INWOOD, N.Y.—Laundrylux has launched its new website. The site has been redesigned with a fresh, clean look and user-friendly navigation. The site includes information on the new Electrolux Professional Line 5000 and Wascomat Generation 7 equipment lineup. It also includes details on PLUS—Professional Laundry Utility Service by Laundrylux. With PLUS, hotels, nursing homes and other On Premise Laundry customers can receive new Electrolux professional laundry equipment delivered and installed for free with zero capital investment and no long-term lease or contract. PLUS is a revolution in OPL which operates like Zipcar and other “only pay for what you use”...

ATLANTA—InterContinental Hotels & Resorts announced that it is the first hotel chain to have all of its IHG corporate-managed restaurants in the United States and Canada become Certified Green Restaurants.In September 2011, the InterContinental Boston hotel’s Miel Brasserie Provençale was the first of the hotel chain’s restaurants to receive the certification. Based on the hotel’s positive feedback about the certification process, the InterContinental brand made the decision to require all of its internally managed restaurants to meet the rigorous environmental certification standards of the Green Restaurant Association (GRA), and last week the hotel chain achieved this goal.InterContinental Hotels &...

SEATTLE—Reducing the amount of food waste that restaurateurs, retailers and manufacturers produce was the main topic of conversation at an August meeting of the Food Waste Reduction Alliance (FWRA) in Seattle.The meeting was conducted by the National Restaurant Assn., the Grocery Manufacturers Assn. and the Food Marketing Institute, the three charter members of the FWRA. The meeting, one of three during the year, focused on ways to reduce the amount of food waste that goes to landfills and increase the amount of food that is donated to food banks and other like-minded charitable organizations, said Laura Abshire, the NRA’s...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The National Restaurant Assn. (NRA) announced the members of the Conserve Sustainability Advisory Council as part of its plan to help restaurateurs better understand environmental awareness and become more resource-efficient through its Conserve program.  The advisory council is composed of 14 members of the foodservice and allied industry, all of whom are sustainability experts in their own right. As council members, they will be tasked with sharing their education, lessons learned and best practices applied at their own businesses. “We are pleased to announce this group of some of the most influential sustainability leaders in the foodservice industry today,”...

BOSTON—With the public comment period closing on August 23, only a few steps remain for the approval of the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection’s (MassDEP) proposed commercial food waste ban set to take effect by July 1, 2014. According to Greg Cooper, division director of Business Compliance for MassDEP’s Bureau of Waste Prevention, an initial review of the public comments showed little opposition to the ban. “My hope is that we can move the package fairly quickly and stay on track with our intended schedule of implementation,” Cooper says. The commercial food waste ban initially will impact hotels in...

ALEXANDRIA, VA.—ASTM International, a leader in the development and delivery of international voluntary consensus standards, has published the TRSA-initiated Standard Practice for Sustainable Laundry Best Management Practices, recognizing key criteria for TRSA’s Clean Green certification as universal indicators of maximum sustainability in commercial laundry work.The new ASTM standard codifies the best management practices in the TRSA Clean Green standard as the structural, nonstructural and managerial techniques most effective and practical for a laundry to achieve green objectives (such as preventing or minimizing pollution) while making optimum use of natural resources.Vetted by ASTM for 19 months, the organization’s acceptance of...

ST. JOSEPH, MICH.—Maytag Commercial Laundry recently welcomed five new team members—Kevin Steinbraker, senior marketing manager and product business team leader; Chris Brick, regional sales manager; Ben Hopkins, product development manager; Bryan Rausch, regional sales manager; and Brian Nilsson, field service manager. “In an effort to best serve our customers, we’ve recently expanded the breadth and experience of our team,” said Bob English, general manager at Maytag Commercial Laundry. “With a combined 60 years of industry-related experience, our five new team members make us better poised to support our customers in all facets—new product development, service and selling.”  Kevin Steinbraker brings...

MINNEAPOLIS—Executive Chef Aaron Hagerdorn announces that Prairie Kitchen & Bar, which just celebrated its first anniversary at Hyatt Regency Minneapolis, now features an outdoor patio on Nicollet Mall, an expanded menu with summer specialties, and also utilizes three on-premise beehives for honey used in menu items and handcrafted cocktails.The 5,500-square-foot restaurant specializes in locally grown and seasonal items that evoke the Scandinavian and farming heritage of Minnesota. Chef Hagerdorn is a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America. “Our enhanced menu features items that reflect Minnesota’s unique heritage with a continued emphasis on fresh ingredients native to The Land...

BEACON FALLS, CONN.—Reflective of the company’s renewed dedication to its commercial laundry customers in the United States, Lavatec Laundry Technology (LLT) has designed and introduced a new website specifically created for this market.The site provides U.S. customers instant access to all essential LLT information. The drop-down menu includes several categories beginning with products, which offers the complete line of washers, dryers, extractors, centrifuges, conveyors, ironers and folders available in the United States. An opportunity also exists to download equipment or corporate brochures.Service, Customers and Partners categories provide information on parts, technical support, U.S.-based equipment case studies and dealer network...

MENOMONEE FALLS, WIS.—Expanding on its line of hot and cold food wells, Alto-Shaam has added the Drop-in Hot Wells with Large Flange (HWLF) to match the Cold Well flange profiles for countertop and décor consistency.The HWLF's are available in sizes ranging from a single full-size hotel pan up to five pans wide and accommodate 2" (51mm), 4" (102mm) or 6" (162mm) deep pans. Halo Heat wraps around the food well, radiating from the recessed surface, providing greater ambient surface temperature control. The adjustable thermostat provides hot holding temperature flexibility, and the hot well can be used with an existing...