SANTA CRUZ, CALIF.—Steeped Coffee, a Certified B Corporation, and a pioneer in the single serve compostable coffee industry, has teamed up with ADDICTIVE Coffee Roasters to serve the hospitality industry. With a process brewed like tea, Steeped is helping to make quality coffee from hundreds of top brands accessible and sustainable. Steeped Packs contain craft-roasted, freshly ground pre-portioned coffee that is triple nitro-sealed to guarantee each perfect, “Barista-Approved” cup. The company’s Guilt-Free Packing is commercially compostable, from the outer packaging to the inner Steeped Brew Bags. No pods or plugs required. “At Steeped, we are changing the way people view single-serve coffee, delivering all...

SAN FRANCISCO—Steeped Coffee, a Certified B Corp, is celebrating National Gourmet Coffee Day this January 18 with a non-traditional ask for gourmet coffee lovers—reduce your coffee waste. Steeped is leading a movement to reduce the world’s dependence on non-recyclable, single-serve coffee pods, and has pioneered a revolutionary single-serve brewing method that preserves the full flavor of gourmet coffee while being fully compostable and requiring no brewing machinery. More than 10 billion single-serve coffee pods end up in landfills each year. The number of pods consumed since 2009 could wrap around the planet more than 500 times. With a process brewed...

CHIANG RAI, THAILAND—The community-focused Visama Mae Chan luxury tented camp in the hill country of Chiang Rai, northern Thailand, opened December 1. The new project, with 10 luxuriously appointed tents, aims to deliver a holistic and immersive holiday experience combining cultural and nature activities, high end northern Thai culinary fare, much of it organic and sourced on an adjacent farm, and fully appointed luxury tents in four categories. Each accommodation category has a hill tribe name such as “Akha”, “Yao”, “Lahu”, and “Lisu”. The sumptuous tents, on raised platforms in a peaceful hill country setting, range in size from 48 to...

PALMA DE MALLORCA, SPAIN—Iberostar Group, a leader in responsible tourism, unveiled its new roadmap showcasing its commitment to circular economy principles at the 28th edition of the United Nations Conference (COP28) in Dubai, at the UNWTO event: Tourism United for Climate Action—Delivering on the Commitments of the Glasgow Declaration. Its latest report serves as a bold statement of intent, signaling a commitment to drive value and continuous improvement at its destinations. It also outlines Iberostar’s progress on decarbonization, waste management, and reduction of single-use plastics, including learnings from its first approaches. Innovation and collaboration stand as paramount pillars in shaping the value chain, with the report emphasizing their pivotal roles. The collaborative...

KANAI, MEXICO—The premiere of The Riviera Maya EDITION at Kanai introduces a completely new concept of laidback luxury to the Caribbean coastline, combining unparalleled dining and entertainment, services and amenities with the unique traditions and tastes of the famed locale. Created by Ian Schrager because of a partnership between Ian Schrager and Marriott International, the EDITION brand has become synonymous with individualized, customized, and one-of-a-kind hospitality experiences, and The Riviera Maya EDITION at Kanai is yet another example of Schrager’s visionary magic. Situated within a 620-acre nature reserve with two miles of pristine white-sand beachfront, the property rises from a...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—A new report highlights the urgent need for reusable beverage packaging as a solution to the global plastic crisis. The report, produced by ocean advocacy group Oceana, shows that just a 10-percentage point increase in reusable beverage packaging by 2030 could eliminate over 1 trillion single-use plastic bottles and cups and prevent up to 153 billion of these containers from entering our world’s oceans and waterways. Stacked on top of each other, the avoided 1 trillion bottles and cups could reach to the moon and back over 300 times. Global beverage leaders, including The Coca-Cola Company and PepsiCo, have enormous existing reusable...

STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN—Scandic has reached a sustainability milestone by recertifying all of its previously ecolabeled hotels according to the Nordic Swan Ecolabel’s new, tougher environmental requirements. More than 88 percent of Scandic’s hotels are ecolabeled and the company is continuing its efforts to ensure that all hotels are certified by the Nordic Swan Ecolabel. The Nordic Swan Ecolabel is the official environmental certification in the Nordic countries. It updates its requirements approximately every four years, and the most recent update in 2023 included higher environmental goals. To continue to be certified, Scandic’s ecolabeled hotels have now undergone a rigorous recertification process...

BETHESDA, MD.—Curator Hotel & Resort Collection, the premier collection of independent hotels and resorts, announced a new partnership with Good Pharma, a tea and coffee brand, enhancing the guest experience with a focus on wellness. This collaboration debuts with Good Pharma products now available at Viceroy DC and Hotel Zena, two renowned Curator member properties in the Washington DC area. Good Pharma, a woman-led venture founded by the creator of Mighty Leaf Tea, merges traditional remedies with modern science, offering potent, plant-based solutions that enhance energy, focus, digestion, and sleep. This partnership allows guests at selected properties to enjoy these innovative products in various...

PLYMOUTH, MINN.—A new study reveals that coffee capsules made with Ingeo PLA biopolymer from NatureWorks outperform aluminum, conventional plastics, and other compostable capsules when it comes to sustainability performance. The independent study conducted by Netherlands-based Wageningen Food & Biobased Research, a part of Wageningen University & Research (WUR), assessed the environmental impact and circularity of single-use coffee capsules made from compostable biobased materials, aluminum, and conventional plastics through multiple end-of-life scenarios including industrial composting, recycling, incineration, and landfill. The study also accounted for the fate of the spent coffee grounds within these capsules, finding that compostable capsules keep both the coffee grounds and capsule materials...

NORTHBROOK, ILL.—UMF|PerfectCLEAN introduces QUICKfoam>10, a game-changing product developed to transform the fight against biofilm in drains. QUICKfoam>10 is a 10-gallon, battery-powered foaming unit that generates high-density Klorese disinfectant foam to treat any size drain. Klorese is the only chemistry with a neutral pH that is EPA-registered to kill bacteria in biofilm and meets the legal requirements of EPA regulation 40 CFR 403 for sanitary sewer disposal, meaning it is safe to pour down the drain. Biofilm is a protective slime that makes pathogens highly resistant to disinfectants. QUICKfoam>10 foams away bacteria in biofilm safely, efficiently, and thoroughly. “The pathogens that cause preventable healthcare-associated infections (pHAIs), many...