Volume #8
Eating Local | Sustainable Conscious Travel Options in Bali, Indonesia
This week’s read time: 8 minutes
In this volume, we’ll explore:
Why you should eat local while on holiday
Sustainable Conscious Options in Bali, Indonesia:
🏨 Hotel: Desa Hay
🍴 Restaurant: Locavore NXT
🎒 Tours & Experiences: Kultara
If you missed previous newsletters, you can look them up here.
👉🏼 Eating Local
Having a real taste of the destination 😛
What’s in it for travellers?
Exploration of Authentic Neighborhoods: Seeking out local eateries often leads you to less touristy areas, allowing you to explore authentic neighborhoods and experience the daily life of residents.
Cultural Immersion: Food is a fundamental aspect of any culture, and indulging in local dishes provides a direct connection to the heritage and lifestyle of the destination you’re visiting.
Unique Culinary Experiences: Exploring local markets, street food, and regional specialties adds a layer of excitement and discovery to your overall travel experience.
Connect with Locals: Eating local gives you more opportunities to interact with the locals. Whether chatting with street vendors, restaurant owners, or fellow diners, sharing a meal allows cultural exchange and genuine connections with the people of the destination.
Cost Savings: Local eateries are often priced for locals compared to tourist-centric restaurants. Your wallet will thank you for eating local ☺️
What’s in it for Planet, People & Economy?
🌏 Shorter Supply Chains: Local eateries mainly source their ingredients locally, minimising the need for long transportation routes. This reduces the carbon emissions associated with the transportation of food.
👥 Preservation of Culture: Local cuisines reflect the cultural heritage of a region. Eating local helps preserve culinary traditions and unique flavors of the place you are visiting.
💼 Stimulating Local Economy: Money spent at local restaurants mostly circulates within the community, benefiting other local businesses and services.
Image Source: Arkana Architects
👉🏼 Why is it sustainable conscious?
Desa Hay’s commitment revolves around conscious travel and sustainable luxury.
(Copywriting below in a very 5-star luxurious tone 😏)
Built on the principles of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG), Desa Hay has developed a comprehensive framework dedicated to making a positive impact in the areas they operate.
The property features 105 solar panels, generating a substantial portion of its energy needs. To replenish the water table, Desa Hay sponsored the construction of recharge wells in the local area to ensure water sustainability and support the local community's long-term water needs.
The culinary experience at Desa Hay revolves around sourcing fresh, local ingredients and is designed to minimise waste.
The luxury villas are equipped with recyclable and reusable amenities, contributing to a circular infrastructure and eco-design throughout.
Further embracing a local ethos, Desa Hay sources produce and materials locally and actively supports local children through the Desa Hay Scholarship Fund.
Going beyond their immediate operations, Desa Hay pays it forward by conducting workshops, events, and training modules. These initiatives provide valuable insights and skills to local operators and developers, fostering a more sustainable approach to building and operations in Bali.
In the spirit of transparency, Desa Hay regularly reports on its impact and footprint.
Every decision at Desa Hay is made with a thoughtful approach, aiming to offer guests a unique and luxurious experience while minimising their overall travel footprint.
👉🏼 What’s in it for travellers?
→ Where luxury is not just opulent, it's sustainable. Indulge in the finest amenities and experiences while knowing that the property is dedicated to minimising its environmental impact.
→ Every decision is made thoughtfully, from the sourcing of materials to the design of the property. If you know, you'll know that the devil is always in the details ;)
→ Know that your stay partially contributes to a scholarship fund that supports local children.
→ 100% Insta & TikTok-worthy ;)
👉🏼 What can your travel business learn?
→ Adopt a comprehensive Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) framework. Shape your operations around ESG principles rather than ad hoc initiatives, ensuring that every action and decision positively impacts the environment, society, and governance.
→ Offering luxurious experiences with a focus on sustainability appeals to conscious consumers. Integrate luxury with a conscience, demonstrating that opulence can coexist with environmental responsibility, this will attract your own niche of customers.
→ Regularly report on your sustainability impact and be transparent about your operations with all stakeholders, including business partners, suppliers, and guests.
→ Highlight your sustainability initiatives and invite guests to be part of the positive impact, creating a sense of shared responsibility. This provides a unique selling point for your accommodation.
Image Source: Locavore NXT Facebook
👉🏼 Why is it sustainable conscious?
My, my, where do we even begin to introduce an establishment like Locavore NXT?
We don’t want to be biased here, but this is hands down our favorite restaurant on the Island of Gods (maybe the world!). Our first time there, we posted an Instagram story with the caption:
Creativity 💯
Experience 💯
Authenticity 💯
Food 💯
💯💯💯💯
We believe the caption above speaks for itself. It is really hard to put into words what a dining experience at Locavore NXT is like. All of your five senses are maximised, and they probably brought a sixth sense out of you that you didn’t know you had.
Locavore NXT is the pinnacle of what a sustainable restaurant should be.
