Food Network South Beach Wine & Food Festival

What Food Network South Beach Wine & Food Festival does

The Food Network South Beach Wine & Food Festival (SOBEWFF) is an annual four-day culinary destination event held in Miami Beach, Florida, founded in 2002 and currently in its 25th anniversary year. The festival is co-branded with Food Network and operated as a partnership between SWS Holdings, Inc. (trademark holder) and Florida International University (host and beneficiary), with all fundraising directed to FIU's Chapman School of Hospitality Management. The event features 105+ individual experiences across four days, including signature sub-events such as Burger Bash, BubbleQ, Grand Tasting, Best of the Best, and Foodiecon, alongside an auction component and draws 500+ chefs, wine and spirits producers, and culinary personalities.

The festival's product surface is built around a curated catalog of live culinary experiences rather than a technology platform. Its core digital infrastructure consists of the corporate website (corporate.sobewff.org), used for ticketing, sponsorship sales, event information, and newsletter capture (the Juicy Tidbits list with 400,000+ subscribers). Sponsorship revenue is structured into named tiers — Premier, Official Bank & Credit Card, Official Airline, Official ETF, Official Luxury Vehicle, and Official Artwork — providing brands with categorized visibility. Five trademarks are registered: SOBEWFF, South Beach Wine & Food Festival, Burger Bash, BubbleQ, and SOBEFEST.

The business operates with a lean 7-person team and generates revenue through three streams: direct-to-consumer ticket sales for individual events, multi-tier corporate sponsorships, and an auction program. Cumulative funds raised for FIU have reached $46M since founding. The audience is split between individual food and wine enthusiasts attending events and corporate sponsors purchasing brand association. Marketing is conducted through the owned newsletter, social channels (@SOBEWFF), and the corporate website, with no disclosed reliance on paid acquisition or third-party distribution. The 2027 edition is scheduled for February 25-28, 2027, signaling continued annual operation without announced geographic or format expansion.

Name

Food Network South Beach Wine & Food Festival

Legal name

SWS Holdings, Inc.

Website

https://sobefest.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2002

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Food Network South Beach Wine & Food Festival (SOBEWFF) is an annual four-day culinary festival in Miami Beach, Florida, featuring 105+ events and 500+ chefs and producers. Operated by SWS Holdings, Inc., it benefits Florida International University and generates revenue through ticket sales, corporate sponsorships, and auctions.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Culinary Festival Events

NAICS

Food Services and Drinking Places (722)

SIC

Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900)

akta.pro primary industry

Food, Wine & Beverage Festivals/Expos (MPAGAFAE)

akta.pro secondary industries

Food, Beverage & Hospitality Trade Shows Organizers (THAHABAI), Gala Dinners & Fundraising Events (Nonprofit/CSR) (MPAGAHAE)

Keywords

• Culinary festival events
• Food and wine tastings
• Corporate event sponsorship
• Celebrity chef showcases
• Fundraising hospitality

Headquarters

HQ city

Miami Beach

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Marketing or Sales, Operations, Personnel, Others

Revenue model

1. Ticket Sales: Revenue generated from selling tickets to individual festival events including Grand Tasting, Burger Bash, BubbleQ, Best of the Best, and other culinary events across the four-day festival.
2. Sponsorship: Corporate sponsorships including Premier sponsors, Official Bank & Credit Card partners, Official Airline, Official ETF, Official Luxury Vehicle, and Official Artwork partners. Sponsors receive brand visibility and association with the festival.
3. Auction: The festival operates an auction component where items related to the event, culinary experiences, and related goods are sold to raise funds.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

The Food Network South Beach Wine & Food Festival (SOBEWFF) is an annual four-day destination culinary event held in Miami Beach, Florida. The festival features more than 105 individual events, including signature gatherings such as Burger Bash, Grand Tasting, Best of the Best, BubbleQ, and Foodiecon, with participation from over 500 renowned chefs, wine and spirits producers, and culinary personalities. It sells event tickets directly to consumers and corporate sponsorship packages to brands, while operating an auction component, with proceeds supporting Florida International University's Chapman School of Hospitality Management.

Product overview

SOBEWFF (South Beach Wine & Food Festival) is an annual four-day culinary festival hosted in Miami, Florida. The festival operates as a collection of individual event experiences rather than a unified technology product. Core offerings include the main SOBEWFF Festival event along with signature sub-events such as Burger Bash, Grand Tasting, Best of the Best, and Foodiecon. Additional offerings include an auction and corporate sponsorship packages. The festival has raised over $46M and features participation from 500+ culinary and wine experts across 105+ events.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Burger Bash: Popular signature event featuring gourmet burgers
• BubbleQ
• SOBEFEST
• Foodiecon

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Florida International UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe festival is hosted by and benefits Florida International University. FIU serves as the primary beneficiary of the festival's fundraising efforts, with $46M raised to date supporting the university's programs and initiatives.
• Food NetworkcoreGTM or Marketing PartnerFood Network is associated with the festival, providing brand recognition and media exposure. The festival is branded as the Food Network South Beach Wine & Food Festival, leveraging Food Network's audience and culinary credibility.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Broad incumbents

• Bon Appétit (events & experiences): Broad incumbent — culinary media brand producing ticketed culinary events, tastings, and chef experiences. Comparable culinary enthusiast audience and chef/sponsor activation model, but as part of a wider media/event portfolio rather than a single festival.
• Food & Wine (magazine / brand events): Broad incumbent — major culinary media brand that operates culinary events and co-produces/associates with major food & wine festivals including the Aspen Food & Wine Classic. Comparable in audience reach and sponsor value, but operates as a media portfolio rather than a single festival property.

Direct peers

• Pebble Beach Food & Wine: Direct peer — annual four-day luxury food and wine festival in Pebble Beach, CA. Directly comparable in event format (multi-day tastings, chef/wine talent), customer base (affluent enthusiasts), and sponsor-driven revenue model.
• Food Network New York City Wine & Food Festival: Direct peer — a sibling Food Network-branded culinary festival held annually in NYC. Operates the same business model (tickets, sponsorships, auction, charity beneficiary), serves the same Food & Wine Enthusiast segment, and competes for the same national culinary talent and sponsor budgets.
• Tales of the Cocktail: Direct peer — large annual spirits-focused festival and trade conference. Comparable multi-day destination event format, strong beverage-producer sponsorship model, and trade/consumer hybrid audience.
• Aspen Food & Wine Classic: Direct peer — premium multi-day food and wine destination festival in Aspen, CO. Comparable business model (ticketed tastings, demos, celebrity chefs), similar affluent culinary-enthusiast target market, and similar Food Network / Food & Wine media association.
• Charleston Wine + Food: Direct peer — multi-day culinary festival in Charleston, SC featuring chef-driven tastings and wine/spirits programming. Comparable event format, talent-driven model, and consumer/sponsor monetization approach.

Emerging players

• Cochon 555: Emerging player — touring culinary event series with chef competitions and tastings across multiple U.S. cities. Comparable event format and chef/sponsor activation model, but operates as a touring series rather than a single destination event.

Regional players

• Melbourne Food and Wine Festival: Regional peer — major international multi-week culinary festival. Comparable destination-event format with celebrity chef programming and wine/spirits tastings, but serves the Australian/APAC market rather than competing directly in the U.S.
• LA Food Bowl: Regional peer — large multi-week culinary festival in Los Angeles. Comparable festival-based business model with chef-driven programming, sponsorships, and tastings, but serves a different regional market.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/SOBEWFF
• Instagraminstagram.com/SOBEWFF
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/food-network-south-beach-wine-&-food-festival

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 Food Network South Beach Wine & Food Festival