Marriott aims to increase the use of locally procured food to 80% in support of Yorkshire farmers
London ““ 30 September 2013 ““ Marriott Hotels, the signature brand of Marriott International, today announces an innovative partnership with Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s River Cottage that celebrates and supports local and sustainable food. Hollins Hall, a Marriott Hotel & Country Club in West Yorkshire has been chosen as one of two UK Marriott Hotels to debut new seasonal menus. The specially created menu will launch on 14 October 2013 before being rolled out to cover more of Marriott Hotels’ 50 UK hotels.
Responding to national interest in the provenance of food, the new menu will showcase the very best local and seasonal produce in Yorkshire. Swillington Farm near Leeds will produce local rabbit for a celebrated recipe of braised rabbit tagliatelle. Other new suppliers working with Hollins Hall include Michael Lee Fine Cheese, M& J Seafood, Goosemoore and The Organic Pantry.
River Cottage has proved to be an invaluable partner for Marriott, facilitating the introduction of key Yorkshire local suppliers and sharing best practice on sustainable sourcing along with daily menu planning. The collaboration also supports Marriott Hotels’ new Travel Brilliantly campaign that aims to inspire innovation in travel through culinary, design, technology and more.
“Culinary enjoyment is a crucial element of any travel experience and the partnership with River Cottage will not only enhance the guest experience at Hollins Hall but hopefully encourage local people in the Yorkshire region to try our restaurant too,” said Osama Hirzalla, Vice President Brand Marketing & eCommerce for Marriott International in Europe.
In addition to Marriott’s Future Fish programme that aims to select and serve fish and shellfish from sustainable sources, the partnership will see changes in the following areas of Marriott’s food offering:
• Local sourcing ““ Increase the percentage of food sourced by each Hotel from within a 60 mile radius to 80%
• Menu change frequency ““ Increase the number of times the restaurant menu changes, from quarterly to daily
• Waste management ““ Further reduce food wastage from a current level of 5%
• Sustainability rating ““ Improve the Sustainable Restaurant Association rating in both hotels
• Organic meat ““ All meat used in the restaurants will be organic
• Free range chicken ““ All chicken used in the restaurants will be free range
The chefs at Hollins Hall, headed up by Executive Chef Gary Armitage, have undergone rigorous training at the River Cottage recently launched Chefs’ School. They have also obtained City & Guilds accredited certificates in a range of competencies, from procuring sustainable food through to butchery and nutrition.
Chris Griffin, Head of Education at River Cottage, says: “This is an exciting project for River Cottage because of the substantial changes we can help Marriott make in procuring and cooking food. The new menus embrace our SLOW philosophy ““ Seasonal, Local, Organic and Wild – and we are delighted that local food heritage is being celebrated at each hotel. This is the first phase of a project that we hope will grab the attention of the hospitality industry.”