Green Scene at NRA Show 2007

Exhibitors encourage eco-friendly practices

Josh Garellek squirts cleaning solution from a spray bottle into his mouth. The sales and marketing coordinator for Montreal-based Earth Alive is demonstrating the safety of an all-natural, all-purpose cleaner.

Earth Alive was among scores of exhibitors demonstrating eco-friendly products at the National Restaurant Association 2007 Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show. The company was part of the Show's growing Green Restaurant Products Pavilion.

As curious NRA Show attendees walk by, Garellek demonstrates the effectiveness of the all-purpose cleaner. He pours pancake syrup and vegetable oil on a "countertop" and then sprays the solution on the mess. The cleaner, a mixture of cold water and a brown powder made from tree bark, "good bacteria" and enzymes, begins to bubble as it breaks down the oil and syrup. It leaves no residue when Garellek wipes it away. NRA Show attendees ask about its applications, and Garellek tells them it can be used on hardwood, leather, vinyl, steel and grout, as well as food-contact surfaces.

Another NRA Show 2007 exhibitor, Enviro-Zyme International of Beloit, Wis., uses a similar approach to maintain grease lines. Its janitorial supply products combine several strains of bacteria to clean grease traps, sink traps, sewer lines and more.

Other eco-friendly exhibitors at the NRA Show promoted energy-saving equipment and supplies made from recycled waste. 2007 Kitchen Innovations award winner Bio Hi-Tech America demonstrated its BioX machine, which breaks down large volumes of organic waste into liquid. Oconomowoc, Wis.-based Great Lakes Specialty Supplies touted outdoor furnishings constructed from “lumber” made with 100 percent recycled plastic, mostly milk jugs and yogurt containers.

Kalamazoo, Mich.-based Fabri-Kal promoted its Greenware cups made from corn fiber. Fully compostable, the clear plastic cups are used by Ben & Jerry’s Homemade Ice Cream, Green Mountain Coffee and Wild Oats grocery stores, says Fabri-Kal marketing vice president John Kittredge. “One of our company’s objectives is sustainability,” he says. A benefit of cups made from corn-based plastic over petroleum-based plastic is that that costs don’t fluctuate with the price of oil, Kittredge points out. Instead, the costs are firm for the length of the contract, he says.

Brothers Josh and Larry Wright of CoolCorC, based in Memphis, Tenn., said they secured scores of solid leads at the NRA Show from foodservice operators interested in their company's hot-beverage cup sleeves, made from cork. They used photos and video to demonstrate how cork is harvested in Spain and Portugal from family-run farms, where the families punch stoppers for wine bottles from two-inch slaps of cork. After making the wine corks, they flatten the cork, press it into rolls and sell it for eco-friendly products such as cup sleeves. Filling a paper cup with boiling water, they show how the cork retains the heat in the cup. “It’s cool to see people get excited about this,” Larry Wright says.

Hundreds of foodservice operators also crowded education sessions on the business benefits of going green, including "Advantages of Going Green: Marketing to the Socially Responsible Consumer,", led by Michael Oshman of the Green Restaurant Association, and "Energy Conservation and Sustainable Design," led by Kathleen Seelye of Ricca Newmark Design. (Recordings of all sessions are available for purchase.)

In related news, the NRA Board of Directors announced the creation of a Green Task Force at its May 2007 board meeting in Chicago. The Task Force aims to educate restaurants about environmental practices and guide them in conserving natural resources.

-- by Linda Busche