This autumn, the Poreč hotel Valamar Diamant introduced the certificate “Healthy Meal Standard” which targets guests with specific dietary needs, habits and preferences, and especially athletes who often choose this hotel for their preparation.
HRTurizam reports on 12 December 2016 that the “Healthy Meal Standard” certificate utilizes trained staff to prepare and offer meals according to the standards set by the Directive of the European Union 1169. In this, Valamar is prepared to cater to those with an intolerance to gluten, vegans, vegetarians, athletes and people who want to reduce and balance their weight. In addition, according to this standard, all the food on offer must be listed with nutritional value, including energy value, fat, carbohydrates, proteins, and information about allergens.
“We are very pleased that we are the first in Croatia to introduce and be certified by this standard for diet, which is of special importance for business tourism. Valamar Riviera provides its guests with superior quality of service and is constantly following the trends while developing a diverse offer for custom target groups. With the Healthy Meal Standard, this is recognized as a model of informing guests and guarantees quality food with multiple benefits that will provide added value to our offer, aiming at guests with specific dietary needs, as well as all the other guests who would like to improve their quality of life in general,” said Oliver Brajkovic, head of audit and standardization for Valamar Riviera.
Healthy Meal Standard (HMS) is the first unique and integrated model of a standardization certification of health menus in public and primary tourist facilities in accordance with international and national guidelines for diets with specific needs. Nutritional people with special dietary needs are a very important component of health tourism, and a customized cuisine allows for strengthening the competitiveness of the tourist offer of Croatia.
The Healthy Meal Standard is a project that allows direct address to a group of ten guests with special dietary needs, which at the European level has a hundred million members. In this context, such a unique offer on the market in the area of healthy cuisine is becoming a market advantage over the competition that generates interest in new guests and retains existing ones, but it is also an important influence on extending the season and opens a new offer in the fields of nutrition, health and physical activity.
“In Europe there are more people who have special dietary needs than those who do not, and we need to adjust the view of the market and apply Healthy Meal Standards to ensure the safety of every guest and the quality of each facility that is serving them. That is why Valamar has recognized the huge opportunities of safe, high-quality, and certified meals with the help of the Healthy Meal Standard, and thus became the first hotel with five certified standards, which makes us particularly happy,” said the director of Healthy Meal Standard, Diana Gluhak.
