Striving for sustainability and self-sufficiency, hospitality businesses around Vietnam have shifted towards a more sustainable operating model via land cultivation and farming. Food self-sufficiency is now an integral element of the business operations of many hotels and resorts, demonstrating their dedication to the “farm-to-table” movement.

Cam Ranh resort growing its own food at new onsite farm

In an effort to realize greater self-sufficiency and sustainability at the Alma Resort, Landscape Manager Ngo Duc Thinh and his team have transformed parts of the 30-ha resort into a 1,000 sq m nursery, a 260 sq m chicken farm, and a 180 sq m herb garden. The nursery is teeming with bananas, coconuts, papaya, squash, passionfruit, sunflowers, daisies, and more. The adjacent chicken farm is home to a growing brood of hens, roosters, and chicks. Outside the beachfront restaurant Atlantis, the herb garden brims with mustard leaves, morning glory, red and green chili peppers, Vietnamese basil, lettuce, green onions, white radish, bok choy, tomatoes, and more. All of the farm’s produce is directed to its restaurants. Bananas, coconuts, and eggs are served during breakfast, lettuce and mustard leaves are included in salads, and coconuts are provided as drinks at Atlantis. The Italian restaurant La Casa’s traditional caprese salad features tomatoes from the herb garden and locally-produced mozzarella cheese.

Buffaloes helping manage the margins at central coast golf course

Located in a part of Vietnam renowned for its pristine nature, Laguna Lang Co prides itself on having a strong focus on sustainability. And part of this drive is an extensive organic farm that utilizes worm farming as a source of nutrition. The farm provides fresh produce for F&B outlets at award-winning resorts Banyan Tree Lang Co and Angsana Lang Co. It is supported by a range of other agricultural initiatives, not least Laguna Lang Co’s famous bovine greenkeepers. Water buffaloes help manage the seven hectares of rice fields located right in the middle of the Sir Nick Faldo Signature golf course by eating excess weeds and crops that would otherwise require machinery and staff to maintain. Not only do the animals provide a vital service in tending to the paddies, they supply an additional appealing optic to one of the most eye-catching sections of a golf course already strong on visual manna. The rice fields, though, are not just for show. Harvested twice a year, they yield up to 20 tons that are used to support the organic farm at Laguna Lang Co and are also donated to families and seniors in the area.

Onsite farm’s produce feeding resort guests and staff

The Anam Cam Ranh has dedicated 8,500 sq m of its 12 beachfront hectares to an array of fruit and vegetables, herbs, and chicken and duck eggs for guest and staff meals. The resort’s chefs incorporate ingredients from the farm, such as morning glory, malabar spinach, corn, mustard greens, and wild betel leaves, in meals served to guests at Lang Viet Restaurant & Bar as well as in the staff kitchen. The farm’s variety of vegetables also includes lettuce, cucumber, green onion, and cassava root. Custard apple, papaya, banana, mango, cac fruit, and bitter melon are among its fruit. Herbs grown include basil, coriander, thyme, mint, imperata cylindrica, and plantago asiatica. In addition to ducks and chickens, the farm also has geese, rabbits, goats, guinea fowl, turkeys, and peacocks. Children are welcome to visit as part of a supervised program to learn more about sustainable farming.

Willow’s Garden growing from strength to strength

What began as a spice garden in response to a shortage of vegetables during the Covid-19 lockdown has blossomed into a self-sustainable half-acre space dubbed “Willow’s Garden” on the grounds of Meliá Ho Tram Beach Resort. The team at the beachfront resort on Vietnam’s southern coast started the project in 2021, planting a few fast-growing vegetables and spices for use in lunches at the staff canteen in a bid to be more self-sufficient during the pandemic. The 1,700 sq m area surrounding a 300 sq m lake harbors an array of fruit and vegetables, herbs, and flowers, such as grapefruit, pomegranate, cucumber, eggplant, ginger, coriander, and sunflowers, all free from chemicals and additives. The resort expects to develop a specialized menu embracing a plant-to-plate philosophy in its restaurants and a program giving guests the chance to cultivate their own mini-garden at home by learning fruitful tips and tricks deployed by staff. Guests are also encouraged to rummage through the garden to pick ingredients such as fresh herbs to use when crafting their own dishes before indulging in them as part of Muoi restaurant’s “Cook & Dine” cooking class. The resort will also roll out fun, free gardening activities for guests, such as painting pots, flower puzzling, leaf crafts, and making herb-infused essential oils.

A huge hands-on resort farm on the coast that kids love

Fusion Resort Cam Ranh, on Vietnam’s south-central coast, boasts one of the largest resort farms in Vietnam, with more than 250 animals, a mango orchard, and a herb and vegetable garden on more than 3,000 sq m producing over 40 kg of fresh organic vegetables daily. The resort established the Fusion Farm school in 2020, where they teach classes daily, on a complimentary basis, to guests and employees’ children on how to care for animals and grow vegetables. Children also enjoy collecting their own eggs for breakfast. All of their wet raw food waste is used to feed the animals, resulting in zero removal of waste from the property.

A picturesque and practical design helping feed local people and guests in Mai Chau

The mountainside property Avana Retreat Mai Chau embraces its local roots, literally. The team recently launched their own natural, pesticide-free garden, where they grow a vast selection of herbs and vegetables that appear on guests’ plates. From chayote to coriander, many typical Vietnamese flavors can be found in the new vegetable patch. Also on site is a free-range chicken farm where around 500 chickens enjoy a spacious home while supplying the kitchen with an abundance of eggs. And while the picturesque terraced rice fields that cascade throughout the property are a stunning design element, they are also working rice paddies tended to by the local community.