In this episode of GREEN Pursuits, we discuss the initiatives taken toward plastic reduction at Marriott International with Jennie Toh, Vice-President for Brand Marketing and Brand Management at Marriott International. In the episode, she details their current initiative to replace small,single-use toiletry bottles, how they managed to successfully implement this initiative in about 450 select-service hotels and the challenges they face as the rest of the portfolio is in the process of making the switch, as well as the next steps in this direction.

Jennie Toh is Vice-President for Brand Marketing and Brand Management at Marriott International Asia Pacific, responsible for Brand Management, Brand and Destination Marketing and Brand Portfolio Activation and Standards. In her role, Jennie leads the brand and marketing strategies, brand development, product and guest experiences as well as driving appropriate representation and brand preference across the continent.

She ensures brand management, content creation and programming activities are aligned to the company’s brand strategies and global brand standards continue to remain relevant to our markets. And is also responsible for executing relevant on-brand guest experiences in ways that are consistent with each brand’s vision and drive distinct brand differentiation, in order to optimize profitability in Marriott International’s extensive portfolio. 

Jennie brings a wealth of experience from her most recent role as Vice President of Rooms, Spa, Loyalty & Brand Operations for Asia Pacific, in which she designed and developed robust Rooms and SPA programming with her team. She also led strategic planning and implementation of the company’s priority initiatives on properties, including the launch of Marriott Bonvoy travel program, mobile check-in & “Li Yu” program that offers China Outbound travelers the comforts of home at the hotels outside China. In 2020, she also led the implementation of Marriott International’s Commitment to Clean initiative in APAC to ensure the health and safety measures in place for all the associates and guests.

In 1997, Jennie began her career in the hospitality industry at The Ritz-Carlton, Millenia Singapore. Since then, she accumulated 15 years of on-property management experience in Rooms division, Quality assurance and Event management operations at The Ritz-Carlton Hotels in Bahrain, Bali, Tokyo, Shanghai and other parts of Asia. In 2011, Jennie was appointed Senior Director of Rooms Operations, Asia-Pacific at the Marriott International office in Hong Kong.

GREEN Hospitality is an organisation with a primary mission to encourage businesses to work together and bring about innovative solutions to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

To learn more about the issue of waste in the hospitality industry in Hong Kong, read our research here.

If you are inspired to improve waste management practices within your F&B business and reduce food waste, check out our F&B Playbook.

Follow us on social media for more tips on improving sustainability in the hospitality industry:

LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.

On this episode of GREEN Pursuits, we sat down with Laura Offe, Co-founder and Managing Director of Meraki Hospitality, the group behind Hong Kong’s well-known restaurants - Uma Nota and Bedu, to discuss how they are moving towards sustainable sourcing while catering to the city's appetite for seafood.

Having grown up in Hong Kong, Laura brings a wealth of experience from its vast hospitality landscape and fast- paced food & beverage scene. After graduating with a Bachelor’s Degree in Hotel Management and a Master’s degree in International Marketing & Luxury Brand Management, Laura joined the opening teams of the Ritz- Carlton Hong Kong and then Shangri-La Hotel at The Shard, London. In 2015, she opened her own boutique hospitality consultancy company, The Box Partnership.

In 2017, Laura founded with her brother Alexis Offe Meraki Hospitality Group that owns and operates restaurants in Hong Kong and Paris: Uma Nota, BEDU, Little BEDU & Mamma's (is this permanently closed?).

If you would like to learn more about this topic read our article on discussions between hospitality industry stakeholders about sustainable seafood procurement. If you are inspired to improve sustainability practices within your F&B business, check out our F&B Playbook.

GREEN Hospitality is an organisation with a primary mission to encourage businesses to work together and bring about innovative solutions to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

To learn more on the topic of sustainable seafood, tune in to our episode with Joshua Wong, where he discusses the measures they have taken at the Hongkong & Shanghai Hotels to ensure that the seafood being served is sustainably procured.

If you are inspired to improve the sustainability of your F&B business, check out our F&B Playbook.

Follow us on social media for more tips on improving sustainability in the hospitality industry:

LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.

In this episode of GREEN Pursuits, we chat with JP Lizot, Co-Founder and Managing Director of Verdantli. He deep dives into the issue of authentic plant-based hotel amenities and tells us about his company - a one-stop shop for 100% plant-based amenities products and how it can help meet the demand for environmentally-friendly products in the hospitality industry.

A past hotelier turned entrepreneur, JP Lizot heads Verdantli, a company that seeks to eliminate all plastics from the hospitality sector. JP is an alumni of a top hotel school in the world and has worked for numerous hotel groups. A true fanatic for the business creative process, JP has been writing business plans for numerous projects seeking investment. He has made it a point to bring his latest project Verdantli, from the planning stage to the execution stage. Until now, Verdantli has built relationships with 15 hotel groups and helped them to divert approximately 6.5 tonnes of plastic.

If you would like to learn more about this topic read our article and report on the measures the hospitality industry can take to reduce plastic waste, and if you are inspired to improve waste management practices within your F&B business and reduce food waste, check out our F&B Playbook.

GREEN Hospitality is an organisation with a primary mission to encourage businesses to work together and bring about innovative solutions to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

Follow us on social media for more tips on improving sustainability in the hospitality industry:

LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.

On this episode of GREEN Pursuit, our guest is Woody Chan, the CSR & Sustainability Manager at foodpanda. In our chat, he gave us insight into the programs and campaigns launched by the delivery service to tackle the plastic and waste crisis in Hong Kong

Prior to joining foodpanda, Woody worked as the Project Development and Engagement Manager at China Water Risk, one of Asia’s most cutting-edge think tanks on climate and water risks. In this capacity, he had not only built up a portfolio in research and analysis, but he also engaged in various public speaking engagements, from TEDx Talks and university seminars to industry forums and panels.

