AMILLA MALDIVES RESORT AND RESIDENCES LAUNCHES HOMEMADE@AMILLA AND HOMEGROWN@AMILLA

New self-production concepts embody pioneering resort's pivot to a more resourceful, sustainable future

01 February 2021: Amilla Maldives Resort and Residences has unveiled Homemade@Amilla and Homegrown@Amilla, a growing series of innovations celebrating the abundant natural bounty of the island itself, and the Amilla Islanders' extraordinary creative capacity for self-production. The wide-ranging new concepts have revolutionised the culinary experience at Amilla Maldives, embodying the resort's reinvention as a champion for “conscious luxury”, sustainability and resourcefulness – a pivotal process instigated over a year ago with the appointment of its dedicated Sustainability Manager, then rapidly reaffirmed and accelerated by the pandemic-enforced period of closure.

Underpinning Amilla Maldives' pioneering new garden-to-table philosophy, Homemade@Amilla and Homegrown@Amilla ensure the resort delivers as much fresh, nutritional island-grown produce to guests as possible. Hitherto-overlooked indigenous ingredients are celebrated alongside the homemade, homegrown and homebrewed, bringing personality and vigour to nutritious, immunity-boosting menus. Homegrown@Amilla harnesses the 58-acre natural island's plentiful green spaces; countless enclaves carefully tended, planted and cultivated to become the cornerstone of Amilla's food and beverage offering. Fruit trees including banana, pineapple and papaya; a mushroom hut named The Pentagon; and a sweet potato garden are complemented by an organic hydroponic garden bursting with herbs, salads, microgreens, fruit and vegetables, edible flowers, and superfoods such as moringa, purslane and Abelmoschus manihot, as well as Maldivian rocket. At Cluckingham Palace, 60 happy hens provide all the fresh eggs needed for the resort kitchens; after investing in a coconut press, Amilla is also now making the most of its 2,000 coconut trees - an extraordinary renewable resource producing fresh coconut water and coconut milk, dried coconut flour and high-quality coconut oil.

In parallel, Homemade@Amilla is testament to people's creativity and potential for self-production, dramatically reducing Amilla's food mileage and packaging use, while creating an inspiring, interactive and informative experience for guests. Using simple, tried-and-tested, low-tech processes that can be easily replicated in guests' own kitchens, organic produce from Amilla's nutrient-rich gardens is transformed into nutritious, immunity-boosting superfoods, from Kimchi, fresh low carb bread and sourdough to nut butters, Ricotta and vegan cheese. Homemade drinks include beer made from waste pineapple skins and offcuts, Tepache, tonic water and bitters to signature probiotic sodas such as fresh ginger and lemon peel Earl Grey kombucha; Screwpine soda, made from the fruit of the pandana trees that cloak the island interior; or 'living lemonade' which is lacto-fermented with whey – itself a by-product of Amilla's homemade yoghurt.

As well as actively showcasing simple home production methods like fermentation to interested guests, these products have enriched and enlivened the resort's restaurant and bar menus. The newly created Living Cocktails menu includes signatures such as Limonade, featuring vodka and limoncello, finished with a splash of homemade green tea kombucha; Old Spice made from rum and spice bitters, topped with homemade ginger beer; and O-Margarita featuring tequila shaken with homemade orange shrub and lime juice, topped with Earl Grey kombucha. A newly installed copper alembic will soon be distilling essential oils and hydrosols using produce grown in Amilla's gardens, or ingredients such as orange peel that would otherwise be discarded.

Homemade@Amilla and Homegrown@Amilla represent the first major steps of Amilla Maldives' ambitious journey towards a more sustainable and environmentally conscious future under Sustainability Manager Victoria Kruse. For the latest sustainability news from Amilla Maldives, visit www.amilla.com/sustainability.

Elegant Resorts (elegantresorts.co.uk; 01244 292 223) offers seven nights at Amilla Maldives Resort and Residences from £4,565 per person – saving £7,325 per couple. Price based on accommodation in a Reef Water Pool Villa on B&B, including 40 per cent rate reduction, complimentary upgrade to half board and return economy flights, seaplane transfers and UK lounge passes. Offer valid 21 December 2021 inclusive. Blackout dates apply. Book 30 days in advance. Terms and conditions apply.

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About Amilla Maldives Resort and Residences

A large, verdant natural island in the UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve of Baa Atoll, Amilla Maldives Resort and Residences is an enchanting space for families, friends and couples to roam and play. Most of its 67 Villas and Residences are gracefully elevated over crystal clear waters; to venture through the island's halo of white sand into its shaded heart reveals a surprisingly wild, green place – the inspiration for its organic garden-to-table concept. The resort's Homemade@Amilla and Homegrown@Amilla initiatives are manifestations of a heartfelt commitment towards sustainability and resourcefulness. Indigenous ingredients - sea almonds, screwpines, countless coconuts, fragrant frangipani - are celebrated alongside the homemade, homegrown and homebrewed, bringing personality and vigour to nutritious, immunity-boosting menus. While not strictly a wellness resort, embracing dietary lifestyles is an intuitive part of Amilla's Wellness Your Way, a fresh, holistic and highly customised approach to wellness that encompasses nutrition, mindfulness, movement and spa. 

For further press information please contact:

Sarah Harvey (sarah@bacall.net) or Nat Frogley (nat@bacall.net) at Bacall PR Ltd; Tel: +44 (0) 207 630 2880.