FORT WORTH, TEXAS—With one high school already winning a Traulsen A-Series Roll-In unit, now is the time for K-12 schools nationwide to take the safe bet on food safety by dealing themselves in on Traulsen’s annual “Save Your Kitchen” giveaway. For the third year running, Traulsen is giving schools in the 50 U.S. states and Washington, D.C. the chance to “roll the dice” in a series of kitchen equipment giveaways. This year, schools can win one of four pieces of equipment from Traulsen’s school lunch line. And, for the first time, Hobart has joined, offering chances to win one of...

TORONTO—The Metro Toronto Convention Centre (MTCC) announced that it has contributed over 90,000kg of food to organizations in Toronto that support individuals struggling with hunger in its 2017/18 fiscal year. The MTCC’s successful food donation program partners with events and conferences to reduce food waste and ensure that extra food items are donated to organizations in Toronto that help fight hunger in the community. These organizations include Daily Bread Food Bank, Second Harvest, TDSB’s Student Nutrition Program and Margaret’s Housing and Community Support Services. The most substantial single-event food donation of the year resulted from the Loblaw Companies Limited conference in...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—New research on behalf of Champions 12.3 finds there is a compelling business case for hotels to reduce the amount of food they throw away. For every $1 hotels invested in programs to reduce kitchen food waste, on average they saved $7 in operating costs. In a first-of-its kind analysis for the industry, The Business Case for Reducing Food Loss and Waste: Hotels evaluated financial cost and benefit data for 42 sites—including Sofitel, MGM and more—across 15 countries, finding that nearly every site realized a positive return on its investment to reduce food waste. Within just one year, the...

ONTARIO, CANADA—As warmer weather returns in many parts of North America, one thing that restaurants, school cafeterias, and all commercial kitchens must be aware of is the return of insects. Many insects hide during the cold winter months, but warmer weather brings them out in force. “One of the big concerns with ‘creepy crawly’ pests in food service facilities is that they carry foodborne illness,” says Mike Watt, with Avmor, one of the oldest and largest cleaning chemical manufacturers in North America. “E. Coli, Salmonella, Staphylococcus, can all be spread by insects.” Watt suggests that an increased focus on floorcare is...

GLENVIEW, ILL.—Energy and resource efficient cooking equipment from some of the professional food world’s most trusted brands have, for the 11th consecutive year, earned ITW Food Equipment Group the nation’s highest award for energy efficiency. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) awarded ITW Food Equipment Group its Energy Star Partner of the Year—Sustained Excellence Award for 2018, the agency’s highest industry honor. By maintaining a focus on energy savings and efficiency in the manufacturing of food equipment from its family of premium brands—Hobart, Baxter, Traulsen, Vulcan, Wolf, Stero and Wittco to name a few—ITW Food Equipment Group has earned Partner...

ELKHART, IND.—Dometic will be exhibiting at Boutique Design West in Los Angeles, for the first time April 4 to 5 at booth #1232. Dometic is known for providing smart solutions, reliable products, and outstanding design and this is how they achieve that recognition: Smart Solutions Hotel guests want a place to keep their drinks cold, snacks fresh, and valuables untouched just as they are at home. Dometic offers a variety of minibars and safes that provide additional in-room comfort, convenience, and safety for hotel guests.  Reliable Products Dometic understands that guests are not always as gentle on products in hotels as they would...

The evening of April 19 is going to be an interesting time at the Orlando World Center Marriott. It is then when Eco Convergence Group will introduce its HyCube at the hotel. The HyCube, according to Eco Convergence Group, is “an innovative hydroponic system built in an illuminated, modern structure that’s as beautiful as it is functional. It could transform how produce is sourced by chefs and experienced by guests around the world.” In their invitation to me, they used phrases such as: “Closer Than Local. Cleaner Than Organic. Precisely Hydroponic.” I wrote about Eco Convergence Group in a blog...

STOCKHOLM—The Electrolux Group published its latest Sustainability Report, For the Better, with facts and figures showing progress and achievements in key areas during 2017: reduced carbon emissions, improved energy and water consumption within manufacturing and products as well as increased use of recycled plastics. The Group is also adding new long-term targets to reduce its carbon emissions within operations by 80 percent in 2025, supporting the Paris Climate Agreement. Read the report here. “Sustainable development is a key element of our business model and essential to realizing our company purpose that we launched in 2017, ‘Shape living for the better’,”...

It was almost five years ago that I first wrote about straw elimination and its importance. Then, awareness of the problems of plastic straws were brought to light by an 11-year-old named Milo Cress. He had the support of Xanterra Parks & Resorts at the time and inspired Xanterra to remove straws at many of its properties. I revisited the issue in an article this past week. Plastic straws have been in the news a lot lately and it was time again to encourage their elimination. Each day in the United States, an average of 500 million plastic straws are...

NATIONAL REPORT—Efforts to eliminate plastic straws are gaining momentum, not only at the individual property level but to some degree at the government level as well. Hilton Waikoloa Village recently announced that they have become the first resort on Hawaii Island to no longer offer plastic straws. In 2017, the resort used more than 800,000 straws while serving more than 1 million guests. As of January 31, 2018, the resort made the switch to FDA-approved, GMO and BPA-free, compostable paper straws across the 62-acre, 1,241-room property. “We had been aware of the effects of plastic straws and collectively working on...