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GO! Organic Festival: New Chefs & Foodie Features Galore

Aspire Executive Lounges, Swissport's global airport hospitality brand, has joined the British Institute of Hospitality, the world’s leading and award-winning membership body for hospitality professionals. Aspire Executive Lounges becomes the first business partner from the airport lounge hospitality sector to join the Institute of Hospitality. Aspire Executive Lounges, the fast-growing Swiss brand in the airport hospitality business, has joined the British Institute of Hospitality (IoH), the world’s leading membership body for professionals working and studying in the hospitality leisure and tourism industry. Aspire Executive Lounges is the first business from the airport lounge sector to become a member of IoH. The collaboration will foster an exchange of expertise and insights: IoH will benefit from Aspire's expertise in airport hospitality, while Aspire, by sharing its wealth of experience with IoH members, can extend its professional network to the hotel and catering sectors and hospitality management schools. “Our vision for Aspire Executive Lounges is clear and simple: We want to deliver a guest experience that is similar to what our guests are used to from their preferred hotels, meeting the needs and exceeding the expectations of today’s travelers,” says David Collyer, Global Vice President of Executive Lounges at Swissport International AG. “We strive to deliver an unparalleled experience and set a benchmark that transcends our industry, redefining excellence across the hospitality sector. The Institute of Hospitality is a great network to exchange insights and experiences, and to learn from others in the hospitality sector, which will help us bring our vision to life.” Robert Richardson, CEO of the Institute of Hospitality: “Our aspiration at the Institute of Hospitality has been to develop and grow our membership, the number of countries we operate in, and the number of hospitality sectors represented within our organization. With that in mind, it is a natural partnership for us to welcome Aspire into our family, and to learn from their teams, who serve travelers with passion and dedication. As two organizations with similar values, we look forward to collaborating in promoting high levels of excellence within our profession.” With over 30 years of experience, Aspire Executive Lounges is Europe’s largest brand in the airport lounges sector. In 2023, Swissport welcomed more than five million customers worldwide at over 69 lounges in 20 countries. The airport hospitality brand recently opened new lounges at Toronto City Airport in Canada, and Helsinki-Vantaa Airport in Finland. Aspire Executive Lounges recently created a new lounge concept in partnership with the airline alliance oneworld. The first oneworld branded lounge was launched at Incheon Airport in Seoul, Korea, in December 2023. Aspire Executive Lounges is owned by Swissport International AG, the global leader in aviation services, serving airlines at 286 airports in 44 countries across 6 continents
Written by Amy

GO! Organic, London’s new summer festival celebrating the very best in organic, sustainability and healthy lifestyles, has added more big names to its line-up, including celebrity chef Theo Randall.

Taking place over the weekend of 8-9 September at Battersea Park, there will be over a dozen live cooking demonstrations in the Organic Kitchen, with top chefs sharing their pro tips and exclusive recipes for creating tasty, naturally-good food every day.

For Italian food lovers – Theo Randall’s exclusive demo on Sunday 9 September (1pm) is a must.  A former head chef at the legendary River Café (it was under his direction that the restaurant won its first Michelin Star in 1997), his restaurant ‘Theo Randall at the InterContinental’ in London is consistently voted one of the best Italians in the UK.  He’ll be talking about his passion for all things organic, while preparing a selection of his favourite dishes from his new book My Simple Italian.

Other new names on the menu include: Asian cookery expert and London Food Board member Angela Malik, who’ll be focusing on the importance of buying and using sustainably-sourced ingredients at home.  And ‘plant-forward’ chef Jay Morjaria, founder of central London’s first meat free cooking school Sutra Kitchen.

They join Gelf Alderson, executive chef at River Cottage; Emily Watkins, head chef of The Kingham Plough; eco restauranteur Arthur Potts-Dawson; leading food writer and chef Rosie Birkett; and GBBO contestant Chetna Makan.

“Organic is more relevant than ever, appealing to everyone from foodies to families, and all those who are looking for food, as it should be, and the benefits that organic brings.  I’m really looking forward to cooking at GO! Organic Festival and enjoying this festival with my family,” says Chetna Makan, who will be showing how to make easy Indian street food that tastes amazing and takes just minutes to prepare at 2pm on Saturday 8 September.

If all that talk of food gets you hungry, GO! Organic Festival’s indoor organic marketplace has you covered.

The following are just some of the organic food and drink stalls available: Abel & Cole, Alara, Balanced Nature, Bio-tiful Dairy, Calon Wen Organic Dairy, Celtic Bakers, Clearspring, Cocoa Loco, Community Foods (Tarantella and Crazy Jack), Cream O’Galloway, Divine Chocolate, Fatty’s Organic Gin, Greener Greens, G’s Fresh, Happy Butter, Happy Kombucha, Helen Browning’s Organic, Honest Organic, Infinity Foods, Nutri-Fungi, Peelham Farm, Produce World, Pukka, Pull The Cork, Purearth, Riverford, Sunfresh, The Tomato Stall, Tiny Leaf, Vintage Roots & London and Scottish International (hosting a pop up bar), Wyld Wood Cider (Westons Cider), and Yogi Tea.

GO! Organic has also teamed up with Stroud Brewery to present the GO! Organic Beer Festival.  Featuring over 40 of the best organic beers from UK organic breweries, it will have something for everyone – from refreshing IPAs to malty rich stouts.  Plus, why not join in the Stroud Brewery tasting sessions, hosted by founder and managing director Greg Pilley.

Beer’s not your thing?  There’s plenty of activities to keep the whole family busy, including a raft of big-names and up-and-coming bands on the main stage; celebrity talks; children’s entertainers; fantastic feature areas like Meet The Farmer and the Clearspring Japanese Garden; Abel & Cole’s picnic area; circus acts; free fair rides; a children’s farm; hands-on workshops; bug hunts and so much more.

Discounted advance tickets can be purchased via the website, with tickets for adults priced at £26, children at £13, and a family of four at £69 (after the early bird discount ends, prices are £32 for adults, £15 for children and £85 for a family ticket).  For full details, please visit www.goorganicfestival.co.uk.

For further information about getting involved, please contact the festival’s sales manager Amanda Thackray at athackray@divcom.co.uk.

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Amy