Meliá Chiang Mai’s restaurants Laan Na Kitchen and MAI Restaurant and Bar have each been awarded the prestigious “Golden Star Award” for ongoing sustainability efforts as part of Thailand’s Green Kitchen project.
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Supported by the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) and the Thai Health Promotion Foundation, under the leadership of Prof. Dr. Puangrat Kaelown from Chiang Mai University’s Environmental Engineering Faculty, Green Kitchen 2025 promotes organic and sustainable food concepts with participation from 44 restaurants and hotels in Chiang Mai.
Key criteria for participation in the program include: prioritising sourcing local, organic, and seasonal ingredients; reducing waste by composting and recycling, and minimizing single-use plastics; implementing eco-friendly design such as using sustainable materials and non-toxic finishes; community engagement such as educating staff and customers on sustainable practices; and health and wellness offerings such as nutritious, plant-based menu options.
Meliá Chiang Mai’s executive chef Suksant (Billy) Chutinthratip said the hotel has been recognised as an exemplary example of the Chiang Mai-based Green Kitchen project, with its two restaurants this year each receiving The Golden Star Award, due to each securing the Chiang Mai Green Kitchen Award for three consecutive years.
In addition to demonstrating a continuous commitment to sustainable and eco-friendly practices, the Golden Star Award required each restaurant to meet stringent food quality requirements through adherence to rigorous local organic food selection protocols and the consistent delivery of high-quality culinary offerings. Active involvement in community initiatives that promote sustainability, such as supporting local farmers, reducing food waste, and participating in environmental conservation efforts, was another award criterion.
In a bid to work closely with local farmers to help them improve sustainability and encourage ethical production to ultimately make the overall food system more resilient, the hotel works with a network of ethical and chemical-free suppliers including organic gourmet farm Rong Khum in San Pa Tong, gourmet farm SEED in San Sai District and Jartisann’s Original Thai Cheese, which crafts artisanal cheese made from high-quality, locally sourced raw cow’s milk.
The network is a central plank in Meliá Chiang Mai’s ‘360° Cuisine’ program, designed to reduce the hotel’s carbon footprint and promote healthy eating. Under the program, the hotel sources ‘farm to plate’ organic produce that travels only a short distance. As much of each ingredient is used – roots, leaves, stems, stalks and more – in a ‘thoughtful cooking process’ before ‘plate to farm’ food waste returns to the farms as fertilizer in a truly 360° concept. Leftover cooking oil is sent to be recycled into biodiesel.
Since the 360° Cuisine program’s inception in 2022, the hotel has sent more than 8342.5 kg of leftover food for compost and fertilizer to both farms and more than 2603kg of cooking oil to a biodiesel producer.
Meliá Chiang Mai also works with three universities to educate and train upcoming generations of hospitality professionals about sustainable farming, culinary and waste management practices.
“Engaging directly with local farmers, producers, professors and health sector professionals to create a unique connection within the community that ultimately benefits the health of our guests, our community and our environment takes a lot of blood, sweat and tears,” said Chef Billy. “Yet it’s worth it to support chemical-free, ethical and sustainable agriculture … and it’s a welcome bonus for our restaurants to officially receive the gold star too!”
To contact Meliá Chiang Mai or to make a booking, email reservation.chiangmai@melia.com, call +66 52 090 699 or visit https://www.melia.com/en/hotels/thailand/chiang-mai/melia-chiang-mai/index.htm
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