Fresno Council taps Pardini’s for 3-year Convention Center catering contract

The Fresno City Council on Thursday approved the award of a catering contract to Pardini’s, Inc. at the Fresno Convention Center for three years.

City staff recommended a management fee option to structure the new contract, with a monthly management fee of $5,500 and 6.5% of gross sales.

The details of the contract will now be negotiated, with councilmembers indicating they would like to approve the final contract.

Pardini’s was one of two proposals considered for catering at the Convention Center. SMG Food and Beverage, LLC, doing business as Savor, offered an original cost proposal of $1.29 million. Members of the evaluation committee founds errors in SMG’s proposal and sensed “a possible disinterest or lack of commitment to securing the contract,” according to a staff report.

SMG Food and Beverage, LLC, is part of ASM Global, the venue management company that books events at the Convention Center. They also book events at the Save Mart Center at Fresno State, as well as hold the catering contract there.

Fresno City Councilmember Miguel Arias requested the item removed from the Council’s consent calendar, saying he was concerned that the Convention Center was losing events to other local event venues. He pointed out that private cultural events, for example Hmong funerals or Punjabi weddings, encounter a surcharge to book at the Convention Center if they use their own catering service.

City officials pointed out that it is ASM Global that charges the surcharge at the Convention Center for using a third-party caterer.

Before voting 5-0 to approve the contract negotiations, with Councilmember Garry Bredefeld abstaining, members of the council expressed dissatisfaction with ASM Global’s operations at the Convention Center, which typically requires a subsidy from the city of around half a million dollars annually.

Council President Annalisa Perea took care to note that ASM Global’s contract for the Convention Center is up in June 2025.