00:00 (water running)
00:02 In five star luxury hotels,
00:06 there typically is a good amount of waste.
00:09 At the Emirates Palace,
00:10 we want to make our purpose to not add to the waste.
00:14 The date palms are an integral part of our resort ecosystem.
00:18 We've got more than 500 of them
00:20 and six types of distinct different dates.
00:23 We pollinate, they grow, we harvest.
00:26 All dates harvested in our hotel
00:28 are incorporated in the one or the other food experiences.
00:32 We do a date jam that accompanies our scones
00:34 for afternoon tea.
00:35 We use date syrup to produce sweetness
00:37 to various our desserts.
00:39 And we share them with our staff
00:41 during Ramadan breaking fast.
00:43 Dates are an invaluable source for this region.
00:47 Harvested since millennia,
00:49 in Islam breaking the fast with a date
00:51 is the one thing everybody does.
00:53 The key efforts of Mandarin Oriental
00:55 are to act with responsibility wherever we can.
00:58 In the local communities, globally,
01:00 whatever we can do to improve the environment.
01:02 Welcome to the Emirates Palace Mandarin Oriental Abu Dhabi.
01:16 We are a unique five star luxury hotel in Abu Dhabi,
01:22 the capital of the United Arab Emirates.
01:24 And also the first hotel in region
01:26 that offers a vegan room experience.
01:29 Veganism has nothing to do with simplicity.
01:41 We realized that the vegan lifestyle
01:43 is not limited to food and beverage alone.
01:45 And this is what we wanted to give to our guests
01:48 in a complete different, but elevated luxury way.
01:51 These rooms are composition of many individual items
01:55 and all leading to making sure
01:56 veganism chain is not broken.
01:59 So everything we do for minibar products,
02:01 the sheets, the bathroom amenities,
02:03 everything is completely vegan.
02:05 Even our colleagues who are cleaning the rooms
02:07 will never go in with leather shoes.
02:09 So we go to an extent that I believe we can be proud of.
02:12 While veganism is absolutely growing
02:15 and the lifestyle choice by so many,
02:17 it is currently mostly anchored
02:19 in the food and beverage industry.
02:22 Sourcing vegan linen, sourcing companies
02:26 that produce these guaranteed qualities
02:27 at this incredible high standard level
02:29 has been a real challenge.
02:31 And it took us quite a while to source the right manufacturer.
02:34 If we don't take care of the product that we have procured,
02:37 we will disrupt the entire value chain.
02:40 Our cleaning cycle, the detergents we use
02:42 are all chemical free and are all aligned
02:45 in the full veganism style.
02:46 The beauty about the bed sheets and the bed linen
02:48 is that they are incredibly, incredibly comfortable.
02:51 This is a small company that produces a very small quantity
02:54 of totally organic material, 100% organic by-product.
02:58 So it is made of cupro, it is made of viscose,
03:01 and it's biodegradable, it feels good, it's sensational.
03:04 The guests absolutely love it.
03:07 They approach us and said, "Where can we buy the linen?"
03:09 It became a real trend,
03:10 and we have made this part of our retail line,
03:12 and we landed a hit.
03:15 As we started researching about vegan lifestyle
03:18 and vegan rooms in general,
03:19 we realized there's so much more than just the bed sheet.
03:22 So we needed to start by eliminating the wooden carpet,
03:24 which normally hotels are proud of.
03:26 There is no leather application, no leather trim.
03:28 Everything is exchanged by faux leather.
03:31 Everything is exchanged by fabric.
03:33 And even the fabric, everything is non-chemically treated.
03:36 One of the major objectives, of course,
03:38 is to make sure all our products we offer
03:41 and we have in place in the room are cruelty-free,
03:43 non-animal tested, and completely comply
03:46 to the vegan lifestyle.
03:47 Whether it is the foam pillows that substitute
03:50 either down or feather pillows,
03:51 or the skincare products that we deploy,
03:54 everything is really, really taken care of individually
03:57 and hand-selected.
03:58 And therefore, the growing demand, the growing need,
04:01 we serve it really, really well.
