TAMPA, Fla. — Tampa coffee company Buddy Brew is jumping on the “pirate ship” and launching new pirate-themed items on their menu for Gasparilla.

The homegrown festival is also fueling Buddy Brew and other homegrown businesses during the festival season.

What You Need To Know

  • Buddy Brew Coffee launched a Gasparilla-themed menu of beverages to go along with their popular Gasparilla Roast coffee    

  • Gasparilla fuels small businesses in Tampa during festival season

  • Buddy Brew credits success to its mission "brew good, do good"

Gasparilla is the nation’s third largest parade, according to Visit Tampa Bay.

Gasparilla’s economic impact on local businesses is estimated to be tens of millions of dollars.

“It’s all about what the celebration means to Tampa,” said Buddy Brew co-founder Dave Ward. “I believe we are the third largest parade in the country now. It’s an amazing thing for business.”

The pirate invasion event at the end of January reportedly brings in more than $20 million.

Ward said his stores see the boost in sales, especially at their location closest to the parade route in Hyde Park.

“We will do almost a whole day’s worth of business in the morning on Gasparilla Saturday morning,” he said. “It’s one of the most cherished times of the year for us.”

Buddy Brew is feeling good about business overall.

Since opening their first store 14 years ago, they have added seven more and employ over 130 people. They also sell their own coffee to thousands of other stores nationwide.

Within marching distance of the original Tampa store on Kennedy Boulevard is where you find their roasting facility.

That is where the company mission partly happens, which they call “brew good, do good.”

“Brew good is all about the coffee and all the important details to make an exquisite cup of coffee,” Ward explained. “But do good is about our passion.”

That passion Ward said starts by sourcing the beans from small-lot farmers and women owned co-ops.

Then roasting the coffee in Tampa Bay and providing the community with an excellent product and business partner.

Ward said they have become a part of Tampa Bay’s story, just like the Gasparilla parade.

“The Gasparilla parade kind of kicks it all off,” he said. “When you couple that with the kids’ parade, the adult parade all the way through the music festival, it’s really just a season of absolute fun.”

It is a season to make you feel good.

Up next comes the Gasparilla night parade, which fills the coffers for Ybor City businesses.

There is also the Gasparilla Music Festival.

The Gasparilla Festival of the Arts is also part of what Visit Tampa Bay calls Gasparilla Season.

A recent economic impact analysis found the arts show added nearly $8 million to Tampa’s local revenue.