Convention Center gets food contract
Orange County leaders decided Tuesday on a second helping of Centerplate, choosing the company for a another long-term contract as exclusive food-service provider at the Orange County Convention Center, a deal potentially worth $550 million.
Centerplate executives slapped one another on the back and embraced over the lucrative win.
“We’re really pleased to be a part of the convention center today and have this opportunity continue into the future,” Centerplate spokeswoman Diana Evans said after Orange County commissioners’ 5-1 vote for the company.
Commissioner Victoria Siplin cast the lone vote for a rival bid headed by Levy restaurants of Chicago.
Other commissioners admitted they, too, were tempted by the Levy proposal, which pledged to help Orange County become the nation’s top convention destination as it begins a $500-million expansion of the mammoth venue. “We really couldn’t lose either way,” said Commissioner Pete Clarke, a member of the procurement committee.
Commissioners praised both bidders, which produced 15-minute promotional videos touting their vision.
Levy, food providers at convention centers in Boston, Dallas and Los Angeles and 22 others, held the Orange County contract before Centerplate. Levy’s video presentation featured Andy Lansing, its president and chief executive officer, describing the day it lost the contract 10 years ago “as honestly one of the most painful in the history of our company.”
He said the loss motivated the company to come back better, stronger.
Commissioners said they chose to stick with Centerplate because the company has proven itself over 10 years.
Centerplate’s video included endorsements from Richard Maladecki, president and CEO of the Central Florida Hotel and Lodging Association for the past 20 years, and Belvin Perry, former chief judge in the Florida's 9th Judicial Circuit.
Commissioners noted food sales nearly doubled during Centerplate’s tenure.
Levy executives filed quietly out of commission chambers after the vote.
Weeks before the vote, Orlando attorney Hal Kantor, who represented the Levy venture, expressed “disappointment and utter shock” that Orange County allowed Centerplate to black out its bid details as trade-secret exemptions under Florida’s Sunshine Law.
He called the heavy redaction “a bad faith act” and hinted it could be part of a bid protest.
Kantor said he had not heard yet if his client intends to protest or appeal the commission’s decision.
Food sales at the convention center jumped to $51.5 million in fiscal year 2017-18 from $36.9 million the previous year.
Based on the 2017 sales figures, the lucrative contract could be worth more than $50 million in annual sales to the winner, which could mean $550 million in sales over the potential 11-year life of the job.
The county contract awarded Centerplate an initial four-year term with possible renewable terms of four years and three years, based on good performance.
Centerplate, acquired last year by French foodservice giant Sodexo, has worked 14 Super Bowls and 36 presidential inaugural balls and operates food concessions in ballparks in Miami, San Francisco and Seattle. It also holds the convention center contract in Las Vegas, Orange County’s main competitor when it comes to attracting conventions.
The food-service provider boasted of positive reviews from conventioneers, though Levy’s video included a testimonial from an Orange County conventioneer who complained of the food.
Centerplate has 167 fulltime employees at the convention center, including 42 managers and 125 hourly workers.