Category Archives: Fresh Worldwide Press

What is going on in the Franchisig, Ho.Re.Ca, Hospitality and Retail business worldwide? A selection of my favorite news, with sustainability on top!

Food displays in 800 co-op stores get Nualight LED lighting

A multi-million dollar deal has been recently signed between Co-op UK and Nualight,  a specialist in LED lighting for the food retail sector,  to install its LED lighting in freezers and ice-cream cabinets throughout 800 UK-based stores owned by the Co-operative Group.  LED lighting will be installed in the doors in low-temperature merchandising cabinets and in ice-cream display cabinets throughout the stores.

Liam Kelly, CEO of Nualight said, “Our lighting delivers significant energy savings of over 70% when compared with fluorescent technology and it is also maintenance-free. We’re delighted that our technology can play an important part in The Co-operative Group’s ambitious ethos of responsible retailing.”

“The motivation for introducing Nualight’s LED lighting solutions to our stores arose primarily from our unique commitment to sustainable retailing practices,” explained Alex Pitman, Energy and Carbon Manager at the Co-operative Group.

The Co-operative has over 3000 food stores and supermarkets around the UK. It focuses on quality with honest, ethically sourced products and has an ambitious Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) program. A survey in 2008 found The Co-operative to be Britain’s greenest supermarket. The company has the toughest carbon reduction targets of any major business in the UK. (Source: LEDsmagazine.com)

 

 

Welcome to the Organic Academy among ECOFFEE’s partners!

I am glad to announce that another great partnership has been recently signed between ECOFFEE by DESITA and the Italian leading project about Culinary Knowledge and Environmental Respect, the Organic Academy.

The Organic Academy is based on the foundations of a respect and nurturing of one’s self, others, and the surrounding Nature, which can be found also in its willingness to elevate the vegetarian cuisine to its best thanks to the incredible receipts of Executive Chef Simone Salvini, whose amazing curriculum shows experiences at the Joia Restaurants (Michelin starred), at the Italian Camera dei Deputati (Parliament) and at the Italian Association of Vegetarians.

The Organic Academy is supervised by Chef Pietro Leeman, Joia restaurant owner.

This respect and nurturing is also manifested by development and practice of culinary arts, nutrition, and hospitality, development skillfully managed by Organic Academy’s Managing Director, Enrico Buselli, successful restaurant owner and sustainable tourism consultant.

ECOFFEE and the Organic Academy are also collaborating to develop the Organic Bistrot, following the ECOFFEE’s protocol.

I am sure that this partnership will lead to great innovative –and delicious- projects having sustainability at its core!

Toys R Us Includes Environmental Features in 44 Stores

As part of its continuing strategy to develop more combined Toys R Us and Babies R Us stores, Toys R Us Inc. said it is incorporating environmental features in 44 new and remodeled locations.

By the end of the year the company will have have 21 new stores, including 11 R Superstores and 10 Side-by-Side locations as part of the initiative to bring Toys R Us and Babies R Us together under one roof in an integrated store format. As part of it portfolio upgrade, Toys R Us is also remodeling 23 existing locations to the Side-by-Side format.

In these locations, the company said it has implemented a number of sustainable initiatives that conserve energy, minimize waste, reduce its stores’ overall impact on the environment and diminish the company’s carbon footprint. They include:

  • A state-of-the-art Energy Management System (EMS) that monitors environmental conditions and adjusts temperature, lighting and CO2 levels throughout the store to utilize natural light and reduce energy consumption.
  • A custom daylight harvesting system, which includes a number of design components such as skylights, dimmable fixtures and lighting sensors that reduce up to 50 percent of electric lighting energy used during the day.
  • Energy efficient Light Emitting Diode (LED) fixtures in outdoor signage instead of florescent signage, which increase energy savings and reduce toxic materials and maintenance costs.
  • Low-flow toilets and urinals, and automatic faucets and flush valves, which conserve water.
  • High efficiency automatic hand dryers that use 80 percent less energy than standard hand dryers while eliminating the need for paper towel products.
  • A cardboard baler that facilitates recycling and reduces the impact on landfills.
  •  Low Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) paint and floor adhesive are used during construction because they produce little odor during application and no lingering odor once cured.
  • A vestibule entryway system that reduces the amount of outside contaminants tracked into the store, while helping to improve indoor air quality.
  • White reflective roofs that significantly reduce the amount of heat absorbed, reducing the building’s cooling needs.

