NEW ALBANY, MISS.—Refrigerated Solutions Group announced that after a full review of its business opportunities, market conditions and other options, it reached the difficult but necessary decision to begin the process of permanently closing its manufacturing facility located in New Albany, Miss. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused sudden, dramatic, and unexpected conditions outside of the company’s control. The unprecedented and major economic downturn and the governmental-forced closures of many of RSG’s customers have contributed to these unforeseeable business conditions. As a result, product manufacturing will be consolidated to RSG’s Hudson, Wisconsin facility by October 31, 2020. The RSG warehouse...

ALEXANDRIA, VA.—State and local officials are TRSA’s initial targets in its latest campaign to control COVID-19’s spread by promoting responsible linen, uniform and facility services practices. Governors, mayors and city managers have been urged by TRSA to guide hoteliers to clean all textiles daily and handle their linen under OSHA universal precautions, among other tactics to ensure guest safety and confidence. These guidelines were sent to the National Association of Governors, U.S. Conference of Mayors and International City/County Management Assn. All are expected to play a role in writing safety guidance documents for the nation’s hotels. TRSA’s recommendations cover practices...

HILLSIDE, ILL.—The Aqualogic Ozone Faucet Line is the first conventional hot/cold faucet line that is also an ecologically safe way to clean food, and any other water-safe surface without any chemicals or chemical residue. Available as a standard single hole or pull out side spout, the faucets feature a small, thin ozone generator that uses regular house current to economically and naturally produce ozone water. The Aqueous Ozone produced is a powerful, clinically proven and extensively tested broad-spectrum microbiological agent which kills viruses, bacteria, mold, yeast and algae within seconds of contact. An Aqualogic Faucet is the easiest and most...

NEW YORK—American Express and Hilton recently partnered together to donate up to 1 million hotel room nights to medical professionals on the frontlines fighting COVID-19. Since April, hundreds of thousands of room nights have been booked. Now, the two companies are extending this important work through a $1 million contribution from American Express to José Andrés’ World Central Kitchen (WCK), to provide healthy, freshly prepared meals to the frontline healthcare professionals who are staying at participating Hilton properties in cities across the United States during the coronavirus pandemic. World Central Kitchen began this free meal program at select Hilton properties...

JERSEY CITY, N.J.—In about a year and a half, Pace Glass Inc. will open the world’s largest glass recycling facility in Andover, N.J. The 250,000 square foot plant will join the company’s Jersey City, N.J. facility and give the Northeast and beyond a means to recycle 800,000 tons of glass annually. George Valiotis, CEO of Pace Glass, says between 6 million and 7 million tons of glass were recycled in the United States last year. “Hotels have a unique opportunity to play an important part of this recycling infrastructure,” Valiotis says. “They have a lot of waste they could divert.” Less...

JACKSONVILLE, FLA.—When crisis hits, fast thinking and a people-first attitude makes all the difference in how a company responds. That’s why, as early as March 17, family-owned Bacardi shifted gears to help produce much-needed hand sanitizers in response to the COVID-19 crisis. What began at one Bacardi-owned site in Puerto Rico quickly expanded to eight sites and, now, 14 Bacardi sites across countries and company brands, including BACARDÍ rum in multiple sites, GREY GOOSE in France, BOMBAY SAPPHIRE in England, MARTINI in Italy, DEWAR’S in Scotland, LEBLON in Brazil, and others have joined efforts to help. Each location is giving back...

ST. PAUL, MINN.—EcoSure and Lobster Ink, Ecolab divisions focused on food safety and public health, are offering COVID-19 assessment and training programs to help food service and hospitality customers protect their employees and guests and restore safe and profitable operations. “Prevention is the best protection,” said Mandy Sedlak, EcoSure manager for Food Safety and Public Health. “By training frontline employees on COVID-19 prevention, providing coaching on best practices and enhancing standard operating procedures (SOPs), we will help arm food service teams with the right knowledge and tools to combat this pandemic.” In addition to Ecolab’s cleaning and disinfecting, hygiene and warewashing...

Malaysia’s Echo Resorts, the owning company for Gayana Marine Resort, Bunga Raya Island Resort and Borneo Eagle Resort, is keeping busy amidst the worldwide pandemic caused by the corona virus. While its hotel division is not operating due to global travel restrictions and the Movement Control Order imposed by the Malaysian government, it’s business as usual, if not more, for the other divisions. Organic Food Supply Its Borneo Eco Fish Farm by Bayu Aquaculture Sdn Bhd and Green-Os organic vegetable farm are seeing rising orders from consumers and restaurants since the pandemic began. Borneo Eco Fish Farm rears an assortment of...

CHICAGO—The National Restaurant Association’s ServSafe team has released guidance to help restaurants restart when the nation begins reopening its businesses. Download the Restaurant Reopening Guidance. ServSafe partnered with the Food and Drug Administration, public health officials, industry representatives, academia, the Conference for Food Protection, and Ecolab Inc., to create protocols for restaurants to reopen safely. Additionally, the document incorporates recommendations from FDA’s just-released Best Practices for Retail Food Stores, Restaurants, and Food Pick-Up/Delivery Services During the COVID-19 Pandemic. The guidance offers instruction on how to begin serving customers in partial and full-service capacities. The Association encourages combining the guidelines with existing corporate policies,...

CHARLOTTE, N.C.—The new SkyLine Combi Ovens and Blast Chillers by Electrolux Professional were recognized with the Best of Market Award for Energy Efficiency—in combination with the independent 4-Star ErgoCert certification.  Electrolux Professional SkyLine Ovens and Blast Chillers with the all-in-one solution for Cook&Chill are now part of “Best of Market.” This is the result of an extensive reader survey on the range of services as well as products and concepts offered by industrial partners in Germany. Based on practical experience, the panel voted for the SkyLine generation as the winner in the category of energy efficiency. Hagen Fietz, Head of Sales...