Hotel Minibars, Campus Vending Machines Getting Healthy

It used to be easy to succumb to guilty pleasures when traveling. After all, the hotel minibars were stocked with cookies, chips, and sodas, among other things. Not anymore. The healthy-food marketplace has entered this previously untouched zone: organic has come to the hotel minibar.

Marketwatch reports that “hotels and resorts are increasingly stocking minibars with healthier alternatives to traditional high-fat, high-sugar snacks,” which is helpful to the waistlines of travelers as well as the bank accounts of hotel owners and healthy-food providers.

The report notes that Hyatt's Andaz Wall Street in New York stocks organic Clif Bars and Terra plain and vegetable natural chips in its minibars, while the Four Seasons Austin in Texas is testing sales of six “organic, healthy and/or locally-produced products, including peeled mango, ginger tea and nut-and-fruit gluten-free energy bars” this summer. And those two luxury hotel locations aren’t alone.Continue reading...