Lightning Working With Local Businesses on Treats for Suites

Among the businessmen and financially blessed who watch Tampa Bay Lightning play from posh suites, a local business is putting its product into action.

, 1048 Bloomingdale Ave., Valrico, has partnered with the Tampa Bay Lightning and other Tampa Bay area sports franchises to offer a special line of treats for ticket holders in the executive suites of their stadiums. The partnership developed toward the end of last season hockey season and has bloomed into an enterprise of its own.

"We received such a great response toward the end of last season that the Lightning reached out to us for this season," said Anthony Caligiure, co-owner of Leena's. "We've become a vendor with the Buccaneers, and I recently met with the Devil Rays as well about the possibility of working with them. We've got some good things coming out of this work with the Lightning."

Creating hockey pucks, footballs, baseballs and a number of other chocolate sporting items, the chocolatiers have partnered with DaSilva's Coffee to create an irresistible combination of goods.

"Coffee and chocolate, they're two of the three most heavily traded items in the world," Caligiure said. 

Kevin Brownell, previous owner of DaSilva's Coffee House & Roastery in Lithia who now sells his product in partnership with Leena's, has worked on specially blended coffee for the Lightning called "Bolt" coffee. It's a blend of four different types of beans and has taken off with the Lightning's high end customers, Brownell said.

"Leena's and DaSilva's is a good partnership because we both serve a gourmet product that is based on being fresh," Brownell said. "We roast on a daily basis, so whatever we make is very fresh and high quality. What we've seen is that the suite tenants at games love it. When we approached the Lightning with it, they loved the coffee, and they want us to sell it at other events. Right now, we're just working out whether the Lightning want to distribute the coffee themselves on their website or if they want us to do it."

The two aren't stopping there, however. Caligiure and Brownell are now combining their efforts to form special hot chocolates that they have dubbed Fire and Ice. They plan on pitching the steamy drinks to the Lightning and hope to soon see them featured in the luxury suites as well.

"We're working together on different flavor profiles right now that would provide something interesting not just for the Lightning fans but for anyone," Brownell said. "It's a neat opportunity for us because they are really open to high end products to offer their customers, which is what we specialize in. When we're ready, we plan on presenting the idea for the hot chocolate to the organization."

The Greater Riverview Chamber of Commerce introduced the Lightning to Caligiure and Brownell and has been thrilled by the success the pair have enjoyed.

"It's exciting for the Chamber whenever we have some of our smaller local businesses team up with an organization the size of the Lightning to work together," Chamber Director Tanya Doran said. "This just shows how the creative thinking of a business like Leena's to find a way that they can offer something that the team would value so highly really pays off."