LA Food Fest

What LA Food Fest does

LA Food Fest is a privately held event production company that operated LA's original annual food and beverage tasting festival from its founding in February 2010 through its final edition on June 29, 2019. Originally launched as the LA Street Food Fest downtown before rebranding to LA Food Fest around 2015, the company built a single-day tasting experience held at venues including Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California, the Rose Bowl, and the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. The event featured 100+ local independent chefs and restaurants, multiple themed areas (Nuevo Gastropub, Tequila Tasting, Iced Coffee Lounge, Ice Cream Social, Wine Garden, VIP Lounge, and a National Geographic-branded Uncharted Lounge), live culinary stage demonstrations, and a curated blind-tasting vendor selection process with 50+ tasters.

The business monetized through three revenue streams: consumer ticket sales (general admission and VIP), vendor booth fees charged to participating restaurants and chefs, and corporate sponsorship packages ranging from $10,000 to $35,000 across Presenting, Supporting, Foodie, and Good Neighbor tiers, plus custom activations. The 10th anniversary event expected 5,000 attendees and the company had cultivated a community of 98,000 Instagram followers, 68,000 Facebook fans, and 65,000 email subscribers, yielding approximately 1.8 million in net media reach. Distribution was limited to the Los Angeles metropolitan area, and the company operated with 1-10 employees and no disclosed outside funding.

The company has been in operational hiatus since the conclusion of its June 2019 event, which was promoted as the final LA Food Fest. Founder Sonja Rasula remains associated with the brand but no successor events, relaunches, or successor entities are documented in available sources. No venture capital, private equity, or strategic acquirer involvement is recorded.

Name

LA Food Fest

Website

https://lafoodfest.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2010

Operating status

Closed

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

LA Food Fest operated LA's original annual food and beverage tasting festival from 2010 to 2019, serving 5,000 attendees per event with 100+ local chefs, restaurants, and corporate sponsors at venues in the Los Angeles metropolitan area.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Food & Beverage Event / Food Festival

NAICS

Special Food Services (7223)

SIC

Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900)

akta.pro primary industry

Food Festivals & Culinary Events (Ticketed Tastings, Pop-ups) (THAJAGAL)

akta.pro secondary industry

Food, Wine & Beverage Festivals/Expos (MPAGAFAE)

Keywords

• Food tasting event
• Culinary festival
• Vendor marketplace
• Corporate sponsorships
• Event management

Headquarters

HQ city

Arcadia

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Marketing or Sales, Personnel, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Ticket Sales: Direct ticket sales to attendees for event entry, with VIP and general admission options.
2. Vendor Booth Fees: Fees charged to food vendors, restaurants, and artisans for booth space at the event.
3. Sponsorship Packages: Multiple sponsorship tiers ranging from $10K to $35K including Presenting Sponsor ($35K), Supporting Sponsor ($20K), Foodie Sponsor ($15K), and Good Neighbor ($10K), plus custom and additional sponsorship opportunities.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

LA Food Fest operates an annual in-person food and beverage tasting event at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California, bringing together 100+ local chefs, restaurants, and food vendors for attendees. The company curates vendor participation through an open-call blind-tasting selection process and generates revenue via direct ticket sales, vendor booth fees, and tiered corporate sponsorship packages.

Product overview

LA Food Fest is a single annual tasting event (not a platform or multi-product suite) that serves as LA's original food festival experience. The core product is the LA Food Fest annual tasting event, which operates as a vendor marketplace connecting independent chefs and restaurants with attendees. The event features multiple themed areas including the Nuevo Gastropub, Tequila Tasting, Iced Coffee Lounge, Ice Cream Social, Wine Garden, VIP Lounge, and Nat Geo Uncharted Lounge. Related services include sponsorship packages, press credentials, and vendor applications. The company also operated a Sunday Funday spin-off series. Founded in February 2010 as the LA Street Food Fest downtown, the 2019 event marked the 10th and final annual festival.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• LA Food Fest Annual Tasting Event An annual in-person food and beverage tasting event held at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California, featuring 100+ local chefs, restaurants, and food vendors alongside themed tasting areas, live on-stage cooking demonstrations, and VIP experiences for food enthusiasts in the Los Angeles area.
• Sponsorship Packages Tiered corporate sponsorship offerings for food, beverage, and consumer brands seeking brand activation at the annual tasting event. Tiers include Presenting/Title Sponsor ($35K), Supporting Sponsor ($20K), Foodie Sponsor ($15K), Good Neighbor ($10K), plus named sponsorships of the VIP Lounge ($15K), Live Culinary Stage ($5K), and additional custom opportunities.
• Vendor Application Program Application and selection process for independent chefs, restaurants, and caterers to participate as paid vendors at the LA Food Fest tasting event.
• Press Credentials Program Credentialing process for journalists, bloggers, and press to cover the LA Food Fest annual tasting event.
• Sunday Funday Series Free community event series featuring local food vendors and artisanal experiences, a spin-off from the main LA Food Fest annual tasting event.

Quantifiable outcome

• 25,000+ attendees at inaugural event in 2010
• +2 more outcomes

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Food ForwardcoreOthersOfficial charity partner of LA Food Fest. Food Forward is a food recovery organization that rescues surplus produce from farmers markets and distributes to those in need.

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves1 record

Others

• Eventbrite: Ticketing and event-management platform used by food festivals and tastings for ticket sales and vendor registration; relevant infrastructure peer rather than direct event competitor.

Direct peers

• Feast Portland: Annual Oregon food and beverage festival with chef-driven tastings, demos, and industry programming; same event-driven model with tiered tickets and sponsor activations.
• Cochon555: Touring culinary tasting event series featuring heritage breed pork and chef competitions with sponsor activations; comparable niche tasting festival with ticketed admission and sponsor tier structure.
• Austin Food + Wine Festival: Annual tasting-focused culinary festival featuring local and visiting chefs, cooking demos, and VIP experiences; directly comparable event-driven GTM and tiered ticket/sponsorship revenue model.
• Food Network New York City Wine & Food Festival: Premier annual food and beverage tasting festival in NYC featuring 100+ chefs, sponsor activation, and ticket-based revenue; same event-driven GTM and sponsorship-tier model as LA Food Fest but at substantially larger scale.
• South Beach Wine & Food Festival: Large annual multi-day food and wine tasting event in Miami with chef showcases, sponsorship tiers, and ticketed tastings; same format and revenue mix as LA Food Fest with national brand sponsor support.
• Eat Drink SF: San Francisco's signature food and drink tasting festival featuring local restaurants, beverage brands, and chef demos; comparable city-based tasting event format with ticket and sponsorship revenue.
• Taste of the Nation (No Kid Hungry): National series of charity food tasting events featuring chef-driven tastings and brand sponsorships; comparable tasting-format festival with charity partnership element similar to LA Food Fest's Food Forward alliance.
• Vegas Uncork'd: Multi-day food and wine festival in Las Vegas featuring celebrity chefs, tasting events, and premium sponsor partnerships; directly comparable premium tasting festival format.

Regional players

• LA Times Food Bowl: Annual month-long LA culinary event series featuring tastings, chef collaborations, and sponsor-backed programming; direct regional competitor to LA Food Fest in the same LA market.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/LAFoodFest
• Instagraminstagram.com/lafoodfest
• Xx.com/LaFoodFest
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/la-food-fest

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about LA Food Fest