Special Report
Consistency is the vital ingredient
Frozen foods are finding their way into premium cabin catering. Jo Austin talks to frozen food supplier, Frankenberg about the changing attitudes towards frozen meals
“The main reason for the growing popularity of frozen foods generally is the guarantee of consistency that they can offer an airline,”says Rudi Friedrichs, md of Frankenberg GmbH. “This is a key factor. In addition, the benefit of working with us in particular is that an airline only has to deal with a single supplier. We work closely together with airlines on product development and design for the upcoming cycle meals and for the production,” he added. “Continental Airlines (now United), for example, used to travel to 28 stations throughout Europe, several times a year, and sometimes twice per cycle, to check on products. The airline was looking at the all- important issue of inconsistent performance from a wide variety of caterers. Working with a single supplier can save a lot of money and time for the inflight department.
“Additionally, in most cases, there is further cost saving due to higher purchase volumes and production batches when all produced under a
We talked to Russ Brown, chef with United Airlines, about working with Frankenberg:
OBH: How many frozen meals is US Airways putting on board each day in its Premium class? RB: In Envoy, our international business class service, we board approximately 400 frozen meals per day from Europe.
Is consistency the main driver for using frozen meals? Yes – by utilising frozen meals from Frankenberg we maintain a consistent, quality product throughout our European network. We remove the uncertainty of local product availability and different interpretation of specifications and recipes.
Does working with one supplier for all your frozen meals make life easier and less expensive? By utilising one supplier we
We have a strong production development team made up of seven Research and Development chefs working in our facility. “We can develop meals to an airline’s specific requirements in our modern manufacturing plant using the combination of conventional procedures and modern technology to secure high quality and consistency.
single roof. Savings of up 20% have been shown on some frozen meal orders.
“In premium service, however, cost saving is not the key driver. Here the airline is looking more for consistency, overall quality level and safety of the product. “Here at Frankenberg we can work as a
central, professional production partner.
are able to achieve
economies of scale and competitive pricing. There
are also operational efficiencies gained by having a single point of contact.
Is food security an issue? Food safety is a concern for all products we board on our aircraft. We partner with our suppliers to ensure they adhere to best practices when preparing products for our customers. Kitchen audits are randomly scheduled for each location to validate safe food handling and adherence to specifications.
When did you first start putting Frankenberg meals on board and what has been the feedback from your passengers to date? We’ve had great success with Frankenberg, resulting in year over year improvements
“Our philosophy is to continually work to the individual specific needs and requirements of our customers. We do not present ‘mass market’ products but work more towards individual and high-end because this is what the premium class passenger is paying for and deserves.
“We can offer any solution for the premium class service ranging from pre-assembled pop- out and ‘tipper meals’ to individually-packed components in a portion-controlled package for individual assembly on a chinaware plate on board by the crew.
www.frankenberg.biz
to quality, selection and presentation of entrees.
Our passengers appreciate the enhancements we’ve made to our onboard product offering.
How have your crews responded to these meals? They are pleased with the meals and share positive feedback from our customers.
What are your plans for the future? We recently introduced additional menu rotations to improve variety and address menu fatigue. Our Envoy menus contain six cycles rotating monthly and our Economy menus contain four cycles rotating monthly. This is more often than our competition on the same routes. We continuously evaluate methods to create a competitive product offering our customers appreciate and remember.
www.onboardhospitality.com 33
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