On 26 November 2015, the Sheraton Zürich Hotel became the first Starwood hotel to be awarded the Green Key in Switzerland. Although only joined the Green Key programme so recently, they already have some very impressive sustainable actions in place.
Minergie
Aside from the newly achieved Green Key certification, the Sheraton Zürich is also certified by Minergie. Minergie is a Swiss construction standard and quality label for new and modernized buildings. By following the Minergie standards buildings provide more comfort, reduce energy costs and are more sustainable.
Restaurant Route 26
Prior to the opening of the hotel restaurant, the Kitchen Chef went on a journey through the 26 Swiss Cantons to find the best suppliers and products of Switzerland. Most of the products are locally produced and the restaurant takes time to check certificates of for example the fishing practices of the fish suppliers, to track the meat or visit the suppliers before a steak lands at the grill. To promote local products among the guests, a different Swiss canton was put in the spotlight every month in 2015. This month, the guests can go on a culinary journey to the canton Zug and try a typical local fish dish – of course prepared with fish from Lake Zug.
When ordering from suppliers, the hotel restaurant places high emphasis on how the food is delivered and use the good relations to the suppliers to request on how they package it. Separately packaged broccoli is just as a no-go for us as is Styrofoam. To minimize CO2 emissions and costs the hotel restaurant limits the number of times they order from a supplier to about 1-2 times a week. This requires good calculation which is also reflected in the low amount of food waste the hotel has. In addition to carefully calculating and estimating the amount of food, certain dishes like scrambled eggs in the morning are prepared on demand at the live-cooking station.
The employees enjoy the opportunity to eat at the employee canteen – which is also integrated in the planning process as each day they use the same ingredients in the canteen and restaurant.