Hydrogen energy is attracting attention as an energy source with low environmental impact. On December 11, 2023, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government formulated the “Tokyo Hydrogen Vision,” which introduces the direction
“Upcycling” is the process of adding new value to discarded or outdated items and transforming them into another new product. As the world’s population continues to grow, there is concern that if production and consumption continue at the current pace, there will not be enough resources on the planet, and this process is expected to be one way to contribute to resource recycling and waste reduction.
In the 2022 consumer survey, more than half (54.4%) of all respondents said they would purchase upcycled products even if the price is higher than non-upcycled products. These results indicate that the importance of a resource-recycling social system that makes effective use of limited resources and reuses what is no longer needed as resources is becoming increasingly popular among consumers.
Amid consumer interest in upcycling products, Royal Hotel, Ltd. announced a unique upcycling initiative on April 4, 2024.
Royal Hotel, Ltd. sells a variety of cakes, breads, side dishes, and other products at its “Gourmet Boutique Melissa” take-out store at the “RIHGA ROYAL HOTEL (Osaka)”, which it operates. This time, meal pans that are left unsold and discarded in stores will be offered free of charge and upcycled as “pamp shades” for interior lighting.
PANTHEM Corporation’s Pampshade is an interior light that is manufactured using real bread. Artist YUKIKO MORITA spent more than five years creating this work of art after becoming deeply distressed by discarded bread while working at a bakery. Based on real bread, it is specially processed to keep its realistic appearance semi-permanently.
In this initiative, Gourmet Boutique Melissa’s popular “Royal Rich Chiffon,” “Baguette” and other meal breads are frozen and offered once every two weeks. The bread offered is carefully hollowed out by artisans, and after about two weeks, it is reborn as a pampshade, which is then sold. Some of them are now available at the official online store of RIHGA ROYAL HOTEL.
The pamp shades sold as of April 2024 do not use unsold bread, and with this structure in place, the company plans to gradually transition to the use of unsold bread. The Royal Hotel will continue to work with PANTHEM to reduce food loss through joint development using discarded bread.
The initiative announced by the Royal Hotel was launched with the aim of reducing the waste loss of bread generated in daily operations. Reducing waste, including food loss, is closely related to the twelfth goal of the SDGs, “Responsibility to Create, Responsibility to Use,” and is an urgent issue that must be addressed on a global scale.
In order to promote the resolution of these issues, it is desirable that a variety of upcycled products become a fixture in consumers’ daily lives. Upcycled products that consumers can enjoy and incorporate into their daily lives, rather than feeling obligated to do so, such as these pamp shades, are a reassuring presence that can help solve such problems.
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[Reference Site] [Royal Hotel, Ltd.] Gourmet Boutique Melissa contributes to food loss reduction by providing free “unsold bread”
[Reference Site] Gourmet Boutique Melissa
[Reference Site] [Awareness Survey on Upcycling] More than half of those who are aware of upcycling tend to choose “consumption that contributes to society” even if the price is high.
