VRI Goes Organic

From Colorado Biz Magazine
By Allen BestWhen Vail Resorts does something, it usually does it big, and so it goes for its latest move to serve organic and natural foods at its restaurants.

A recap: The expansion of Vail Mountain in 1999 and 2000 was the largest in North American ski history, in one fell swoop larger than Aspen.

In 2006, harkening to the new concerns about global warming, it bought renewable energy credits for wind that will be sufficient to meet the electrical needs at its five ski areas and also its RockResorts-branded lodging properties. It was, at the time, the second largest corporate purchase ever of wind energy credits.

This spring, it announced plans for a $1 billion real-estate development, called Ever Vail, which is to be the first proposed project under the new LEED neighborhood program. LEED is a program sponsored by the U.S. Green Building Council for certifying “green” building practices.

The latest big play was into the world of organic foods. The company announced last fall that it was partnering with Coleman Natural Meats and WhiteWave Foods Co., the maker of Silk soy products, and would use Horizon dairy products made by White Wave parent Dean Foods Co. Vail officials said nearly 90 percent of fresh meats and dairy products will be organic for this coming season, with the goal of making it 100 percent thereafter.

With this move, Vail says it believes it will serve more meals made with natural meats and certified organic products each year than any other restaurant operator in North America. The company has 40 on-mountain venues at its five ski areas, and those restaurants serve more than 2.5 million lunches each ski season.

Of the five ski areas, Heavenly is in California, and the others — Vail, Beaver Creek, Keystone and Breckenridge — are in Colorado.

As he did in 2006 when announcing the purchase of renewable energy certificates, Rob Katz, the chief executive officer of Vail Resorts, portrayed this as an environmental initiative. “Our product is really the outdoors; that’s really what we sell,” he said.

Also as he did last year, Katz spoke repeatedly of “doing the right thing.”

He also acknowledged that many of Vail’s customers already purchase organic food products.

No price increases are planned this year, except for the normal 5 percent for food products, he said.

For Coleman Natural Foods, the partnership was a natural one, said John Bogert, chief marketing officer. The company’s core market are consumers aged 25 to 45, and families with more than $75,000 household income. “That makes this a perfect fit with Vail,” he said.

Coleman meats are free from antibiotics, added hormones, artificial ingredients and preservatives, as well as animal byproducts, but the animals are not necessarily fed grass and other vegetable matter that is organic.

The organic market has been booming, with a growth of nearly 21 percent last year, reports the Organic Trade Association. But there’s more growth potential in the meat sector. “Only 3 percent of all protein today is natural and/or organic,” he said.

From Coleman’s perspective, Vail will also be a good fit because it will sell the idea of natural meat. “We won’t just put the product out there. They’ll also help explain the benefits,” Bogert said.

Bogert also noted that while organic products have become pervasive in grocery stores, they remain less available, even obscure, in restaurants. “Take the top 50 restaurants in the country that serve all-natural products, and it’s a pretty short list,” he said, able only to name Chipotle, the Mexican food purveyor.

In addition to the ski areas, Coleman Natural will also supply meats and poultry to the lodging properties operated by Vail resorts in Wyoming’s Jackson Hole.

For the ordinary grocery shopper, the bulk purchases of meat and dairy products this winter look astounding: 18,000 pounds of bacon, for example, 180,000 pounds of hamburger, and 137,000 pounds of cheese.

To help brand the organic foods, Vail Resorts has a new logo, which looks something like the yin-yang symbol of Chinese culture. It’s circular, like a plate, but green, and a swirl through it that Katz joked is meant to resemble “the path.” The brand is called Appetite for Life.

The Vail Resorts story is also very localized. The corporation is now based in the Denver-Boulder area, as are Coleman and WhiteWave.

In addition, Coleman Natural is owned by Booth Creek Management, which is controlled largely by the family of George Gillett, who once owned Vail and Beaver Creek and now operates a variety of other ski areas.