Tampa named Volume Services Inc. on Wednesday as its choice to take over the roughly $20 million-a-year food and beverage operation at the Tampa Convention Center and The Sail, replacing longtime operator Aramark.
The city’s purchasing director recommended Volume Services as the exclusive operator for nearly everything guests eat or drink across the 600,000-square-foot convention center and its waterfront Sail Plaza, from catered banquets and concession stands to alcohol service, restaurants, bars and mobile food operations. Those venues serve more than 350,000 guests a year across roughly 300 event days, although the Sept. 30 recommendation is not yet a final award.
Tampa used $20 million in first-year revenue to evaluate the proposals and assumed sales would grow 5% annually, pushing the model to roughly $24.3 million by year five. That starting point is close to what the operation already produces. Aramark reported $17.6 million in food and beverage sales from May 2025 through April 2026, including $10.7 million from catering, and $21.5 million in total revenue after other income.
Those sales run through a convention center that entered 2026 with 101 events scheduled and 326,290 attendees projected, activity the city estimated would generate about $149.1 million in economic impact. Executive Director David Ingram has also said the venue generated about $17 million in direct tax revenue last year.
Volume Services would earn a fixed management fee plus a performance incentive, together capped at 6% of gross revenue, while sharing a percentage of food and beverage sales with Tampa. Another 5% of annual sales must go into city-owned reserves for equipment and marketing — at least $1 million a year if sales reach the city’s $20 million benchmark.
Competing bidders have five business days from the Sept. 30 posting to challenge the recommendation before Volume Services can clear the city’s final purchasing, funding, insurance and legal reviews.