New Urban Hotel Introduces 360° Cuisine Program to Shrink Carbon Footprint

Chiang Mai, Thailand, February 26, 2022 / TRAVELINDEX / The first five-star hotel to debut in Chiang Mai in Thailand’s mountainous north since the onset of the global pandemic is embracing sustainability and promoting healthy eating with the launch of its ‘360° Cuisine’ concept.

Suksant Chutinthratip (Billy), the executive chef at Meliá Chiang Mai, a 260-key urban hotel due to open April 8 on Charoen Prathet Road in the heart of Chiang Mai, has crafted dishes that include produce from the hotel’s organic farm and use every part of each ingredient possible before leftovers are returned to the farm as compost.

“Our ‘farm to plate’ efforts, sourcing organic produce that travels only a short distance to our hotel and using every part of each ingredient we can – roots, leaves, stems, stalks and more – come full circle with ‘plate to farm’, whereby we return food waste back to the farm as fertilizer in a truly 360° concept,” Billy said.

Under the program, the hotel’s kitchen works closely with local farmers to help them improve sustainability and encourage ethical production, in a bid to make communities and the overall food system more resilient. Meliá Chiang Mai recently partnered with ORI9IN The Gourmet Farm, a 350-acre gourmet organic farm located in nearby San Sai District, to grow an array of fruits, vegetables and herbs on a two-acre plot on the broader ORI9IN property for its restaurants, bars and spa.

Through the partnership with ORI9IN, local farmers assist the hotel with import substitution, growing various kinds of tomatoes, salad leaves, and specialized ingredients such as padrón pepper, that would otherwise need to be imported from Spain for the hotel’s authentic Mediterranean cuisine.

Billy’s emphasis on “thoughtful cooking”, that minimizes food waste through using as much of each and every ingredient as possible, is encapsulated in signature 360° Cuisine dishes. ‘Khao Khaab Hor Goong’ is chilled prawn salad wrapped in sesame rice paper, with piquillo peppers, fried tofu, fermented rice noodles and fresh Vietnamese mint and ‘Pla Muek Yang Som’ is grilled marinated octopus salad with caramelized Valencia orange, red radish and orange dressing.

“For Khao Khaab Hor Goong, for example, we use the prawn shells, prawn heads and garden herb stems for our stock base to poach the prawns, and lemon zest as part of the sauce to give a disarming citrus fragrance and flavor, before the leftover cooking oil is sent to be recycled into biodiesel,” Billy said.

The 360° Cuisine program is also designed to give guests peace of mind about where their food comes from by encouraging them to visit the ORI9IN farm to meet local farmers and learn more about sustainable farming.

Drawing on Meliá’s Spanish origins and celebrating Spain’s famed gastronomy, Meliá Chiang Mai’s dining landscape will feature restaurants Mai Restaurant and Bar and Laan Na Kitchen, bars Mai The Sky Bar and Tien Pool Bar, and lounges Ruen Kaew and The Level Lounge.

About AWC
Asset World Corporation (AWC) is Thailand’s leading integrated lifestyle real estate group, a member of TCC Group, one of Thailand’s most prominent conglomerates. AWC’s core focus of real estate development and management projects encompass two business groups: Hospitality helping Thailand become the top destination for sustainable tourism with hotels in key locations in Bangkok and popular destinations throughout Thailand serviced by management teams from internationally acclaimed hotel groups such as Marriott, A Luxury Collection Hotel, Okura, Banyan Tree, Hilton, and Sheraton; Retail and Commercial Buildings (covering retail, and wholesale facilities with mixed-use properties and office buildings) providing well-balanced and unique offerings a best-in-class customer experience that meet business and modern lifestyles with high-quality and innovative real estate development projects overseen by a qualified and experienced management team to build long-term value for stakeholders.

AWC succeeded in listing the company on the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) in the real estate and construction industry under the property development category on October 10, 2019. AWC’s market capitalization was the highest in the history of the SET (According to Bloomberg Database). AWC recognizes the importance of operating with a focus on sustainability – incorporating the needs of stakeholders, the environment, society, and contributing to ongoing improvements in Thailand’s economy with a purpose of building a better future.

About Meliá Hotels & Resorts
Meliá Hotels & Resorts is the best-known international brand in the portfolio of the Meliá Hotels International company; it has more than 100 city and resort hotels in the main leisure and business destinations of Europe, Asia, Africa and America. The brand offers exemplary meetings and events facilities in all important business cities as well as in exotic locations, catering to the ever-expanding conference and incentive travel market. As part of its innovation philosophy and new positioning, Meliá Hotels & Resorts has reinvented itself to cater to every aspect of the guests’ wellbeing. Unique experiences are created for guests and are defined by relaxation, quality time and personalised services. For a balanced lifestyle, Meliá Hotels & Resorts instinctively understands the guests’ needs and lifestyle expectations, which is an integral part of its redefined identity.

About Meliá Hotels International
Founded in 1956 in Mallorca (Spain), Meliá Hotels International operates more than 380 hotels (portfolio and pipeline) throughout more than 40 countries, under the brands Gran Meliá Hotels & Resorts, Paradisus by Meliá, ME by Meliá, Meliá Hotels & Resorts, INNSiDE by Meliá, Sol by Meliá and TRYP by Wyndham. The Group is one of the leading companies in resort hotels worldwide, while also leveraging its experience to consolidate the growing segment of the leisure-inspired urban market. Its commitment to responsible tourism has led the Group to become the most sustainable hotel company in Spain and Europe in 2020, according to the SAM Corporate Sustainability Assessment (CSA). It also has ranked seventh in the Wall Street Journal’s list of the 100 most sustainably managed companies in the world (and the leading travel company) and is the only Spanish travel company included in the list of “Europe’s Climate Leaders 2021” by Financial Times. Meliá Hotels International is also included in the IBEX 35 Spanish stock market index and it is the Spanish hotel leader in Corporate Reputation (Merco Ranking).