MIAMI & DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits (“Southern Glazer’s”)—the world's pre-eminent distributor of beverage alcohol—today announced that it is celebrating its 18th consecutive year as the host of the star-studded, five-day destination event Food Network & Cooking Channel South Beach Wine & Food Festival (SOBEWFF®), held February 20 – 24, in support of the Chaplin School of Hospitality & Tourism Management at Florida International University (FIU). As the exclusive wine and spirits sponsor of SOBEWFF®, Southern Glazer’s works collaboratively with its world-class suppliers to secure more than 300 top wine and spirits brands for the Festival’s 100+ curated events, held throughout Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties. At this year’s Festival, trailblazing women in the food and beverage industry will be recognized, along with Southern Glazer’s local charitable partner, Women of Tomorrow (WOT), which provides mentoring and scholarships for at-risk high school girls in hundreds of local public schools.
“We’re excited to be honoring two pioneers in food and beverage at this year’s Tribute Dinner presented by Bank of America part of The NYT Cooking Dinner Series: Nancy Silverton and Rhonda Carano,” said Lee Brian Schrager, Senior Vice President of Communications and Corporate Social Responsibility for Southern Glazer’s, and Founder and Director of SOBEWFF®. “Nancy is a multi award-winning chef who has left an indelible mark on the hospitality industry, and Rhonda, as the CEO of Ferrari-Carano Vineyards and Winery, has demonstrated what it means to be a powerful, influential, and effective leader in this industry. We are also proud to recognize Women of Tomorrow and the amazing work they do…our partnership with them is all about introducing young women to the different kinds of job opportunities that are available to them in the world of hospitality, including everything Southern Glazer’s has to offer.”
Southern Glazer’s coordinates a classroom-based executive speaker series and organizes hospitality-centered field trips to provide young women in the WOT program exposure to future career opportunities in the hospitality industry. Southern Glazer’s has made a three-year commitment to run this program in 10 South Florida high schools annually.
To date, SOBEWFF® has raised more than $28 million for the Chaplin School of Hospitality & Tourism Management at FIU. Approximately 1,000 FIU students volunteer each year to help produce the festival, giving them a unique hands-on industry experience participating alongside event management professionals, world-renowned chefs, winemakers, spirits producers, and restauranteurs. Between SOBEWFF® and its sister, the Food Network & Cooking Channel New York City Wine & Food Festival, more than $40 million has been raised to benefit the respective charities of each festival.
“We take great pride in being an integral part of the Festival, which only continues to get bigger and better with each passing year,” said Wayne Chaplin, Chief Executive Officer for Southern Glazer’s. “The proceeds from this spectacular event enable us to continue investing in the hospitality leaders of the future and to further our ongoing commitment to education.”
SOBEWFF® was named among the top 100 events in the United States for 2018 by BizBash—North America’s number one source of ideas, news, and resources for event and meeting professionals—and ranked first in the Food, Beverage and Restaurant Industry Events category for the sixth year.
From wine and cheese happy hours, to cocktail showdowns and rosé pool parties, SOBEWFF® is complete with wine and cocktail-forward events for every palate. For tickets and a full list of events, visit sobewff.org, or call 877-762-3933 (phone sales open Monday – Friday, 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM ET). To check out all the very best cocktail concoctions and wine pairings featured at the Festival, be sure to follow Southern Glazer’s on Instagram at @sgwinespirits.
About Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits
Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits is the world’s pre-eminent distributor of beverage alcohol, and proud to be a multi-generational, family-owned company. The Company has operations in 44 U.S. states and the District of Columbia, Canada, and the Caribbean, and employs more than 20,000 team members. Southern Glazer’s urges all retail customers and adult consumers to market, sell, serve, and enjoy its products responsibly. For more information visit www.southernglazers.com. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram @sgwinespirits and on Facebook at Facebook.com/SouthernGlazers.
