How Far Can 'Organic' Go?

F&B managers, chefs test the waters; find opportunities, limitations.

By Anne Spiselman -- Hotels, 5/1/2008

Local Hampshire cheese at the Four Seasons Hampshire, England

Heirloom tomato salad comes from Hilton’s Eat Naturally program in California.

WORLDWIDE—Inspired by diners who want to eat healthier food and know where and how it is produced, more hotels are going organic. But how far they go depends on where they are and a trio of challenges: availability, consistency and cost. “The best policy is to take it one step at a time,” says Serge Simard, vice president of food and beverage for Fairmont Hotels & Resorts, Toronto. “We instituted new standards last December, but they emphasize local and sustainable because ensuring a reliable chain of supply for organic products in the volumes we need is difficult, and there is a limit to how much more customers are willing to pay.”

Fairmont's steps include asking hotels to provide organic eggs, selling organic or biodynamic wines by the glass and bottle, and phasing in organic teas as part of the fair-trade “Tea at The Fairmont” program. Most of the restaurant organic/local/sustainable dishes, and the Eco-Meet program extend the option to catering. Several hotels also maintain gardens, among them The Fairmont Royal York in Toronto, where Executive Chef David Garcelon oversees a 3,000-sq. ft. (279-sq. m) rooftop filled with pesticide- and chemical-free herbs and vegetables, plus four grapevines and a beehive expected to produce honey this summer. “We grow enough herbs for all seven outlets,” Garcelon says. “Heirloom tomatoes and other vegetables produced in small quantities go to Epic, our gourmet restaurant.”

While Garcelon supplements this bounty with organic produce from nearby farms, he says organic food makes up a small percentage of the US$10 million he buys annually. “Sometimes local nonorganic products—like apples and naturally raised lamb—simply are better,” he explains. “We don't buy others, such as organic milk, because little is available and prices are much higher.” But Garcelon sees the demand for organics growing, which he thinks will increase production and lower costs.

North America Perspective

U.S. hotels often focus on one aspect of foodservice. In December, seven Hilton and Doubletree hotels in San Diego and Orange County joined forces to inaugurate Eat Naturally, a catering alternative and chain prototype. Menus feature organic produce, dairy, pastries, fruit desserts, juices, coffee and wines, as well as organic or free-range eggs (depending on availability), wild or sustainable seafood, grass-fed beef and other hormone- and antibiotic-free proteins.

“We started with catering to capture new markets such as green weddings,” says Joseph Kruvi, Hilton Hotels Corp. area vice president for Southern California. He notes that it is easier to plan for events booked months in advance and that prices run about 30% higher than for regular menus.

Executive Chef David Garcelon at The Fairmont Royal York in Toronto in his rooftop herb garden.

Organic produce—from more than a dozen local farms and some as far as Northern California—is the hardest to source due to the volume needed, seasonality and price fluctuations. In the hotels' restaurants, Kruvi anticipates introducing a seasonal organic item of the month, such as strawberries. “The key is being flexible and not promising more than you can deliver,” he says.

The 11-property Kor Hotel Group, Los Angeles, recently made organic breakfasts a priority for restaurants and roomservice, introducing organic omelet ingredients, dairy, potatoes, maple syrup and jams.

“A healthy breakfast is the meal travelers are most sensitive about and have the most control over,” says Gerhard Tratter, food and beverage director of the group's Viceroy Santa Monica.

He also says sourcing the compact repertoire of breakfast items is comparatively simple and the cost is only 12% higher, half of which is passed on to consumers.

At The Boulders Resort & Golden Door Spa, Carefree, Arizona, Executive Chef Michel Pieton offers a mostly organic menu in the fine dining room, Latilla, and some organic produce at the Spa Cafe, which is a few feet from the hotel's vegetable garden. He uses a variety of purveyors and says organic ingredients are becoming easier to find but cost an average of 25% more.