Wayne, N.J.-based Toys R Us embarked an integrated store strategy in 2006, and since then has converted more than 100 traditional stores in the United States to the Side-by-Side format. In 2007, the company opened the first of its new 60,000-square-foot R Superstores, which feature full-size Toys R Us and Babies R Us stores under one roof. (Source: GreenRetailDecisions.com)

New Sustainability Book Highlights Best Practices in Hotel Development and Operations

Sustainability is an important topic that affects every stage of hotel development and operation. Hotel Sustainable Development: Principles and Best Practices, published by the American Hotel & Lodging Educational Institute (AHLEI), provides hospitality professionals with a wealth of information about key factors to be considered when exploring sustainability.

Editors A.J. Singh, international lodging, finance and real estate associate professor in The School of Hospitality Business at Michigan State University, and Hervé Houdré, general manager of the InterContinental New York Barclay, and leading sustainable development experts identify emerging trends and discuss how sustainability affects regulatory, policy, development, architectural, financial, and operational issues. Each chapter presents important elements in the implementation of sustainable development to provide valuable insights to hotel investors, developers, owners, and lodging operators.

The book is divided into four sections:

  • Historical Context: Local and Global Perspective
  • Development and Investment Perspective
  • Hotel Corporate and Property Perspective
  • Operating Perspective

The overarching theme of the book follows John Elkington’s approach of the “Triple Bottom-line.” This is the most commonly accepted perspective of sustainable development by most businesses, as it comprehensively looks at sustainable development from three perspectives: People, Planet and Profit. The common theme across all the chapters is “value creation.” While value creation addresses all stakeholders in a hotel development or operation, the primary question that each chapter addresses is whether sustainable development metrics indicate financial incentives for investors, developers, owners, and lodging operators.

A number of hospitality organizations supported the publication of this book, including the International Society of Hospitality Consultants (ISHC), Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International (HSMAI), Green Meetings Industry Council (GMIC), National Association of Hotel and Lodging Engineers (NAHLE), the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), and the Hotel Asset Managers Association (HAMA). (Source: Hotelnewsresource.com)

Stockholm hosting the upcoming FCSI Europe–Africa–Middle East Conference

Next September, from 16th to 18th, 2011 Stockholm, the very first Green Capital  will host the FCSI Europe–Africa–Middle East Conference.

Stockholm has been chosen by FCSI for its long-term target green policy, set to make the Swedish capital a fossil fuel free city by 2050.
The Conference speakers are highly recommended and the opening keynote speaker has been awarded speaker of the year 2009.
The program will be of course focused on the relation between sustainability and the Food industry, dealing with important subjects such as “Water and Waste. About water footprints and solutions to global water crisis. Solutions to the lack of sanitation”. Attendees will also have the chance to participate to interesting workshops such as “Food for thought on climate change: Saving our planet one carbon bite at a time!” or “ Why should a SPA be “green”.

Unfortunately, because of previously planned meetings, I will not be able to attend the Conference but I am sure it will be a great successful event and I wish to our FCSI Italia President Mr. Luciano Cattaneo a nice, enjoyable and profitable journey- feedbacks and updates about the Congress are welcomed!.

I also would like to remind all the FCSI members visiting the Milan HOST exhibition (October 21st – 25th ) that FCSI Italia will welcome all of you at Stand A03-C02 – Hall6.

Upcoming Events: our agenda

Here’s a list of all the leading events that we will follow in the next months.

8th-11th September, 2011: Sana, Bologna IT.
15th-17th September, 2011: FCSI FAME Conference, Stockholm SW
8th -12th October 2011: Anuga, Cologne D
16th – 18th October 2011: Qatar International Environment Protection, Doha
17th-19th October 2011:  Green Middle East, Sharjah, UAE
21th -25 October 2011: Host Milan, IT
4th-7th November, 2011: Salone Franchising Milano, Milan IT
9th-12th November, 2011: Ecomondo, Rimini IT
16th – 18th Nomber: Mapic, Cannes FR
22nd-24th November: Diyafa, Qatar
24th November, 2011: Green Awards, London UK
5th-7th December: World Green Tourism, Abu Dhabi

Meeting you will be a great pleasure: just sent me an email norman(at)ecoffee(dot)it to synch our agendas.

Norman Cescut’s Tweets: August 2011

In case you missed my tweets, here’s a summary of the most important ones.                  You are more than welcome to follow me on Twitter @norman_cescut to get real-time updates. Enjoy!

You are more than welcome to follow me on Twitter @norman_cescut to get real-time updates!

DESITA and ECOFFEE at 2011 Meeting Rimini

DESITA and its ECOFFEE partner Serint Group Italia are pleased to announce the partnership reached with the Fondazione Meeting, the organizing committee of Meeting Rimini (Rimini, Italy 21-27 August 2011), event which is recognized as one of the most important festivals in Europe collecting great political personalities, managers, representatives of different religions and cultures, intellectuals and artists, athletes and protagonists of the world scene. It offers stories of men and women through conferences, exhibitions, shows, and sporting events.

