Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits will celebrate its 18th consecutive year as the host of the five-day event, Food Network & Cooking Channel South Beach Wine & Food Festival (SOBEWFF).
This year the festival takes place Feb. 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 suppliers to secure more than 300 wine and spirits brands for the festival’s 100+ curated events, held throughout Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties.
This year’s festival will recognize trailblazing women in the food and beverage industry, in partnership 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,” says 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,” Brian Schrager adds. “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.
