Virginia Beach Convention Center and Sodexo Live! Renew Long-Term Agreement

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (February 23, 2022) – Today, Sodexo Live!, the leading hospitality partner to the world’s most iconic venues, announced a multi-year renewal of its partnership with the Virginia Beach Convention Center. This agreement encompasses the culinary operation for all 500,000 square feet of meeting and event space at the venue, for groups as intimate as five people and as grand as 30,000.  

Under the esteemed local leadership of General Manager Beth Williamson and Executive Chef Desiree Neal, the Sodexo Live! culinary team is a vital part of the fabric of the Virginia Beach hospitality community, as it has been the partner of choice since the Virginia Beach Convention Center’s opening in 2005.  

In 2011, in fact, Chef Desiree won the National Tourism Week Hospitality Employee award and was named Executive Chef of the Convention Center in April 2017, after having risen the culinary ranks. The most memorable moment of her career so far was cooking for President Barack Obama at the 2013 Presidential Inauguration in Washington DC. One with close local ties to the community, Chef Desiree serves as the Guest Chef at Wave Church’s Thanksgiving Extravaganza yearly, where she prepares a holiday dish to serve to the guests when they pick up their Thanksgiving baskets. She also works with the Foodbank of Southeastern Hampton Roads to donate food.  

An Array of Authentic Virginia Concepts

While a few popular items stay on rotation year-round, the menus highlight regional specialties like crab cakes and Virginia ham.  

New proprietary portable cart concepts put forth by Sodexo Live! for the next era of the partnership include: 

• Back Bay Crab Co: Virginia Beach seafood specialties and signature sides
• The Southern Skillet: Fried chicken and catfish plates with southern comfort inspired sides
• Char: Daily selection of meat and seasonal southern side dishes 

A Garden Oasis for Fresh Produce

Sodexo Live! actively supports the Center’s award-winning sustainability efforts, which include an onsite garden that Chef Desiree started in 2008. It began as a small fresh herb garden and now features ten raised garden beds and one flower bed to attract bees and birds to pollinate the fruits and vegetables.  

Each year, a selection of different herbs, vegetables, and fruits are planted. The garden’s warmer months provide the culinary team with carrots, tomatoes, radishes, melons, squash, cucumbers, blueberries, broccoli, Brussels sprouts and a winter collection of leafy greens. The bountiful production is credited to careful tending and the strategic inclusion of marigolds to attract pollinators. Collected herbs are incorporated in sauces and frozen for extended use while surplus vegetables have been pickled for future recipes. Garden activities such as tours, harvesting, and cooking classes are available to add to event schedules or team-building itineraries on request. 

Investing in the Future

Through the newly cemented agreement, Sodexo Live!, which also services the neighboring Virginia Beach Sports Center, commits to providing significant capital contributions for enhanced guest services at the Virginia Beach Convention Center, including new POS/CC systems, action stations, presentation items and equipment upgrades. 

Bryan Miller, General Manager, Virginia Beach Convention Center, said, The VBCC has had a great partnership with Sodexo Live! for many years and are excited to continue this relationship. The Sodexo Live! team has many well-established relationships within the local community and are dedicated to the success of the VBCC. We’re eager to install some vital upgrades and implement new and innovative concepts over the course of this new contract.

Sal Ferrulo, Executive Vice President, Sodexo Live!, added, Virginia Beach is such a fast-growing destination, and we look forward to continuing help ensure the guest experience here is second-to-none. Our team here knows the city well and works closely with a building management team always willing to explore new solutions. We have enjoyed the last 17+ years, and the future is bright here!

About the Virginia Beach Convention Center

Just blocks from the beach and in the heart of Virginia Beach’s oceanfront resort area, the Virginia Beach Convention Center is over 500,000 square feet of stylish event space. With its beautifully finished 31,000 sq ft ballroom, flexible meeting space and 150,000 sq ft of column free exhibit hall the VBCC is able and ready to host groups from small to large. The VBCC is has also shown its commitment to being sustainable by being the Nation’s first convention center to earn Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)® Gold certification for Existing Buildings from the U.S. Green Building Council and holding that certification for the last 12 years. 

Media Contacts

Paul Pettas, PR & Communications Director