The Changing Face of In-flight Catering

A meal in an Etihad Airways first class cabin

In-flight catering is continually evolving as companies develop new technologies and menus in order to keep one step ahead of each other, reports Hotelier Middle East.

The latest ripost is in the form of British Airways, who are launching an investment program worth £5 million in customer products and services and backed with a brand advertising campaign. It was due to hit the Middle East in November and was called ‘thoughtful service and British style’.

In the summer of 2011, Emirates announced it would be serving business and first class customers their food on Doulton fine bone china with Robert Welsch cutlery.

In May, Etihad Airways introduced qualified international chefs to it’s first class cabins, recruited from hotels and restaurants and by the the end of the first quarter of 2012, it aims to have them on every flight. But cooking at 30,000 feet has it challenges:-

But how much cooking can a chef actually do considering the restrictions of the cabin? “Etihad standard and safety is a big process at the moment,” explains Werner Kimmeringer, head of guest experience – catering at Etihad Airways.

“We used to give chefs a box that contained beautiful chopping knives in it, but obviously we cannot provide chopping knives now because of 9/11 – everything we do has to be approved by safety regulators. Now though, we are able to give our chefs small knives, chopping boards, palettes and pans, so they can customise dishes for customers or cook their steaks perfectly to order.

“And the chefs are not just for first class customers, they are also there to monitor quality control of the food for the whole aircraft, so everyone will benefit from these plans.

The Etihad onboard chef will also be welcoming the premium guests, explaining the menu cards – he’ll be like the maitre’d of the cabin – and then he will recommend dishes and make wine pairings.

“The chefs that we’re recruiting range from chef de partis to executive chef,” Kimmeringer goes on to explain. “Out of 1000s of applications we so far have picked about 80, as they still need to meet the Etihad profile. We need over 100 and it’s been a huge process. We are recruiting chefs but having to train them not on the cooking, but how to operate in the aeroplane environment.”

But there are also other factors such as reduced sense of taste and water boiling at a lower temperature that make airline catering a challenge.

The main factor affecting food quality is the ovens, as Kimmeringer explains: “There are steam ovens now, they’re not quicker than conventional ovens but they’re much more gentle, so the crew can choose whether to cook a part of a meal with steam, or with dry heat.

Some airlines still have to put the whole meal in together on one foil, and when the steak’s ready, all the vegetables are overcooked.

“There’s a new piece of equipment available that we’re looking at too – induction heating. It will need investment, and we might have to do it, but it’s a plan for the future.

At Etihad we are constantly pushing to achieve a much closer product to what you get served in restaurants. In-house we have developed a hot water drawer which keeps water very hot for a long period of time, and it’s helped cut down on wastage as you only have to make a hot drink when it’s actually ordered by the customer. Etihad is working with companies developing technologies to get an edge over others and to try and improve standards and cut wastage costs.

So, if you are lucky enough to be flying first class on an airline such as Etihad, spare a thought for the continual evolution and effort that goes in to consistently raising standards.