Food Trend Watch: Even the Hotel Mini-Bar Is Going Local

Food Trend Watch: Even the Hotel Mini-Bar Is Going Local

Food & Drink

Food Trend Watch: Even the Hotel Mini-Bar Is Going Local

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That hyper food trend known as “eating local” has truly gone mainstream. It’s now penetrated the hotel minibar.

You know, that little junk food section of your hotel room that charges triple the normal price for the same candies and snacks you can buy in the gift shop? Yeah, that minibar. The one where you can buy a bottle of water for five bucks or a single-serve bag of chips for three. It doesn’t get much more mainstream than that.

As reported by Barbara De Lollis of USA Today, you now can find lots of locally-produced items stocked in those wicker baskets and little locked-up safes. Some even boast that they’re organic or produced in small batches.

The 400-room Omni Berkshire Hotel in New York, for instance, has replaced Pringles with chips made on Long Island, and is looking into stocking chocolates made in Brooklyn and Long Island.

High-end boutique hotels have been going the “local” route for a while, but now it seems to be hitting the major chains like the Omni and Hyatt franchises, especially in big cities such as New York. You can find items like North Fork chips, Martin’s Pretzels, Brooklyn Brewery beer, and Hudson single malt whiskey.

It’s happening in hotels beyond the bright lights of Gotham, too. At the new W Hotel in Austin, Texas, guests can find local favorites such as Tito’s Vodka, Paula’s Texas Orange premium liqueur, and Fireman’s 4 from local brewery Real Ale.

They’re still probably overpriced though. Hey, you pay for the convenience, right?

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