Tampa, FL (June 9, 2020) – Winners of a Hashtag Photo Contest who participated in a month-long dining promotion at select Tampa Bay restaurants were recently announced by the Florida Strawberry Growers Association to cap off this year’s Florida Strawberry Restaurant Month.
Nancy Klein of Tarpon Springs won the Grand Prize with Cherisse Ann of Tampa narrowly trailing with only two posts separating the top two finishers in the contest. Noble Crust’s St. Petersburg location claimed 1st Place among the restaurants for receiving the most posts with Oggi Italian following in second and Bulla Gastrobar finishing in third.
Dishes featured for a limited time that showcased flavorful, fresh Florida strawberries were promoted on Instagram by diners who visited the following restaurants from Feb. 15 – March 15: Bulla Gastrobar in Tampa, Johnson Barbecue in Plant City, Noble Crust in St. Petersburg (4th Street location) and Carrollwood and Oggi Italian and Oggi Pizzeria & Market in Tampa.
Chefs created dishes exclusively served at their respective restaurants to celebrate the recent harvest of bright red berries to treat guests to tasty new ways to enjoy this delicious fruit in salads, entrees, desserts and even a sweet tea.
“Working with the restaurants to bring fresh Florida strawberries to their guests by incorporating strawberries into delicious new dishes makes everyone who enjoys these creations a winner. But posting beautiful, and irresistible, images of these dishes helped to celebrate the participating chefs and restaurants and encouraged diners to discover new ways to enjoy Florida’s signature berries,” said Sue Harrell, director of marketing, Florida Strawberry Growers Association. FSGA represents owners of more than 11,000 acres of berries. For information about this industry, and the month-long promotion, go to: https://floridastrawberry.org.
Qualified restaurant guests (21 or older) were invited to participate in a social media selfie contest by taking photos of themselves posed with the dishes they ordered and posting the images on the Florida Strawberry Growers Association’s Instagram account, and on each restaurant’s individual Instagram account, tagging the images @Flastrawberries and using this hashtag: #2020FlaStrawberry.
The grand prize winner of the Hashtag Photo Contest will enjoy a VIP weekend for two at the TradeWinds Island Resort on St. Pete Beach as well as $300 worth of gift cards from the participating restaurants. The second place winner received restaurant gift cards totaling $200.