SSA Group, a best-in-class provider of integrated guest services, has unveiled Café Seventy One at The Florida Aquarium, a project that went beyond simply refreshing the offer.
The aim was to demonstrate how sustainability and innovation in hospitality can promote a cultural institution’s mission, enhance the guest experience, and establish a model from which other attractions can learn.
Every year, The Florida Aquarium welcomes over one million visitors. Café Seventy One exemplifies how careful design, sustainable sourcing, and cutting-edge technology can bring a mission to life while minimising environmental impact.
An accessible and flexible space
When it comes to design and flow, a new modernised layout enhances speed and accessibility while enabling the venue to serve as a versatile event space. Implementing kiosks has smoothed the ordering process, mobile order pickup lockers decrease wait times, and an interactive drawing screen creates moments of delight.
The cafe is also a Certified Ocean Friendly Restaurant (Surfrider Foundation) and is recognised by Monterey Bay Seafood Watch.
“When we serve over a million guests through a space each year, we know every design decision has ripple effects," says Nick Rado, EVP of capital at SSA Group. "That’s why we approached this project as a strategic investment in how future generations will experience hospitality and conservation through immersive dining.”
Making smart choices
Operational choices that reduce the environmental impact include sustainably sourced seafood and service products, linen-free dining tables that reduce laundering, no single-use plastic bottles, reusable service ware, the OSCAR refuse-sorting tool to support waste diversion and guest education, and environmental Impact Sheets that ensure operations remain accountable.
These options make hospitality a daily part of the Aquarium’s mission while lowering the climate impact of dining.
Café Seventy One partners with a growing network dedicated to environmental and community values. This includes Sun Shrimp’s traceable Florida shrimp, Open Blue’s open-ocean farming, and breweries such as Tampa Bay Brewing and 3 Daughters Brewing, all of which emphasise environmental responsibility.
This local-first approach retains money within the community while highlighting sustainability as appealing and enjoyable for visitors.
Local sourcing
The Summer 2025 menu, curated by Chef Tim Molinari, features signature dishes like Short Rib Luxe, Ahi Nachos, Burrata and Grain Bowls, and Roasted Pumpkin Ricotta Pizzas, emphasising freshness, creativity, and inclusivity. Guests with dietary restrictions find vegetarian, vegan, dairy-free, and gluten-friendly options integrated into the menu, not as afterthoughts.
“At Café Seventy One, we aim to prove that sustainability and innovation are not extras; they are the ingredients for a better guest experience," says Matt Beaudin, corporate executive chef for innovation, SSA Group.
"When visitors taste something new here, they are also tasting the story of local farmers, ocean health, and community partnerships.”
Catering now emphasises local sourcing, from corporate receptions to weddings, featuring kegged wine to reduce bottle waste, linen-free tables, reusable menu tags, and beverage options that focus on aluminum, boxed, or glass packaging.
Partnerships with Feeding Tampa Bay, Metropolitan Ministries Homeless Shelter, and Pepin Academies expand this impact into the community by diverting over 28,000 servings of food from landfills, providing culinary training to students, and offering paid roles to local volunteers.
A real impact
Guests can observe the impact of these initiatives, such as 180,000 straws diverted annually from waterways and landfills, 928 full pans of food donated since 2022—enough for over 28,000 meals—and events hosting over 2,500 guests, demonstrating that scale and sustainability can go hand in hand.
For museums, zoos, aquariums, and science centres worldwide, the Café Seventy One model demonstrates how hospitality can enhance conservation and education efforts. Innovation in action can improve operational efficiency and guest experience, while sustainability can be integrated into every aspect, from sourcing to serviceware.
Café Seventy One illustrates how hospitality within cultural attractions tells a story, fosters community, and influences visitors' experiences of the mission. Every café, concession, and catering programme shares this potential. Café Seventy One is simply SSA's latest step, and the firm says it is looking forward to continued growth with partners across the industry.
SSA and the Florida Aquarium also recently co-hosted the official icebreaker for the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) Annual Conference. Together, the two organisations transformed the welcoming party into a zero-waste event to showcase sustainability in action.
As a result, 96% of the event's front of house waste was diverted from landfill, with the vast majority instead composted, recycled and donated.
