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Xanterra�s 64 Restaurants Add Innovations
to Sustainable Cuisine Offerings

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DENVER, July 22, 2005 � What began with a company-wide seafood policy that ensured Xanterra Parks & Resorts served only sustainable seafood in its 64 restaurants is now an aggressive program that includes a wide variety of new innovations in sustainable cuisine.

�Our chefs have created some of the most innovative sustainable offerings we�ve ever seen,� said Tim Stein director of food and beverage and quality for Xanterra Parks & Resorts. �Particularly in the most remote locations like the Lake Yellowstone Hotel, the sustainable, locally grown or organic ingredients we use are not always easy to find or transport. Our chefs have become a combination of scientists, environmentalists, artists and logistics experts in order to create some of these new menu offerings.�

Examples of menu items include a Pinwheel of Wild Alaska Salmon with Sautéed Spinach and Organic Red Lentil ragout at the Lake Yellowstone Hotel Dining Room and Kal-bi Style Teriyaki Chicken made with free-ranch chicken from Fulton Valley Farms at the Silverado Resort in Napa Valley.

It has been four years since national park and resort concessioner Xanterra first announced a company-wide seafood policy that promoted the use of sustainable seafood in all of its restaurants as well as its catering and employee dining operations. At that time, Xanterra began recommending fish from Marine Stewardship Council-certified sustainable fisheries and those that were harvested using sustainable practices, following guidelines developed by the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch protocol and the Audubon Society�s Living Oceans Seafood Guide.  The company also stopped serving four species of seafood � Chilean Sea Bass, Atlantic Swordfish, Blue Fin Tuna and Shark � because the survival of those species is threatened by over-fishing, or they are harvested in ways that damage the environment. 

Since then, Xanterra�s sustainable cuisine menu offerings have grown substantially, including the additions of Oregon Country Natural Beef; Kurobuta Pork; Kobe-style Beef; organic Fair Trade Certified Coffee from Green Mountain Coffee Roasters; local dairy; wines produced using sustainable practices; organic soy milk; farm-raised trout, shrimp and abalone; locally grown produce and hormone- and antibiotic-free elk, bison, chicken and venison. 

Other examples of Xanterra�s sustainable food programs include:

  • Becoming the first U.S. hospitality company to be granted the �Chain of Custody� certification from the Marine Stewardship Council
  • Becoming a corporate member of the Chef�s Collaborative, a national network of more than 1,000 members of the food community who promote sustainable cuisine
  • Implementing a Foodservice Energy Awareness Program that teaches all foodservice employees to participate in energy conservation in a variety of ways
  • Developing a Green Procurement program to ensure all paper products and chemicals used in the company�s foodservice operations are environmentally sound
Xanterra Parks & Resorts operates lodges, restaurants and other concessions at national parks and state parks and resorts. Xanterra is the country�s largest national park concessioner. The company operates concessions in the following locations: Yellowstone National Park, the North and South Rims of Grand Canyon National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park, Zion National Park, Crater Lake National Park, Death Valley National Park, Petrified Forest National Park, Everglades National Park, and Mount Rushmore National Memorial; and at the Silverado Resort in Napa, Calif.; Gideon Putnam Resort & Spa in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. and eight Ohio State Parks. 

Long committed to the preservation and protection of the environment, Ecologix, Xanterra�s environmental program, includes a variety of proactive environmental stewardship programs in each location. Xanterra was selected as a member of the EPA �Environmental Performance Track� program in 2003. Also in 2003, the company�s Grand Canyon operations received the Arizona Tourism Award for Preservation and its operations in Mount Rushmore received the prestigious ISO 14001 Environmental Management System Standard Certification. Xanterra was the recipient of Environmental Achievement Awards from the Environmental Protection Agency in 2002 and from the Department of Interior in 2001 and 2002.  Xanterra also received the Travel Industry Association�s Odyssey Award for its environmental initiatives in 2001.

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Contact:

Xanterra Parks & Resorts
[email protected]
www.xanterra.com

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Also See: Driven by Desire to Do Right by the Environment, Chefs Wading Into Fisheries Management / July 2002
Environmentally Responsible Cuisine Decisions Stretches Through All of Xanterra Parks & Resort's 64 Restaurants / June 2004


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