It happened just before 5 p.m. Friday, March 3. Cabot Creamery Co-operative led a successful effort to reclaim the Guinness World Record title for the world’s largest smoothie during the second day of the 2017 Florida Strawberry Festival.
Partnered with the United Food Bank of Plant City, Feeding Tampa Bay and United Way Suncoast, the 1,000-gallon strawberry smoothie dwarfed the previous record of 824.7 gallons set by McGill University in Toronto, Canada, in 2015. Prior to McGill, Cabot had set a smoothie record in 2013 with a mixture weighing in at more than 400 gallons.
“Our farmers are happy to recapture the Guinness World Record title for the world’s largest smoothie to benefit United Food Bank of Plant City and Feeding Tampa Bay,” Roberta MacDonald, senior vice president of marketing for Cabot Creamery Co-operative, said in a statement. “The 1,100 farm families who own Cabot Creamery are dedicated to supporting communities where we sell our dairy products, and funding and undertaking this colossal effort to raise money for United Food Bank of Plant City and Feeding Tampa Bay is one of the many ways our farm families give back to those in need.”
Once the mammoth feat was officially recorded by Guinness World Records Adjudicator Jimmy Coggins, the team began to sell portions of the smoothie to festival goers. According to a Cabot news release, the record-breaking attempt allowed Cabot to raise about $10,000 in cash and products to benefit the United Food Bank of Plant City and Feeding Tampa Bay.
Cabot also donated more than 500 pounds of its cheeses to the food banks.
The effort was no small task, Kelly Littlefield, promotions and events manager for Cabot, said. She said contingency plans were put in place to make sure every scenario was covered.
Festival goers participated in the smoothie’s creation, as well. Two bicycle-powered Vitamix blenders were set up for volunteer riders, including Tampa Bay Ray’s mascot, Raymond, and the Tampa Bay Lightning’s mascot, Thunderbug. Four commercial and eight home-use Vitamix blenders were also used.
Leftovers not sold during the festival were packaged and donated to Feeding Tampa Bay, reminding its executive director, Thomas Mantz, of the responsibility to feed the needy.
“The enormity of this record reminds us of the enormity of the hunger issue in our community,” Mantz said in a statement. “With 700,000 of our neighbors not having stable access to food, the fresh and healthy ingredients used in this smoothie are perfectly aligned with Feeding Tampa Bay’s goal to deliver more fresh, nutritious foods to those in need every year.”
Contact Daniel Figueroa IV at dfigueroa@plantcityobserver.com.