While many beverage alcohol brands have increased their commitment to more sustainable production and distribution, on- and off-premise operators are taking aim to lower their carbon footprints in different ways...

11/27/2024

Merriman's is extremely honored to have been voted by Honolulu Magazine's readers for the following awards:

Best Hawai‘i Island Restaurant
GOLD – Merriman’s Waimea

Best Maui Restaurant
BRONZE – Merriman’s Kapalua

Best Business Lunch
SILVER – Merriman’s Honolulu

Merriman’s is revolutionizing eco-friendly dining with its groundbreaking boxed wine initiative. This innovative approach includes a curated selection of high-quality boxed wines from prestigious California wineries. The program replaces 1,344 bottles with just 336 boxes in the initial rollout...

Boxed wine is a good option for restaurant by-the-glass programs. In Hawaii, chef Peter Merriman is using high-end boxed wines at his four Merriman’s Hawaii restaurants and six outlets of his Handcrafted Restaurants group. He estimates that switching to boxed wines will reduce the carbon footprint of his restaurants by as much as 50 percent or more, just by saving on transport and recycling of glass. He partnered with Matthiasson Winery in Napa, Melville in Santa Barbara and Linne Calodo in Paso Robles for the program.

Aired on March 31, 2024 at 6:46 PM on KGO-TV (San Francisco, CA)

TV coverage highlighting Chef Peter’s background and influence on Hawaii Regional Cuisine with his commitment to local farmers. The segment also mentions Merriman’s Kapalua’s efforts to help the community during the Maui fires and the employee-led meal effort.

Merriman’s and Monkeypod Kitchen are teaming up to feed the people of west Maui. We’re supplying over a thousand meals a day to displaced families, first responders, teammates, and neighbors, and need your help to keep going! You can make a tax-deductible donation to support this ongoing effort. Mahalo for your Kokua!

Merrimans Kapalua Employees organized this fundraiser. All proceeds of this GoFundMe Fundraiser will go directly to Merriman's Kapalua hourly employees who have lost their homes and are in especially challenging financial situations as a result of the Maui Fires. Please help us meet our goal!

Merriman’s Kapalua alongside Monkeypod Kitchen have joined forces with other local businesses to offer meals to those in need. Currently they are feeding 1,000+ people a day out of Merriman’s kitchen and delivering over 500 of those meals to people who can’t leave their homes, don’t have fuel, etc. So far the restaurants have funded efforts themselves, with some help from suppliers, but there is a long way to go.

Aired on August 29, 2023 at 11:50 AM

The latest on Maui Wildfire relief efforts and why visitors should still vacation on Maui.

Helen Hunt invited Peter Merriman to discuss relief efforts to help support the local Maui community in need.

Merriman's is incredibly honored to have been chosen by Honolulu Magazine's readers for the following awards:

Best Oahu Restaurant
GOLD – Merriman’s Honolulu

Best Buisness Lunch
SILVER – Merriman’s

Best Maui Restaurant
FINALIST – Merriman’s Kapalua

Best Hawaii Restaurant
GOLD – Merriman’s Waimea

Most Romantic
SILVER – Merriman’s

Merriman’s Waimea, Hawaii’s first carbon neutral restaurant, is thinking out-of-the-box when it comes to sustainability. Led by chef owner Peter Merriman, the restaurant has engaged in green practices since its inception, and is now introducing even more sustainability processes to continue their mission. The goal is to expand these initiatives to the group’s other locations in Kauai, Maui and Oahu.

Seaweed-fed goats, lighter wine bottles, and solar panels are among the many reasons this iconic restaurant has become carbon neutral.

by Regan Stephens - Published 3/8/23

When Peter Merriman opened his eponymous restaurant on Hawai'i’s Big Island in 1988, the chef was an early champion for working with local farmers and fishermen. Thirty-five years later, and with the help of solar panels, lighter wine bottles, and a new seaweed diet for goats, Merriman’s Waimea just became the state’s first carbon neutral restaurant.

“The restaurant business is a reflection of society, and [sustainability] is important for our industry, not just in Hawai'i, but all over,” says Merriman. “We can at least do our part.”

Merriman’s Waimea was recently featured in a TV segment for TBS Japan as part of the "Malama Hawaii" program, interviewing Ben Brinton, Merriman’s Waimea's GM, highlighting the companies commitment to Hawaii Regional Cuisine.

Introducing the top 100 restaurants that diners loved in 2022. To determine the list, we analyzed more than 13 million reviews from restaurants across America — all submitted by verified OpenTable diners.

Merriman’s Waimea is going carbon neutral! We are proud to do our part for the planet and commit to being a carbon neutral restaurant. In partnership with GreenPlaces, we’ve completed our first carbon assessment to understand our emissions, offset those emissions by investing in verified environmental projects around the globe that reduce the amount of carbon in the atmosphere. Now we’re focused on our plan to reduce our footprint where we can. These exciting initiatives include expanding our solar capacity, switching to all electric kitchen equipment, exploring new sustainable alternatives to glass wine and spirit bottles, and investing in carbon-friendly, locally made, goat cheese!

In this podcast Peter talks about what the past 2 years have been like, the correlation between staffing challenges and affordable housing on Maui, navigating through the workforce shortage in general, industry changes created by the pandemic that will stick around, what went into the decision to switch to a prix-fixe menu at Merriman’s Kapalua, the challenge the industry is facing with increased costs, how he will be the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Aipono Awards on August 20th, recounting what it was like to get local products for a restaurant back in the mid-80’s compared to what it’s like today, his passion for conservation and sustainability in Hawaii, his goal to transform one of his restaurants into a carbon neutral business (and what that will entail), and his goals in general for Merriman’s and Monkeypod here on Maui over the next 6-12 months.

In partnership with Koholā Brewery, Peter Merriman created a customized brew called “Pete’s Island Wheat” that will be exclusively offered at select Merriman’s Hawaiʻi and Handcrafted Restaurants.

For years, Peter Merriman has been concerned about viruses like the flu spreading through the air of his restaurants.

So even before the pandemic, Merriman’s restaurant in Kakaako has pumped in enough outdoor air to turn it over 24 times per hour – more air exchanges than the standard hospital operating room.

More recently, he invested in carbon dioxide monitors and ultraviolet disinfection lights for the Oahu restaurant’s HVAC system, plus HEPA filters and carbon dioxide monitors at his Waimea location on Hawaii Island. His other two restaurants on Kauai and Maui are both open-air.