“Our customers in Latilla are willing to pay US$26 to US$43 for entrees they know taste better and are better for you,” he reports, “but it would be too expensive to do for all five of the resort's outlets, and not everyone wants it.”

Europe Buys In

A chef prepares an organic meal in the garden at The Boulders Resort in Carefree, Arizona.

Organic and local generally go hand-in-hand in Europe, especially at hotels in towns and the countryside. The Romantik Hotel & Restaurant Minichmayr in Steyr, Austria, is typical. Co-owner Yvonne Viertler says the hotel has been serving organic food since her family bought it in 1978, but more people are asking for it now and availability and quality have improved, spurred by stricter standards for certification. About 40% of the menu is organic, including local and regional beef, lamb, poultry, trout, cheeses, breads, sparkling pear wine, and oils and vinegars. Eighteen-year veteran Chef/Food and Beverage Manager Klaus Rammer frequently buys directly from farmers but turns to markets for organic ingredients he needs in larger quantities, such as potatoes and cabbages. If he can't get something in the area—for example, tropical fruits—he won't bother to buy organic, partly because he says “it doesn't come with a guarantee.”

Rammer likes to showcase organic ingredients in his simpler preparations and insists that cost is seldom a factor. “We're not one of the cheaper restaurants in town, and everybody knows the prices reflect the quality,” he says.

“Organic” in Great Britain means anything from the 100% certified, eight-room Percy's Country Hotel & Restaurant in Devon, where almost everything is harvested on the estate, to The Ritz London, the first hotel to receive certification (in 2002), though only three organic items—beef, lamb and smoked salmon—are available regularly.

The Four Seasons Hampshire in England represents a middle ground. Executive Chef Cyrille Pannier estimates 50% to 60% of the food in his restaurant is organic, as is 10% to 20% for banquets. Seasonal herbs and fruit (figs, pears, apples, plums) come from the 500-acre (202-ha) estate, as do organically raised lamb and beef. He works with local farmers, but like most chefs, has to make myriad decisions about what to source organically. “I can get a limited number of free-range organic chickens from a farm 50 miles (80 km) away but must buy whole birds, and they cost three times as much as regular,” he says by way of example. “I serve them exclusively for dinner in the restaurant—at a little less than twice the price of normal chicken, and only half our customers understand why they are more expensive.”

Asian Roots

Organic Enns’ Valley beef filet from Romantik Hotel & Restaurant Minichmayr in Steyr, Austria.

In Asia, organics are in their infancy, as are certification standards. The Four Seasons Singapore introduced what may be the city's first organic Chinese menu—with 20 à la carte dishes and two set meals—at its popular Jiang-Nan Chun in March. But Adeline Toh, director of public relations, admits that the hotel relies entirely on its supplier for assurances that 90% of the ingredients are organic.

Hong Kong-based Peninsula Hotels' comprehensive Peninsula Wellness program includes “Naturally Peninsula,” which encompasses everything from organic teas to a guest nutritionist, but making it all-organic is impossible, according to Florian Trento, executive chef at the Peninsula Hong Kong. He has spent several years helping develop a government-supported network of hundreds of tiny organic farms, but even though he buys most of what they produce, it is not enough for his seven restaurants, roomservice and catering. Almost everything else has to be imported and is subject to changing exchange rates and taxes.

Executive Chef Philip Sedgwick has almost tripled the percentage of organic ingredients at The Peninsula Bangkok since he moved from Hong Kong a year ago. “But it is only up to 8%,” he says, citing organic eggs (throughout the hotel) and his small herb garden as successes and IFOAM-certified milk as a goal. Oils and vinegars are among the organic items he imports, but he says extremely high import duties are an obstacle, especially for meat and alcohol.

“If I could, I'd make The Peninsula 100% organic,” Sedgwick says. “Besides promoting better farming methods and producing more flavorful food, in Asia particularly, it gives guests peace of mind about the quality and safety of what they are eating.” But, he adds, “If you ask the average local farmer if he is organic, he won't even know what you are talking about.”

Contributed by Anne Spiselman