Home ﹥ latest news > News and Information > Hospitality ESG Is Moving Toward “Local Co-Prosperity”: 2026-08-23
Let Local Flavors Become Not Only Part of the Travel Experience, but Also an All-Day Hot Meal Service
From August 22 to 23, HOTEL COZZI Ximen Tainan launched a cultural walking experience in Tainan, bringing local culture and time-honored food brands into the hospitality journey. At the same time, the hotel has extended its ESG practices through local smallholder farmers, food and agriculture education, and plastic-reduction measures.
The Tainan City Government has also continued to promote sustainable lodging. As of July 17, 22 hotels and accommodations in Tainan had obtained environmental labels. This shows that sustainable hospitality is moving beyond reducing plastic in guest rooms and toward local sourcing, cultural connection, and shared value with the local community.
Travelers do not come to Tainan just to stay for one night. They want to take away a flavor that belongs only to this city.
When the hospitality industry talks about ESG today, it is no longer limited to not proactively providing toothbrushes or replacing bottled water with water dispensers.
From August 22 to 23, HOTEL COZZI Ximen Tainan extended sustainable tourism into food and agriculture education, local culture, and long-established local shops. Guests were encouraged to step outside the hotel, connect with local farmers, and experience Tainan’s distinctive food culture as part of the journey.
This direction is worth serious consideration for both the food service and hospitality industries.
Because “local co-prosperity” does not have to happen only during the few hours when guests leave the hotel.
It can also work in the opposite direction:
giving local food brands, central kitchens, and regional specialties the opportunity to enter the hotel.
Take Taiwanese steamed meatball, a local Tainan-style specialty, as an example.
One of the biggest characteristics of a Taiwanese steamed meatball is that its outer skin, filling, and sauce each require different reheating conditions.
If only microwave heating is used after low-temperature storage, the filling may heat up quickly, but the outer skin may lose moisture and affect its original softness and chewy texture.
If only steam heating is used, it may be easier to maintain the moisture of the outer skin, but the actual heating time of the filling, differences in portion size, and overall heating efficiency still need to be verified through product testing.
That is why YumJi does not simply apply the same “microwave for three minutes” setting to every local snack.
Instead, we test the actual product first.
Based on the size of the steamed meatball, the ratio of skin to filling, packaging method, and storage temperature, YumJi establishes a hybrid reheating program suitable for that specific product.
For example:
Microwave heating can first be used to help raise the core temperature of the filling, followed by an appropriate steam stage to help the outer skin retain moisture and texture.
If a certain heating stage is not needed, it does not have to be activated.
The sauce can also be handled according to the food brand’s original packaging and serving design. It may be heated separately, added after reheating, or integrated into the full product workflow.
This is the key difference between YumJi and a conventional vending machine.
A conventional vending machine answers the question:
“Where can this product be sold?”
YumJi goes one step further and answers:
“After the customer purchases this local specialty, how should the final reheating step be completed?”
The storage strategy can also be more flexible.
Depending on the product’s own storage validation and actual turnover speed, storage can be planned from frozen conditions to approximately -8°C to -10°C mild-frozen / low-temperature storage.
High-volume items that sell quickly every day in the hotel can follow a faster turnover strategy.
More distinctive local specialties that are suitable for afternoon service or late-night dining can be managed with a different inventory level.
Not every product needs to follow the same storage and replenishment logic.
And the hotel does not need to build a highly complex smart system from day one.
Stage One: Start with the standard YumJi system.
For example, the hotel can first select:
Tainan steamed meatballs, Tainan sticky rice, and specialty soups.
Local food brands or central kitchens can handle standardized production, portioning, packaging, and low-temperature delivery. The YumJi system then manages on-site storage, self-service meal selection, and reheating.
The first step is to test practical questions:
Will guests be willing to buy it?
Will there be demand at 3 PM?
Which product sells better after 9 PM?
Is the reheating condition of the steamed meatball stable?
How many portions should be replenished each day?
After these questions are tested and the workflow becomes stable, the second stage can be added according to actual operational needs:
AIoT, temperature records, inventory management, sales statistics, abnormal-condition alerts, and remote management.
At that point, the hotel can begin to understand:
Which Tainan specialty is most popular among international guests;
How weekend and weekday demand differs;
Which item sells fastest after afternoon check-in;
How much hot-meal demand remains after the restaurant closes;
Which machine needs replenishment;
Which products should have their inventory adjusted.
These data can then be sent back to local food brands and central kitchens, helping them refine the next production batch.
Hospitality ESG therefore becomes more than simply “reducing one toothbrush.”
It begins to form a new kind of cycle:
Local food brands → central kitchen → low-temperature delivery → smart hotel meal service → guest consumption → sales data → feedback to local production.
For hotels, this can increase local character and improve off-peak meal service.
For local shops and food brands, it creates a new sales channel without the need to open another branch.
For travelers, returning to the hotel at 10 PM does not mean the only option is instant noodles.
For the YumJi team, we can help build the first real application site across hotels, campuses, workplaces, central kitchens, food brands, and startup product testing.
Start by perfecting one local specialty.
Then add a second and a third product.
When data management is needed, AIoT can be added.
Truly valuable hospitality ESG is not only about using fewer things.
It can also help more local flavors be enjoyed by more people.
