Hospitality group acquires part of Tampa bakery

Gulf Coast Sourdough is officially splitting its starter.

Bavaro Hospitality, the parent company of Bavaro's Pizza Napoletana & Pastaria, is acquiring the wholesale portion of the business.

Gulf Coast Sourdough consists of Gulf Coast Sandwich House — a storefront in the Seminole Heights neighborhood of Tampa — and a baking facility in Sulphur Springs it utilizes for its wholesale operation, where it makes bread and pizza dough for over 40 area restaurants, groceries and farmers' markets.

The sale of the baking facility and its assets is part of the Bavaro’s deal and will be rebranded Sunshine Sourdough by Bavaro’s. Financial terms of the deal weren't disclosed.

“As our wholesale business and our retail sandwich shop have grown, running both together has grown increasingly complex,” said Christina Cann, co-founder and CEO of Gulf Coast Sourdough. “The wholesale bakery and the sandwich shop have different needs and splitting them will allow for each to optimize what they do and grow even more.”

The restaurant and retail shop, Gulf Coast Sourdough Sandwich House, will remain independent and continue to operate out of its current location at 6703 N. Florida Ave. in Seminole Heights.

Christina Cann and Brett Wiewiora started Gulf Coast Sourdough in 2015 after moving to the Tampa Bay area from Pittsburgh and in 2019 opened their storefront in Seminole Heights. In 2020, they purchased the building in Sulphur Springs and converted it into a large-scale baking facility where thousands of loaves are baked each week. 

Bavaro’s Hospitality was founded by Dan Bavaro in 2009. Bavaro’s Pizza began in Tampa and now has five locations throughout Tampa Bay. The pizzeria focuses on neapolitan family recipes and cooking traditions.