Being huge advocates of local sourcing, using local ingredients and innovative culinary techniques, Locavore NXT maximises the flavor and utility of local ingredients, often creating unique dishes that highlight sustainability in the culinary arts.
They offer a menu that changes with the seasons, ensuring that ingredients are at their peak of freshness and reducing the need for out-of-season imports.
All while conducting educational initiatives to raise awareness about sustainability among its staff, guests, and the wider local community. There is nothing this restaurant is not doing right!
But if we had to pick one thing we love the most about Locavore NXT (okay, no, one is not enough, two things!) it is:
The storytelling behind their menu. The amount of creativity and thoughtfulness that goes into curating their menu and presenting it as a story that empowers the local culture through ingredients is like nothing we have ever seen before!
They are not bothered by others. Okay, this might sound like a weird thing to love, but hear us out. When you are serving culinary arts at the level of Locavore NXT, there tends to be a level of ego and pretentiousness. But there is none here. Through your experience there you will soon realise, the people behind the restaurant are really only there to push their own limits in terms of ingredient discovery and put out art on the table for you to enjoy. Their exploration of local culture through local ingredients leaves one speechless and humbled.
This is a restaurant absolutely not to be missed!!
👉🏼 What’s in it for travellers?
→ Hands down, a once-in-a-lifetime experience! We've been a few times and each visit still feels like a once-in-a-lifetime.
→ Your palate will thank you for discovering flavours you've never experienced before, introducing you to a world of exquisite tastes and textures.
→ Have the opportunity to understand local culture through food, realising there is so much more to this island than meets the eye (quite literally!).
→ Experience an establishment that is at the forefront of sustainability change.
→ 100% Insta & TikTok-worthy! Please go!
👉🏼 What can your travel business learn?
→ Storytelling is everything! Link each dish to local culture and heritage. This approach not only enhances the dining experience but also educates guests about the origins of their food, becoming your unique selling point.
→ By changing your menu with the seasons, this reduces the need for out-of-season imports, which in turn lowers your food costs and supports sustainable farming practices.
→ Be creative and stay innovative. Don’t do what everyone else is doing, innovate to maximise the flavour and utility of ingredients. This creativity sets you apart and keeps customers returning for unique dining experiences.
→ Most importantly, even at your pinnacle, stay humble and continue doing good!
Image Source: Kultara
👉🏼 Why is it sustainable conscious?
Founded in 2019 by a group of young Indonesian travel junkies, Kultara is a social enterprise dedicated to supporting sustainable tourism in Indonesia.
Serving as a reliable community marketplace, Kultara’s platform connects travellers with local artisans, guides, and communities.
Travellers are able to experience unique workshops, such as Lontar Hand-Drawing, Balinese Dance Class, Silver Jewelry Making and Nerikomi Ceramics Workshop that are hosted by passionate local artisans.
Their aim is to offer an authentic travel experience that not only creates lasting memories for travellers but also empowers local communities, contributes to the local economy, and preserves Bali’s cultural heritage.
In addition to providing unique workshops and experiences through their marketplace, Kultara organises monthly curated day trips and tours, all of which can be found on their Instagram. These trips aim to create meaningful experiences for small groups with shared passions and stories.
Having experienced the occasional loneliness of solo travel, the founders of Kultara hope to connect solo travellers through curated trips like "Balinese Farming’s Inspirational Tale" or "Experiencing Nightlight with Owls." They believe such experiences foster connections among like-minded individuals, leading to long-term friendships.
Kultara also offers the option to curate private experiences tailored to the needs and preferences of individual travellers.
Although there are many movements similar to Kultara, their tagline, #GoTravelWithPurpose, signifies their commitment to providing experiences that address issues in Bali and introduce the cultural values of the region to both the traveller and local residents.
👉🏼 What’s in it for travellers?
→ Authentic travel experiences that go beyond typical tourist activities in Bali.
→ Engage with passionate local artisans and experience their craft and culture firsthand.
→ Contribute to the empowerment of local communities. Ensure that local traditions are preserved, communities are respected, and the local economy benefits from your tourism dollars.
→ If you are a solo traveller, joining their tour gives you the opportunity to connect with other like-minded travellers and locals. You are more similar to the locals than you think 😉
👉🏼 What can your travel business learn?
→ Craft a brand tagline that captures your brand ethos, for instance #GoTravelWithPurpose. Build a robust and positive brand identity that mirrors your dedication to purpose-driven travel. You should be living and breathing your brand tagline on a daily basis throughout your marketing communications.
→ Tap into the opportunities within the solo traveller market. Discover ways to cultivate connections among solo travellers who share the same passion for culture experiences. Create tours that address pain points, such as the desire for interaction with other travellers and the opportunity to make friends with like-minded people during travels.
→ Share the stories of the people behind the business, because ultimately, people buy from people. Highlight the journey of your founders and team, focusing on relatable experiences like efforts to preserve local heritage and personal connections to the community. By weaving these authentic stories into your brand, you create a deeper emotional connection with your audience, making them more likely to choose your tours and services.