Fourteen of Bermuda’s businesses will be serving crowds of thousands in the America’s Cup Village from next Friday, when the gates open to the sailing showpiece.

Ten food and beverage vendors and four workforce caterers were selected in a thorough RFP process which required caterers to provide details on their ability to produce quality food for large volumes of customers, the number of staff they would hire, details of their menus and other important criteria.

The 14 successful vendors, from 33 applications, are all local businesses. The one bar vendor is Docksider and the five primary food vendors are J&B’s Wood Fired Pizza, Bermuda Pie Company, Smokin’ Barrel, Rosa’s Cantina and Take Five Limited trading as Devil’s Isle Café. These restaurants will offer a selection of Bermudian fare.

Four unique food vendors will also offer snacks: Scoops n Cones Ice Cream Truck, Sweet Stixx, Savory Kernels and Ashley’s Lemonade.

J&B’s Wood Fired Pizza has a healthy pizza twist and offers sugar-free bases and ingredients.

The four local vendors who have created a workforce catering solution to share the load of up to 600 boxed lunches per day are Four Star Pizza, Pastel n Pastry, Confections Bermuda and Sprinkles.

Chris Garland, public food and beverage concessions manager at ACEA said in a statement: “We’ve deliberately hired locally for all catering services in the America’s Cup Village.

“We recognise that Bermuda’s unique cuisine is also a part of our culture and that it is an important part of showcasing our island home to the world. That is why we made sure to include Bermuda pies, Rosa’s famous award-winning fish sandwich, fish chowder, Ashley’s lemonade and unique local confectionery foods.

“We look forward to delivering high quality food and excellent service in a fast paced, always busy environment over a five-week period.

“The vendors who have taken on the task are aware that it’s not an easy task and they are up for the challenge and the reward that it brings.”