The Park Inn Hotel has joined the Origin Oman portal (www.originoman.om) and is striving to lead by example.
Launched in September 2008, the Origin Oman campaign urges consumers as well as corporates and government agencies to buy local.
Francois Galoisy, General Manager (pictured) at the Park Inn Hotel, said: “We definitely support the Origin Oman campaign. Why buy from the other side of the world when you have quality on your doorstep? In fact, more and more people want to know where their food is coming from.”
The newly-launched hotel is sticking to the company’s responsible business principles by purchasing as much of its fresh meat and produce from local suppliers, and describes the arrangement as a win-win for everyone involved.
“If I spend my money in Oman it’s helping the local economy. From my point of view, that’s vital. It’s so important to buy local if you want to be part of the local community,” suggests Galoisy.
“It doesn’t matter how good your chef is, at the end of the day you need good produce to start off with, and locally we can get the very best. Indeed, we’re keen to work with local suppliers and they’re keen to work with us; it’s a good deal for everyone,” says Sandeep Kamal, The Park Inn’s Executive Chef.
“We’ve a wealth of good, local produce - from meat, vegetables, fish, milk, crisps, yogurt, bread, tea - the list is endless, all produced by people who care about the quality and taste of the food we eat,” remarked the Park Inn General Manager adding: “Not only does local taste better but the food is produced in an environmentally friendly way with less use of chemicals, less distance to transport the products and more emphasis on animal welfare. We need to 'think local' whenever we buy food and encourage schools, colleges, businesses and government departments to do the same.”
“The Origin Oman campaign is an excellent way of promoting what we’ve got here in the sultanate and the more we can do to support local producers the better. In my experience, hotel guests would much rather eat something with a local flavour than something they know they can eat anywhere,” smiles Galoisy.
Blog contents copyright © 2006 PEIE