At foodpanda HK, Woody leads the CSR and sustainability initiatives, strengthening the organisation's commitment to grow sustainably with its ecosystem of riders, merchants, and consumers.

Since joining, Woody has focused on tackling issues such as carbon emissions, plastic consumption, and food waste by implementing innovative best practices and establishing partnerships with market-leading environmental groups such as WWF-Hong Kong.

GREEN Hospitality is an organisation with a primary mission to encourage businesses to work together and bring about innovative solutions to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

To learn more about how the hospitality industry in Hong Kong can reduce plastic waste, read our research here.

If you are inspired to improve waste management practices within your F&B business and reduce food waste, check out our F&B Playbook.

Follow us on social media for more tips on improving sustainability in the hospitality industry:

LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.

On this episode of GREEN Pursuit, our guest is Joshua Wong the Head of Sustainability at the Hongkong & Shanghai Hotels, limited, owner and operator of the iconic Peninsula Hotels and other luxury properties. He leads the sustainability function on implementing group-wide sustainable practices and projects, monitoring sustainability performance, managing environmental and social risks, as well as ensuring compliance to local environmental regulations.

In our chat, Joshua discusses the measures they have taken at the Hongkong & Shanghai Hotels to ensure that the seafood being served is sustainably procured.

GREEN Hospitality is an organisation with a primary mission to encourage businesses to work together and bring about innovative solutions to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

If you are inspired to improve the sustainability of your F&B business, check out our F&B Playbook.

Follow us on social media for more tips on improving sustainability in the hospitality industry:

LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.

On this episode of GREEN Pursuit, our guest is Peggy Chan, the Executive Director at Zero Foodprint Asia. In our chat, Peggy explains how regenerative farming works and how it can help address problems affecting our food systems.

In 2012, Peggy opened Grassroots Pantry (GP) in Hong Kong with a mission to raise awareness of the inequities in our food system and to share knowledge on the benefits of whole food plant-based cuisine. GP became carbon neutral in 2018 and its first sustainability report was recognized by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals ESCAP as a best practice case study on sustainable sourcing and responsible management.

Over the years Peggy has emerged as one of the region’s most authoritative voices on organic sourcing and systems thinking design; where she is often invited to speak on panels related to food policies on behalf of the food-service industry, develop educational programs, consult industry peers on sustainable practices while empowering them to take action. In 2020, Peggy developed Grassroots Initiatives Consultancy to assist foodservice professionals in their transition towards best practices that meet both human and planetary health goals.

Later that year, she gave a talk at TedxTinHauWomen as part of the TED Countdown global initiative on ‘Food Literacy as The Secret Recipe for Solving the Climate Crisis’, further sharing her ambition to transform the food system with the public. More recently, Peggy successfully self-published her first cookbook through a crowdfunding campaign - ‘Provenance: Principles of Plant-Based Cookery’, available in English and Traditional Chinese.

She has recently been tasked to lead non-profit projects in the region including scaling impact-venture Zero Foodprint to Asia -  an NGO that works to rapidly mobilize funding from the food industry and restaurant sector to scale agricultural climate solutions.

An environmentalist at heart with a natural penchant for holding oneself accountable, she is currently furthering her expertise in assisting food businesses on their journey towards a net-zero transition.

Peggy is an alumni of Global Shapers Hong Kong, World Economic Forum, an active member of the Chefs' Manifesto SDG2 Advocacy Hub, a two-time Ted X speaker, and an HK Environmental Excellence Awardee in the service sector.

GREEN Hospitality is an organisation with a primary mission to encourage businesses to work together and bring about innovative solutions to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

If you are inspired to improve the sustainability of your F&B business, check out our F&B Playbook.

Follow us on social media for more tips on improving sustainability in the hospitality industry:

LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.

On the inaugural episode of GREEN Pursuits, our guest is Richard Ekkebus, the Director of Culinary Operations and Food & Beverage at The Landmark Mandarin Oriental. In our chat, we find out how he gets staff and patrons’ buy-ins for his sustainable eating agenda. We will also shed light on what hotels and restaurants can do to tackle food waste in their operations from training employees on waste management to implementing policies and procedures.

Richard began his illustrious career via an apprenticeship in his home country, the Netherlands, under Michelin-starred chefs Hans Snijders and Robert Kranenborg, and further perfected his art under the tutelage of some of the greatest three Michelin-starred chefs in France, including Pierre Gagnaire, Alain Passard, and Guy Savoy. Committed to driving culinary exploration and creativity, Richard is admired for his fresh ideas and innovative spirit. Richard takes particular pride in the superb quality of his ingredients. “There is no compromise regarding quality.” 

Currently, Richard oversees all cuisine at The Landmark Mandarin Oriental, one of the city’s most luxurious and distinctive five-star hotels. Under Richard’s supervision and guidance, Amber, the hotel’s contemporary fine-dining restaurant, is honoured to be bestowed with the Sustainable Restaurant Award and listed No.31 in Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants 2020.

GREEN Hospitality is an organisation with a primary mission to encourage businesses to work together and bring about innovative solutions to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

To learn more about the issue of waste in the hospitality industry in Hong Kong, read our research here.

If you are inspired to improve waste management practices within your F&B business and reduce food waste, check out our F&B Playbook.

Follow us on social media for more tips on improving sustainability in the hospitality industry:

LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.

Welcome to the GREEN Pursuits, podcast by GREEN Hospitality. 

GREEN Hospitality is an organisation with a primary mission to encourage businesses to work together and bring about innovative solutions to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

Join us as we interview practitioners, experts and academics providing bite-sized advice on how to improve environmental, social and governance performances in the hospitality and travel industry.