“We make a pledge that even though there will be no celebration of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants this year, we will act to support and defend restaurants today and in the future,” said William Drew, director of content.
While the Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants list was unveiled in digital format, the World’s 50 Best will be rescheduled to 2021.
Essentially, there will be no list for 2020, with organisers instead redirecting their efforts to launch “meaningful initiatives that will bolster the restaurant sector”.
No word on what these measures will encompass, but Drew told Bloomberg it will involve bringing the global culinary community together on a digital platform to exchange ideas.
“We’ll be working to try and see what we can do, how we can connect people and how we can use our global audience to assist and put restaurants in a better place to recover,” said Drew.