Hotels helping you eat for good

SINGAPORE — Starwood Hotels announced on Tuesday that it will ban shark’s fin from its menus in all its properties starting from this July — and completely eliminate it by the end of the year.

“Our worldwide ban on shark’s fin represents an important, environmentally responsible step to aid in the collective goal of marine preservation,” said Starwood President and Chief Executive Officer Frits van Paasschen.

Hotel chains have been helping their guests do their part to eat more responsibly when travelling. In 2012, for example, Fairmont removed shark’s fin from all its hotel menus in Asia. Here are three other examples leading the charge.

Accor

Under its Planet 21 initiative, the Accor group (which includes Mercure, Ibis and Novotel among its portfolio) will ban endangered seafood species from restaurant menus across all its hotels by next year. Last year, seven of its hotels in Bangkok donated usable, unconsumed food from its banquets, restaurants and bakeries to the Fatima Centre Of The Good Shepherd Sisters, a non-profit organisation.

Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts

Like Fairmont, Shangri-La has ceased to serve shark’s fin. This Hong Kong-based group also has a sustainable seafood policy — the serving of the endangered bluefin tuna and Chilean sea bass was phased out in 2012.

Marriott

The chain has tied up with CleanFish Alliance to create the Future Fish programme in 2010 to ensure at least 50 per cent of its seafood purchases are sustainable. Last year, the group partnered River Cottage in the United Kingdom to support local farmers and sustainable food — a move that will eventually be rolled out to cover its hotels in the UK. Serene Lim