Alma Resort growing its own food at its own farm

Alma Resort in Cam Ranh, south-central Khanh Hoa province, is actively introducing go-green solutions and initiatives while educating and encouraging its employees and guests to join the journey. In a bid to make Alma more self-sufficient and sustainable, landscape manager Ngo Duc Thinh and his team of green thumbs have transformed parts of the family resort into a 1,000 sq m garden, a 260 sq m chicken farm, and a 180 sq m herb garden, which produce an array of fruit and vegetables, herbs, and eggs for meals and drinks.

Leftovers from the resort’s kitchen are used as compost and the farm is watered with recycled water.

In addition to its farm-to-table initiatives, Alma also offers tours of its garden, sharing tips on cultivating a vegetable patch at home. It plans to run cooking classes in the future, where participants will learn how to make healthy meals with garden ingredients.

“We feel so proud to be putting our resort’s land to good use by creating our very own farm and embracing the farm-to-table movement,” said Mr. Thinh. “It’s so rewarding for our team of gardeners to see the kitchen staff use our produce and to see guests of all ages take a tour of the farm.

“There’s a lot of talk in the hospitality industry about going green but it’s really important to talk the talk, and this is yet another initiative at Alma that helps create a more sustainable holiday for guests,” said Alma Resort’s Managing Director Mr. Herbert Laubichler-Pichler.

Its “hotel as a farm” efforts follow numerous initiatives, including plans to implement Vietnam’s most ambitious solar power project for a hotel yet, and the appointment of a sustainability officer. Alma has other measures in place to reduce its carbon footprint, including a water treatment plant, an electric buggy station, recycling in its garbage room, and its transition to paperless solutions with the Alma App.

Alma Resort is developed by the Thien Duong Bay Tourist Area Co. It has 580 oversized suites and pavilions that all afford sweeping vistas of the ocean, including contemporary three-bedroom oceanfront pavilions each totaling 224 sq m with a living room, four bathrooms, and a private pool.

Other highlights of the resort are 12 swimming pools cascading down to the beach, a waterpark, 13 treatment room spas, a 70-seat cinema, a convention center, an amphitheater, a science museum, a gymnasium and yoga room, an 18-hole mini golf course, a youth center with virtual reality games, a kid’s club, a water sports center, and even an “Alma Mart” mini supermarket.