The partnership signed among DESITA, Serint Group and Fondazione Meeting concerns the development and creation of a long-term and ambitious project, called “Il Parco del Meeting (The Meeting Park)” which will be disclosed to a large number of invited companies at the Rimini Meeting next Friday, August 26 during a day-long meeting together with the Fondazione Board of Directors. In the next following months, the project will be implemented involving companies, local authorities, institutions and schools belonging to the province of Rimini (Italy)

The project aims to gradually introduce sustainability in the MeetingRimini event, thus creating a tighter bond between the city of Rimini and the event and allowing the Parco del Meeting to become a place for dissemination of the best sustainable practices related to culture, products, technology , projects and services. The Parco del Meeting will become the park of the city of Rimini, a place of reference and aggregation active throughout the year, with restaurants designed according to our ECOFFEE guidelines, event areas and much more.

Other collateral projects are under development, including the design of sustainable exhibition areas of a pavillon of the RiminiMeeting offering to those exhibitors attentive to environmental issues the opportunity to participate actively in the Park project, as early as next year.

With this great news, we are going to take a little rest from a period of intense and successful work, wishing you a wonderful holiday time. We will be back on September or, if you are spending your holidays in Italy, we will be more than happy to meet you at the RiminiMeeting on Friday August 26th

For more information norman [at] ecoffee.it

PS. Have you already voted for the Green Sheikh, Ambassador ECOFFEE, who has been nominated as Best Green International Celebrity at next Best Green Awards? Do not hesitate to vote for him! Vote for Green Sheikh!

Fairtrade Italia and ECOFFEE: a sustainable partnership for a better future

I am very happy to announce that last Tuesday, July 19th DESITA and Fairtrade Italia have signed a bilateral agreement providing mutual support for the dissemination of the principles of environmental sustainability, fair trade and social responsibility on the entire Italian market  through a focus on in-store actions.

DESITA, thanks to its ECOFFEE project, will promote Fairtrade products and will support  Fairtrade licensees through its wide range of retail-oriented services and solutions: from architectural design, branding, process analysis, franchise creation. The Fairtrade certified products will also find a privileged placement among the products available at the ECOFFEE franchise cafés.

On the other hand, Fairtrade Italia has committed to share with its stakeholders- Retail business licensees, Association members and consumers – all the services offered by DESITA and   ECOFFEE.

“I am very happy to have reached this agreement,” states Paolo Pastore, Managing Director of Fairtrade Italia “This agreement is very different from the usual one and I am  sure that it will bring a much wider scope and visibility to Fairtrade certified products, the only Fair Trade certification that has deserved consumers’ trust all around the world. “

Being supported by such an important organization as Fairtrade Italia has once again confirmed that what I have created, the ECOFFEE service platform, is a requirement for a better future.This gives me the strength to keep on working in what is still an immature industry, that of sustainability in the Italian Retail and Horeca panorama. I am convinced that this partnership will actually contribute to the creation and dissemination of a more responsible consumption on the Italian market.

The Green Sheikh is ECOFFEE’s worldwide Goodwill Ambassador

Following the meeting with the Green Sheikh (see “Amazing Meeting with the Green Sheikh”) we are very happy to inform all our readers that HH Abdulaziz bin Al Nuaimi, also known as the Green Sheikh, offered to become ECOFFEE’s Goodwill Ambassador worldwide and, as stated in an official letter,  to support ECOFFEE “wherever our activities will bring me, accordingly to your values and mission”.

The Green Sheikh is certain that ECOFFEE “will help our youth and entrepreneurs worldwide to approach what both of us decided to call sustainable entrepreneurship” and honoured us by considering ECOFFEE and Norman Cescut  “… as a gateway to be my representative in sustainability business”.

Our industry is experiencing a time of general change originated by the recent economic crisis and by new trends: sustainability and technological applications first. ECOFFEE integrates these new trends within a platform of services, products and projects that generate new jobs and a better future, starting with the idea that a more participatory, more accountable and sustainable shopping experience is the key for being able to spread the sustainability and responsibility culture.

This is why the Green Sheikh is supporting all our activities and services, whether they are for entrepreneurs willing to develop new concept stores or to create a franchising of ECOFFEE cafés. There are also many other projects to come, but we will disclose them later on.

In the meanwhile, the Green Sheikh has just come back from Brasil  where he supported the environmental cause, but before leaving he make a speech during a convention of Young Entrepreneurs, presenting the ECOFFEE project. A great speech that created enthusiasm and generated a strong interest, testified by the many requests that followed.

For those of you who would like to contact the Green Sheikh, please write to:
greensheikh@ecoffee.it