2014 Food Network South Beach Wine & Food Festival Raises More Than $2 Million for FIU’s Chaplin School of Hospitality & Tourism Management
The 13th-annual Food Network South Beach Wine & Food Festival presented by FOOD & WINE, which took place Feb. 20-23, 2014, featured more than 250 of the industry’s leading winemakers, spirits producers, chefs and culinary personalities who entertained and educated approximately 60,000 passionate gourmands and aficionados during this star-studded, four-day destination event. This year's Festival raised more than $2 million for the Chaplin School of Hospitality & Tourism Management and Southern Wine & Spirits Beverage Management Center at Florida International University.
“This was a marquee year for the Festival, kicking off with the unveiling of the new Wine Spectator Restaurant Management Lab and Mel Dick Wine Tower at the School,” noted festival founder and director Lee Brian Schrager, who also serves as the vice president of corporate communications & national events for Southern Wine & Spirits of America, Inc. “The entire weekend was a celebration that resulted in both record ticket sales and more events taking place during the festival than ever before.”
All proceeds from the festival benefit the students of FIU’s Chaplin School of Hospitality & Tourism Management, who also assist festival organizers with sponsorship fulfillment, restaurant and exhibitor recruitment, logistics and inventory, as well as working alongside some of the world's greatest celebrity chefs and winemakers. In October 2013, BizBash named the festival the #1 Food & Restaurant Industry event in the United States. For more information about the festival, visit www.sobefest.comor call (877) 762-3933. For more information about Florida International University, visit www.fiu.edu; for the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, www.hospitality.fiu.edu; and for more information about Southern Wine & Spirits, www.southernwine.com.