PUNTA MITA, MEXICO—Four Seasons Resort Punta Mita, a five-star luxury resort tucked into the lush landscape of the Riviera Nayarit, announced a culinary partnership with celebrated vegan chef and healthy living educator Leslie Durso to create new plant-based offerings at the resort’s three dining destinations—Aramara, Bahia by Richard Sandoval and Ketsi. Inspired by a commitment to fresh, local ingredients and a desire to cater to an array of healthy lifestyles, the resort is elevating its vegan dining with the addition of 25 new innovative, plant-based dishes designed by Durso, including appetizers, soups, salads, entrees and desserts. “Through our partnership with the talented Leslie Durso we...

ODESSA, FLA.—Hasek Communications, the Odessa, Fla.-based publisher of Green Lodging News, welcomes 3E Technologies, Inc. as a Green Product & Service Directory partner. 3E Technologies is a recognized management consulting firm specializing in laundries for hotels, resorts, cruise ships, hospitals, institutions and commercial facilities as well as in the specific development of energy conservation projects. Thirty-five years of professional laundry experience in management, operations and consulting has enabled 3E Technologies to build a reputation based on creativity, research, and objectivity. 3E Tech bases its service around its clients’ needs for professional expertise and unbiased advice. Call (828) 859-0464 or...

The restaurant business is a unique field. Almost every job that is done there is something we all do at home on a daily basis. For that reason, many people in the food service industry—even managers—mistakenly assume that there is no need for in-depth training for their personnel. Of course, nothing could be further from the truth. To begin with, there are regulatory reasons for getting personnel trained. One misstep in an area such as alcohol service could lead to massive fines and potentially the loss of the license to sell liquor. Given the profitability and drawing power of serving...

NATIONAL REPORT—Chefs become farmers, eggs are more edible than ever, the drinks of the ‘20s roar again, onions appear in jams and desserts, while the demand for sustainable fish is rising like the tide. It’s largely driven by Millennials with adventurous tastes, disposable income and a good bit of nostalgia for the foods they may have missed growing up. “Chefs from Benchmark Resorts & Hotels and the Gemstone Collection are not just tracking culinary trends; they are setting them with a commitment to sustainability, quality and creativity,” according to Todd Parmelee, Vice President Food & Beverage at BENCHMARK, a global hospitality company, which includes both...

BENTON HARBOR, MICH.—Whirlpool Corp. has been awarded a prestigious LEED Certification for two of its recent building projects, both located in Benton Harbor, Mich. Riverview Campus, the North American Region Headquarters, is now LEED Gold certified for Phase 3 of its development, and the Global Headquarters is LEED Silver certified for the South and East wings of the building. LEED, or Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design, is a globally-recognized symbol of excellence in green building. These are the 14th and 15th LEED-certified projects for Whirlpool since 2009, with all projects now totaling more than 9.4 million sq. ft. “Being...

CHESTNUT RIDGE, N.Y.—BioHiTech Global, Inc., a green technology company that develops and deploys innovative and disruptive waste management technologies, announced the launch of BHTG Smart Mode, a new technology for its Eco-Safe Digester and Revolution Series Digester lines of on-site food waste disposal equipment. Smart Mode leverages cloud computing, machine learning, and the on-board internet-connected computer in the digester to intelligently drive the equipment in order to optimize performance and reduce servicing downtime. “Smart Mode essentially makes our equipment much smarter,” said Bill Kratzer, Chief Technology Officer of BioHiTech Global. “By harnessing the computing power and data in our cloud,...

ODESSA, FLA.—Hasek Communications, the Odessa, Fla.-based publisher of Green Lodging News, has added SolaBev to its Green Product & Service Directory in the “Coffees/Teas/Single Serve” category. SolaBev enables you to offer your guests distinctive tasting cups of coffee, tea, and cocoa in private label capsules promoting the identity of your property and enhancing your brand. The SolaCap is the largest single serve capsule available and the patented capsule design delivers a terrific tasting cup of coffee in a recyclable plastic container for your guests. SolaBev capsules and Mini Brewers are only available to commercial customers, eliminating pilferage and reducing...

HONG KONG—Swire Hotels announce recent measures dedicated to developing sustainable and environmentally friendly hotels at EAST Hong Kong, Beijing and Miami. Swire Hotels is committed to making a positive impact on the environment through implementing new and innovative programs to strengthen the priority given to the sustainable operation of its hotels. These measures form part of the new sustainable development strategy launched by Swire Properties, Swire Hotels’ parent company. Swire Properties developed this new strategy with vision of becoming the leading sustainable development performer in its industry globally by 2030. Under this new strategy, Swire Properties identifies and manages the...

NATIONAL REPORT—The foodservice sector is putting sustainability on the menu, serving up innovative solutions to help cut waste, use resources more efficiently and change ingrained habits. For a sector that is often portrayed as wasteful it’s not an easy, nor a straightforward task yet as the stats show, change is very much needed. According to a study by the Food Waste Reduction Alliance, for example, almost 85 percent of unused food from U.S. restaurants is thrown away annually. In the United Kingdom, around 920,000 tons of food is wasted at outlets each year, the equivalent of 1.3 billion meals. And this comes with big consequences....

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The Alliance to Save Energy released the following statement from President Kateri Callahan regarding a House Appropriations bill report that was to be taken up yesterday that would slash the budget for the Energy Star program by approximately 40 percent: “We appreciate that the committee has rejected the administration’s proposal to eliminate Energy Star, but a 40 percent cut would be crippling as well. I have to wonder where this is coming from. Energy Star is one of the most popular government programs in U.S. history and has enjoyed broad bipartisan support since it was created under President George...