04:03 Whilst we consider it self-explanatory
04:07 that within the confines of our vegan rooms,
04:09 you will only have a vegan room service menu,
04:12 across the entire hotel,
04:14 all our food offering is specialized for vegan,
04:17 but in a very smart way.
04:19 A vegan knows what to eat and what not to eat.
04:21 So we don't indicate on the buffet,
04:23 this is the vegan area.
04:25 A major factor that assists us to be truly vegan
04:29 is the abundance of vegan food that we have
04:31 in this Middle Eastern region.
04:33 Mediterranean diets, Arabic food is all around hummus.
04:36 It's all about mutabal.
04:38 We've got these wonderful products that are plant-based,
04:40 that are olive oil enriched,
04:42 and that give us already an organic variety of choices.
04:46 With our UAE partner, Green Hearts,
04:48 everything is pesticide-free.
04:50 It would not be advantageous for us
04:52 if we built a greenhouse
04:53 and we artificially cool it or warm it.
04:55 So highly seasonal, organic,
04:57 it's just a natural continuation
05:00 of our environmental engagement,
05:01 but particularly focused for Italian fine dining.
05:04 - In the kitchen, when you see your ingredient growing,
05:11 you take care of it more,
05:12 almost like your baby, you know?
05:14 I think I'm really lucky because
05:16 when you have your garden, your place,
05:19 you can go there, you can pick.
05:20 Every day you can discover,
05:22 you can do some different thing.
05:24 With one ingredient, you can do really nice, unique dish.
05:28 In our hotel, we grow these dates.
05:31 We know there's so many variety,
05:33 but this one I really love.
05:35 I will use for the affogato on top of ice cream.
05:38 I cook with a bit cream.
05:39 I make this jam, I will put on top of the ice cream.
05:43 I mean, I'm also lucky because
05:45 since when I'm in Abu Dhabi,
05:46 I start to use it.
05:47 In Italy, you can find a lot.
05:49 It's really nice.
05:50 My most popular vegan dish is Bistecca mushroom,
05:55 Bistecca di funghi in Italian.
05:56 It's four different consistence of mushroom.
05:58 I will use vegan juice for the mushroom.
06:08 And same dish I use also as a nut.
06:10 The local ingredient is really important for the chef.
06:14 I think it's something really unique.
06:16 You can say, look, this ingredient this morning,
06:18 we just take from our garden.
06:20 It's super fresh, it's super,
06:22 I think give something a bit more, no?
06:25 For the experience.
06:26 - Overall, the hotel has 400 rooms and suites.
06:35 Our initial phase, which started two years ago,
06:38 we allocated six rooms in the hotel as it was a startup.
06:42 I believe the need for vegan suites is absolutely critical
06:45 because luxury is limitless
06:48 and vegan lifestyle is limitless too.
06:51 So I think the expansion into larger accommodation,
06:54 into better and more luxurious stay,
06:56 is just waiting for us.
06:58 We are confident that we have set a trend.
07:00 We are pioneering.
07:01 It's a little bit the wild west of what we are doing here.
07:04 - We at the Emirates Palace
07:05 have abolished single-use plastic two years ago.
07:09 We are recycling whatever we can.
07:10 - And I can only encourage other people to follow suit
07:14 and to help us to create a better world,
07:17 a more plant-based food chain
07:20 and more awareness about a healthy lifestyle.
07:23 To define luxury at the Emirates Palace
07:25 is a really interesting task.
07:28 18 years ago, when the hotel was built,
07:29 luxury was defined with gold, with granite,
07:32 with marble, with opulence.
07:34 18 years later, it is defined by humility.
07:37 It is defined by experiences.
07:39 So our mission today is to satisfy customers
07:42 from all walks of life
07:44 and introduce them to experiences and to moments of delight
07:47 that without us, they probably couldn't have had.
07:50 - It was a pleasure having you
07:56 at the Emirates Palace Munde and Oriental,
07:58 and we hope to welcome you soon again.
08:00 (gentle music)
08:03 [BLANK_AUDIO]
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