FOCUS ON South African Airways New menus take flight
A new catering contract between South African Airways and Do&Co brings restaurant quality cuisine to the skies. Steve Hartridge gets a taste of the new onboard menus
was changing catering partners for its Heathrow to Johannesburg service, he admitted to feeling ‘apprehensive’. After all, the new provider would have
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a tough act to follow as the Star Alliance carrier, previously a customer of Gate Gourmet, regularly wins plaudits and awards for its onboard offerings. But then Kershaw discovered that the new partner in question was Do&Co Event and Airline Catering. Speaking at an industry lunch in
Claridge’s, London, to announce the new menus, he said: “I was immediately reassured. It was as if my own career had come full circle because when I started out 23 years ago with Lauda Air, Do&Co provided the catering and the airline was well known for the outstanding quality of its onboard product. “In fact I refer to Michael Winner, the gm
of Do&Co, as the Michelangelo of the airline catering world – he’s a creative genius.” Winner runs things from the company’s
Feltham, Middlesex-based offices, overseeing operations that include catering for 25 airlines – among them British Airways, Austrian, Eva Air, Singapore Airlines and Etihad – and also major sporting events such as the EUFA European Championship Finals, the Champions League Final (both football) and Formula One Grands Prix’s from Bahrain to Budapest. He admitted that airline catering puts 'a top premium' on his creativity, both in
Pictured above: Do&Co brings a touch of gourmet style to SAA's onboard dining experience Right: Gary Kershaw (SAA) and Michael Winner (Do&Co)
the menu offerings his team develop and in ensuring he delivers a top-quality line- up that falls within a carrier’s budget. “Most airlines – and the Middle East carriers are the main exceptions –
allocate roughly just five per cent or less of their annual budgets to the food and wine they serve onboard," he said.
But, he added: "The onus is still on us to deliver an in-the-air dining experience on a par with a gourmet restaurant.” Winner says his brief was a clear one when presenting SAA's new menu. “The country is known for its abundance of quality natural products and fine wines and SAA wants the South African experience to start the
moment passengers step onto its aircraft. A key part of this is the selection of high- quality international-inspired dishes and award-winning wines,” he said. From August 1, 2014, passengers in both Business and Economy (SAA doesn’t have Premium Economy) can look
hen Gary Kershaw, UK gm for South African Airways (SAA), was told the airline
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