Scandinavian Hotel Chain Nixes Bacon From Breakfasts

Travelers often like to indulge in ways they might not at home, but some might find themselves forced to make more healthful choices now that one of Scandinavia's biggest hotel chains has banned bacon and sausage from its breakfasts.

According to The Local,  Petter Stordalen, an environmentalist and the billionaire owner of the Nordic Choice Hotel Group, decided to test more healthful, sustainable breakfasts at the hotels at the urging of his wife, who is a physician and an environmental advocate.

"This is a new breakfast concept for our Comfort hotels," Petter Stordalen said. "The focus on sustainability permeates what we do in Nordic Choice."

The hotel chain has not only nixed bacon and sausage, but also any ingredients that include palm oil, the production of which is harmful to the rainforests.

The hotels are promoting a new, healthful, sustainable menu, with plant-based foods designed to give guests a healthful way to start the day. Guests' reactions have been mixed. Some have reportedly been understanding of their plant-based breakfasts, but others have been cross at the loss of their bacon.

Press officer Kenneth Hultgren said the healthful breakfasts were still being tested, and the chain would decide whether to keep going, abandon the project, or extend it to the hotel group's other chains in the coming months.

"We want to challenge and break down many of the traditional conventions around hotels," he said. "When guests check out of our hotel they will feel that we have helped them to make good and healthy choices, that our food has been tasty and healthy."