Organic certification in hotels: Green Pearls® members at BIO HOTELS
BIO HOTELS is a community of hotels that exclusively offer organically certified products. All hotels have committed to obeying strict guidelines and are subject to independent inspections.
Among the Green Pearls® partners are a number of BIO HOTELS members. We asked our organic hoteliers what motivated them to go the extra mile and switch to 100% organic.
Biohotel Sturm, Rhön
"Biohotel Sturm is a company that believes that many things have to change when it comes to the environment, food, and animal welfare. Our lives have changed. It's important not only to market a great product every day but also to have the best guests in the world. With 30 years of experience as a hotelier, our life has become much more fulfilling since our "organic step" forward. Respect, recognition, appreciation - you experience all these many closers!" Matthias Schulze Dieckhoff
Over 40 years ago, building contractor Otto Sturm founded the hotel, where daughter Christa Sturm and her husband Matthias Schulze Dieckhoff worked since 1987 and then took over the management in 1996. They bought the hotel in 2014 and since then the couple has pursued a constantly developing, sustainable strategy. One of the cornerstones of their philosophy is the preservation of nature. The host family has always preferred regional suppliers from the Rhön. Their desire to do so grew even further with the evolution of the Rhön into a Biosphere Reserve and the ongoing sustainable development of the hotel. In their search, the owner's family came across the BIO HOTELS group, a dedicated community organized as a registered association. All members are 100% certified organic by state-approved bodies. The members receive an organic control number similar to that used in agriculture. Food and cosmetics are 100% certified organic, and this is reliable that has created trust among guests.
"Our actions are determined by what happens to things and how everything is connected. It's like having new glasses on," Matthias Schulze Dieckhoff describes the philosophy of the hotel.
I grew up with organic. We maintain a very personal relationship with our guests and regulars. The "organic spirit" is rooted in our DNA. We enjoy the fact that our guests are already strongly influenced by the organic idea and from this has formed a like-minded community at the hotel.
Biohotel Grafenast
The history of the Biohotel Grafenast begins in the early 80s with the peace movement. "World Federalists" came to the region and presented the hotels there with a great challenge: to offer exclusively vegetarian meals. What is taken for granted today was a small sensation back then? The Unterlechner family from Pillberg got involved and from then on offered vegetarian dishes.
Since 1986 the hotel has been called a "Bio Aktivhotel" (Organic Active Hotel) and has changed all its offerings. In the beginning, this meant the loss of many regular guests, since at that time many people associated organic with bland flavors and giving up delicious variety. Quite the opposite to today, where organic products are booming.
Dr. Hansjörg Unterlechner, the father of the current owner, was the mastermind and founding member of the "BIO HOTELS" association and was on the board of directors from 2001 to 2010.
Since 2007 Peter Unterlechner and his wife Waltraud have been running the business and are proud members of BIO HOTELS. There is a lot of support among members, great cooperation, a strong fellowship, a common outward appearance, and a remarkable shared philosophy.
We have always been a bit "green" before we opened a hotel. The first thoughts about it came shortly after Chernobyl. The unforeseeable consequences, the contaminated whey, which drove for weeks through Germany because nobody wanted it. From here on we started to take a closer look for ourselves.
Bio Familien hotel Gut Nisdorf an der Ostsee-Boddenküste
The Bio Hotel Gut Nisdorf on the sheltered Bodden coast spoils families by offering a carefree and relaxing holiday for all members of the family. The estate is located directly on the Baltic Sea (Grabow Bodden), not far from the island of Rügen.
For Sabine Stange and Jürg Gloor, the sustainable use of resources has always been extremely important. Even in Berlin, long before the move to Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, they were shopping in organic food stores. The move to the manor house in pristine nature with their first harvest with natural flavors, without artificial fertilizers or environmental toxins, reinforced their already determined mindset.
The manor house was ecologically renovated and equipped with high quality, solid wooden furniture. The hosts were guided by the idea of preserving a future worth living for future generations and inspiring other people to be more mindful of their impact.
A large part of the food that was processed in the kitchen was organic right from the start, but the hoteliers did not have the opportunity to really advertise this.
At an event, Jürg Gloor struck up a conversation with a representative of BIO HOTELS, who suggested switching completely to organic. After careful consideration, the hoteliers joined the BIO HOTELS association in 2013. The members, united by the organic idea, come from the most diverse regions of Europe. There are only a few BIO HOTELS in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The joint marketing is strong, the individual hotels all reap the benefits. Individuals profit from being a part of a large network.
The high-quality organic food is sourced regionally as much as possible and then freshly processed so that little waste is produced (Zero Waste Kitchen). Fish and game are caught directly from the region and are only offered when available.
In addition to regular organic certification, Sabine Stange and Jürg Gloor measure their CO2 footprint, which is constantly being reduced. Since the beginning of 2020, the hotel has been climate-neutral and supports environmental projects that either save CO2 or actually reduce CO2, for example through reforestation.
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