Sora Wins the Sustainability Award at Asia's 50 Best Bars

The full list and winners of Asia's 50 Best Bars 2025 were announced at a ceremony in Macau last night, Tuesday 15th July.

With a name meaning ‘sky’ and spectacular views over Phnom Penh from the 37th floor of the Rosewood Hotel, Sora Bar combines a luxury cocktail experience with an everyday, practical focus on sustainability. In judging the Sustainability Awards across the annual portfolio of 50 Best events, we use our Food Made Good Framework, built on three foundational pillars: Sourcing, Society and Environment. Sora Bar’s work across all three of these areas is impressive, but it was their celebration of provenance that really got our attention.  

Sora Bar integrates sustainability into its daily operations through initiatives designed to showcase local ingredients and traditions, support local communities and safeguard its local environment and resources. All these priorities are reflected in their unique Sora Martini, a zero-waste cocktail that offers a true taste of Phnom Penh. Their own Rosewood vermouth is produced in collaboration with local distillers and crafted using leftovers from the Rosewood's kitchen; to create the Martini, the vermouth is matched with orange peels and pulp and the Kampot pepper, a Cambodian heritage ingredient. 

Read on for an overview of sustainability at Sora Bar and why we selected them as this year’s winner of the Sustainable Bar Award at Asia's 50 Best Bars. 

Responsible sourcing at Sora Bar 

At Sora Bar, sourcing is carried out with an incredible attention to detail, and provenance is paramount. Over 70% of ingredients are sourced locally, and the hotel even has its own hydroponic garden where they grow herbs and leafy vegetables. The team buys fresh produce from small-scale farmers who practice sustainable agriculture, including seasonal items that are obtained through direct relationships. They apply a sustainable purchasing policy for high-risk items such as coffee, tea, cocoa, seafood and cage-free eggs, focusing on traceability and certification wherever possible. 

Eager to promote Cambodian flavours and skills and to offer guests an authentic taste of Phnom Penh, the bar works with regional distilleries such as Seekers and Samai to highlight traditional distilling methods; in collaboration with local bartenders and chefs, they also host regular events designed to promote local flavours, cooking methods and dishes. For example, they’ve worked with chefs to feature more Khmer dishes at their charity dinners and on their special menus.  

Social sustainability 

Sora Bar does a great job of supporting their community, even beyond their laudable procurement policies. For example, they’ve partnered with a social enterprise to provide employment for individuals with disabilities and they work with local education centres to offer internships and job placements, giving people a great start in the hospitality sector. They also coordinate with NGOs like Smiling Gecko, which supports education and job creation for over 500 families. 

When it comes to their staff, Rosewood Phnom Penh's internal culture programme ‘Make the Place’ is designed to foster a sense of belonging among its associates, promoting a culture of care and mutual support. It focuses on recognising and celebrating the contributions of individual team members, promotes learning and education and encourages them to make a positive impact on their local community.   

Environmental impact at Sora bar 

To date, Sora Bar has increased its waste diversion rate from 20% to 80%, maintaining a consistent improvement. In fact, through a combination of portion control and staff training, they’ve reduced food waste by an impressive 100 kilograms per day! While their zero-waste cocktails like the Sora Martini get much of the attention, their waste management practices also include collaborating with local partners to improve how their produce is stored and handled, reducing spoilage. The bar also reuses waste materials creatively: processing used oyster shells into powder for compost enrichment is just one example of this. 

You can read more about the food waste initiatives at Rosewood Phnom Penh here:

Waste No Food: Rosewood Phnom Penh

Our Managing Director, Juliane Caillouette Noble, said of the win, “Congratulations to Sora Bar in Rosewood Phnom Penh for winning the Sustainable Bar Award at Asia’s 50 Best Bars! While they’re doing some great things across all of the areas we look at in our evaluations, it was their focus on provenance that really got our attention. Our team loved how they showcase local, native and heritage ingredients and design menus that use every part of these. This is exemplified in their Sora Martini, a zero-waste cocktail with their own vermouth (produced in collaboration with local distillers and using Rosewood kitchen leftovers), orange peels and pulp, and the Kampot pepper, a Cambodian heritage ingredient. In teaming up with chefs to bring more Khmer dishes to charity dinners and special menus, they’re doing a great job of bringing traditional flavours into a very modern offering. Well done!” 

Read more about Sora Bar at their website or learn about The Sustainable Restaurant Association’s long-standing partnership with The World’s 50 Best here. For more insights and stories from sustainable restaurants, hotels and bars across the globe, follow us on Instagram and LinkedIn and sign up to our newsletter!     

Lead photo from Sora’s Instagram page.