Cachet Hotels & Resorts Joins Bacardi Limited and Lonely Whale to Ensure “The Future Doesn’t Suck” in China
SHANGHAI, SEATTLE, and HAMILTON, Bermuda, September 10, 2018 /3BL Media/ – Family-owned Bacardi, the largest privately held spirits company in the world, and Lonely Whale, the award-winning non-profit dedicated to bringing forward courageous ideas that positively impact the health of our ocean, today announce hospitality group Cachet Hotels & Resorts has joined the global movement against single-use plastic.
Today, Bacardi extends the #TheFutureDoesntSuck campaign to Shanghai, China, at URBN Boutique, an award-winning environmentally conscious property known for its use of reclaimed construction materials and eco-chic design. Complementing the launch are two expert panels speaking on the impact of plastic pollution and the opportunity for China to lead the way in addressing marine debris at scale, starting but not stopping with the single-use plastic straw.
#TheFutureDoesntSuck was launched in July with a goal of permanently removing one billion single-use plastic straws by the year 2020. Launched in London with a series of images created by illustrator Sarah Tanat Jones, the campaign has already garnered international media attention and participation from top chefs including the award-winning Shanghai-based celebrity chef and co-founder of Cachet Hotels & Resorts, David Laris.
“Engaging accounts and consumers in the reduction of single-use plastic is a critical next step in helping to put an end to plastic pollution,” says Irving Holmes Wong, managing director for Bacardi in Greater China. “Single-use plastic items are among the most collected pieces of trash in our oceans, and we are urging our consumers to add ‘No plastic straw, please’ to every drink order so together we can make impactful change.”
Through a series of collaborations, events, and calls-to-action, Cachet Hotels & Resorts properties will encourage their customers, and all those looking to lend their ideas and voices to the initiative, to join the Bacardi and Lonely Whale campaign entitled #TheFutureDoesntSuck.
“Cachet Hotels & Resorts could not be prouder to support Lonely Whale and to collaborate with Bacardi to introduce #TheFutureDoesntSuck to Shanghai,” says Laris. “This campaign offers a fantastic way to bring attention to the plastic pollution issue to a larger audience. As a representative of the hospitality industry, I feel there is an obligation on our part to get behind this cause and begin reducing plastic waste immediately. Together, we can drive market-based impact in a region where plastic pollution is the most severe.”
“Every day we have an army of people walking in to bars and restaurants around the world. We share this campaign with our partners and people working the front-line, those who want to make their voice and support for eliminating single-use plastics heard,” adds John Burke, chief marketing officer for Bacardi globally. “Just as importantly, we want to raise the table stakes. Our focus for the past two years has been leading the industry charge with our #NoStraws pledge and now is the time to review the larger issue of single-use plastic in the greater Bacardi world to determine how and where we can truly make a bigger difference and continue leading the charge to build a more sustainable future. I believe through collaborations like this one, where we can bring society and business together, we can make impactful change to ensure #TheFutureDoesntSuck.”
Plastic waste has become the most pervasive sources of marine litter in the ocean. Once released into the ocean, plastic debris absorbs other toxic chemicals from the ocean and breaks down into microplastics, which are often mistaken for food by marine life. Collectively, plastic pollution results in more than in the loss of more than 100,000 marine animals each year through consumption and entanglement.
“Solutions to address the global plastic pollution crisis has been ignited thanks in part to the leadership shown by Bacardi with their 2016 #NoStraws pledge and then amplified this summer with the launch of our collaborative global campaign. We recognize that for real change to take place at the pace needed we must inspire a passion for change in the fastest growing and one of the most influential economies in the world, China,” says Dune Ives, executive director of Lonely Whale. “We’re excited to launch in Shanghai with Bacardi and in collaboration Cachet Hotels & Resorts to demonstrate that #TheFutureDoesntSuck in China.”
Both Bacardi and Lonely Whale are supportive of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals for 2030, comprised of goals and targets set to stimulate action in areas of critical importance for both humanity and the planet. We believe that through partnerships with governments, other companies in the private sector, and others, we can have a positive impact on many of the goals.
To join this global campaign, visit www.thefuturedoesntsuck.org. There, individuals can declare their commitment to ensuring #TheFutureDoesntSuck by committing to go plastic-straw free and recruit restaurants, hotels, bars and other venues. Establishments can register their commitment and challenge others to do the same so that together we can all ensure #TheFutureDoesntSuck.
About Bacardi Limited
Bacardi Limited, the largest privately held spirits company in the world, produces and markets internationally recognized spirits and wines. The Bacardi brand portfolio comprises more than 200 brands and labels, including BACARDÍ® rum, GREY GOOSE® vodka, DEWAR’S® Blended Scotch whisky, BOMBAY SAPPHIRE® gin, MARTINI® vermouth and sparkling wines, PATRÓN® tequila, CAZADORES® 100% blue agave tequila, and other leading and emerging brands including WILLIAM LAWSON’S® Scotch whisky, ST-GERMAIN® elderflower liqueur, and ERISTOFF® vodka.
Founded more than 156 years ago, in Santiago de Cuba on February 4, 1862, family-owned Bacardi currently employs approximately 5,500, operates more than 20 production facilities, including bottling, distilling and manufacturing sites, and sells its brands in more than 170 countries. Bacardi Limited refers to the Bacardi group of companies, including Bacardi International Limited. Visit bacardilimited.com or follow @BacardiLimited.
About Lonely Whale
Lonely Whale is an incubator for courageous ideas that drive impactful change on behalf of our ocean. Inspired by the power of community, Lonely Whale is working towards a new era of radical collaboration, facilitating innovation that pushes the boundary on current trends in technology, media and advocacy to positively impact ocean health. Lonely Whale’s creative efforts to reduce, and ultimately eliminate, ocean-bound plastic pollution have earned them recognition as one of Huffington Post’s Top Ten Movers and Shakers in Environmental Sustainability and Fast Company’s World Changing Ideas as well as honors from the Cannes Lions, Effy, Shorty and ADDY Awards in 2018. For more information, visit www.lonelywhale.org or follow along on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter @lonelywhale.
About Cachet Hotels & Resorts
Cachet Hotels & Resorts (CHR) is a lifestyle and responsible hospitality branding and management company with New York City and Shanghai. CHR's mission is to be the leading innovative and socially responsible hospitality company in the Asia Pacific and the Americas. With numerous projects under development, CHR is focused on establishing properties in Greater China, Southeast Asia and the Americas. For more information, please visit www.cachethotels.com.
Media Contacts: Ching Li, chli@bacardi.com
Multimedia assets available via: Ching Li, chli@bacardi.com
www.thefuturedoesntsuck.org
