Accor has pioneered sustainable development in the hotel industry, working for over 50 years to realize its vision of positive hospitality – one which respects the environment and local communities – especially through its dedicated Planet 21 program.
Accor works to positively impact all its stakeholders with sustainable concepts and programs to protect the environment, combined with strong initiatives. staff, guests, partners, and local communities. The Group is a leader in the Food & Beverage sector with a portfolio of more than 10,000 restaurants serving more than 200 million meals per year, so it pays special attention to this area, which forms an integral part of the guest experience. The emphasis is on healthy meals made from fresh, unprocessed produce, while supporting local producers and partners. Our catering operations represent a significant part of our environmental footprint. The Group’s ambition is to offer healthy and sustainable food, while eliminating food waste. By offering fresh, local, and healthy dishes produced in a more eco-friendly fashion, our restaurants stand out and also contribute to guest wellbeing.
The Covid crisis has underscored the fragility of the global food system, including the ways we produce, consume and waste food. Today the issue for everyone is identifying best practices to create a healthier world of catering that’s more respectful of resources. This year World Food Day (October 16) will also focus on ways to work for the future through better production systems and healthier and more environmentally friendly food. It’s an opportunity for Accor to share some of its key actions in this area.
Sourcing for healthy & local eating
Accor’s commitment to food is backed by 9 targets to be followed in all hotels. So, currently, almost 60% of hotels prioritize local and seasonal supplies by offering at least 10 regional dishes, with seasonal fruits or vegetables being three-quarters of the provision. 60% of them also offer 2 major organic or certified eco-farm products and over 40% prioritize sectors incorporating animal welfare criteria by providing exclusively free-range or cage-free eggs.
Provision of healthy, local & sustainable produce can also be achieved by our teams through the creation of vegetable gardens and urban farms. Worldwide, over 1,200 Accor sites have set up their own urban vegetable gardens, with the benefits enriching the whole guest experience. The vegetables, fruits, aromatic herbs and edible flowers that they produce are sometimes put on the restaurant menu, or used in bar cocktails or in aromatic oils and infusions in our spas.
Some of our brands are also known for their flagship Food & Beverage provision, such as Mercure, which strongly identifies with its locality and makes a point of serving its guests dishes made from local ingredients, and Mövenpick, a brand that’s been synonymous with Swiss culinary excellence for over 70 years. Because wellbeing is also about food, Food & Beverage is an essential part of our brands’ wellness programs and offers – the Fairmont Fit program, for example, focuses on organic local cuisine as well as fresh, plastic-free water in its hotels. In 2019, the Group also created a new brand: greet, a hospitality provision with a closer connection to people and the environment, and which gives new life to places and objects, for example with furniture and decorative items rescued from garage sales. The greet sites source local or low-food-mile produce to support the local economy and local involvement.
Combating food waste
Globally, regional and hotel teams are also launching their own operations, such as Accor Spain’s ‘The Second Life’ guide encouraging its hotels to avoid food waste through simple and creative recipes. Across the country, many properties have put them into practice, saving 2900 tons of food in 2019. In the Netherlands, the innovative Orbisk solution, (the startup that won the Accor Challenge at Viva Technology 2021), has been implemented in two hotels. This is a platform through which professional kitchens can reduce their waste by scanning it to get a clear picture of the amount and type of food being discarded. These two initiatives are helping to fight against food waste in Accor hotels, given that the Group has set a target of a 30% reduction by the end of 2021.
Our restaurants are true ambassadors of best practice in food and they also run their own initiatives.
