Once Again, SOBEWFF Delights its Guests

The South Beach Wine & Food Festival, more commonly known to its fans as the SOBEWFF, celebrated its 16th anniversary in Miami this past weekend. Even though the event just ended, we can still look to it to see this year's top trends and adapt them for our own events in the upcoming months. Here are some of the things that took the spotlight:

Tastings and Demonstrations

This year's tastings didn't stop with serving up food to curious attendees. The Grand Tastings were all accompanied by demonstrations by KitchenAid so people could see how to make the dishes at home. Of course, doing so would presumably involve buying some KitchenAid products. These were integral to the demonstrations, and many people who view such demos come to the feeling that they have to have the items shown within them. Needless to say, that's the plan.

Intimate Dinners Hosted by Well-Known People

While the big A-listers of Hollywood weren't hosting dinners, SOBEWFF did get some notable personalities to do the honors. Each dinner featured a different person or group who, for the most part, are known for their food or wine expertise. This type of dinner has been trending for a few years now, and many people are fans. Importantly, the term "intimate" doesn't refer to the sort of dinner that caters to lovebirds. Instead, it's a chance to talk to the hosts in a setting that is far more personable, or intimate, than the typical stage-to-audience speech setup.

Fitness Events

Companies have tried to make fitness into a trend for years, but it is now finally catching on. Two "Buddhas and Bellinis" events happened over the course of SOBEWFF and drew plenty of people to the yoga-themed mass classes. Other fitness-related events were geared toward families, and some included healthy cooking. It's clear that people are still interested in fitness and healthy food, and that the longstanding association between these things and deprivation dieting is continuing to fade.

Celebrity Chef Talks and Signings

A couple of decades ago, the very idea of a celebrity chef was all but unheard-of. Now, there are several making the rounds. People always love to get closer to celebrities, so it was a hit for SOBEWFF to bring in well-known chefs and home experts. The topics were highly varied, with one on the future of restaurant operations on all sizes and another that claimed that political discussion outright belongs at the dinner table.

While it's hard to match the scale of a festival like SOBEWFF, you can make your event a big hit by using it for inspiration. The other thing you need is a great venue. Try our flexible 70,000 square foot space here at Soho Studio for your own Miami extravaganza.

Unique Cocktail Branding Ideas For Your Next Happy Hour

Looking for some unique and share worthy marketing ideas for your bar, restaurant, or catering business? Want to go beyond the tired old branded coasters and cocktail napkins? Hospitality business owners are coming up with some creative and memorable ways to spice up their cocktails with these exciting branding ideas. Say It N-Icely

Nearly every cocktail has one thing in common, they all come with ice. Rather than let this blank canvas melt away unnoticed, your brand can be stamped into each cube. Press a brass stamp into the ice and your logo or message is instantly created without the need for molded ice trays. The branded ice looks best on large disks or cubes that float on top of the drink.

Make It A-Peeling

Ordering your drink with a twist just got a little more interesting with heated branding stamps. Logos and messages can be burned into orange, lemon, or lime peels and placed in the cocktail or on a garnish pick. The burned image will also give off a little extra scent of citrus, adding to the sensory sensation.

Burn It into Memory

One upscale cocktail lounge is taking coaster branding to a whole new level. Using thinly sliced rounds of pine, the bar burns their name into the coaster as part of a theatrical drink making process. The smoke from the freshly embossed pine is then used to smoke the inside of an overturned glass and filled with a signature cocktail. The coaster becomes a unique souvenir that will likely not get tossed away like so many inferior paper coasters.

Give a Token of Appreciation

Retro drink tokens are making a comeback in a big way. Once popular in casinos and corner bars, drink tokens can be turned in for one free drink. However, the most unique and creative tokens are often seen as collectibles and never exchanged for a drink. Tokens are usually made out of metal, plastic, or wooden disks. They are perfect for handing out at events or given to special guests by your bartenders and servers.

Add an Old Fashioned Twist

Of course, sometimes the old way of doing things is still the best way. Every drink needs a swizzle stick or garnish pick, so take advantage of this branding opportunity by creating custom designed drink stirrers. Incorporate your logo or brand message into uniquely shaped plastic stir sticks for social media shareworthy opportunities. You can also create custom designed garnish picks for branded cocktails and appetizers.

These are just a few interesting ways you can market your brand during any cocktail hour, party, or event here at Soho Studios. By giving each drink that extra wow factor, people will remember your message long after the ice melts.

Sources:

nytimes.com/2016/05/18/dining/bars-advertising-cocktails

cocktailbrandalism.com

brandingirons.com

royercorp.com/products/beverage-stirrers/

drinktokens.com

Miami Magic with SOBE

Miami is full of things to do in February 2016. The South Beach Food and Wine Festival welcomes Miami Magic With SOBE, a fun-filled event with food, wine, VIPs and celebrities all together in one venue for a huge party for the record books! This is a multiday event that flows throughout the festival taking place February 25-28, 2016. Sections decorated like famous restaurants and cooking shows are a highlight of this party, with hosts and hostesses dressed up like chefs. Free food, wine tastings and other goodies keep the party going all day and night from the festival to the party. Specially designed for those VIPs from sponsor organizations and VIP ticketholders, special cooking demonstrations and autograph signings will be available from the more than 350 chefs who will flow through the party.

Guests will enjoy a variety of musical performances, complete with prizes and souvenirs from chefs and sponsor organizations. Vendors and retailers will be able to showcase their culinary accessories and products, wine distributors and manufacturers will have a wine area where they will host short informational sessions on wines and how to select one, and snippets of the 75-plus events taking place during the festival will be highlighted.

Celebrating its 15th year, the festival is poised to top last year’s exciting opening of the Wine Spectator Restaurant Management Laboratory and Mel Dick Wine Tower at Florida International University. Hosting more than 60,000 guests every year, the excitement for this private event is quickly growing. With so many different culinary offerings, there is something to please any palate.

Previous sponsor organizations include The Food Network, Southern Wine & Spirits of Florida, Delta Airlines, Barilla, Loews Miami Beach, MasterCard, Fiji Water, Badia, Amstel Light, Bank of America, The Hard Rock Café and Miami-Dade County, along with hundreds of others.

MasterCard presale tickets for this event and the festival go on sale October 5, and general tickets go on sale October 19. Every year gets bigger and better, and this 15th anniversary is guaranteed to deliver! What a great way to bring in the spring and experience Miami Magic! Four days of food and four days of fun!

The Food Network & Cooking Channel South Beach Wine & Food Festival presented by FOOD & WINE is a national, four-day destination event showcasing talents from the world’s most renowned wine and spirits producers, chefs and culinary personalities. Hosted by Southern Wine & Spirits of Florida and Florida International University, the festival benefits FIU’s Chaplin School of Hospitality and Tourism Management and the Southern Wine & Spirits Beverage Management Center.