Chet Hansra, Innovation & Insight at Evertaste, calls on airline decision-makers to be bold

The Evertaste brand was launched two years ago to source, create and deliver high- quality convenience foods for people on-the-go. It has been a very interesting and positive journey and our clients include Finnair, Air Canada, Japan Airlines, Great Western Railways, Royal Jordanian, American Airlines, Ryanair and Eurostar as well as Lufthansa

Clients all have very different expectations which is a great challenge for us, and we have developed a range of convenience meals which not only reflect customer demand, but also that of the general population, changing demographics and trends. While 95% of our time is spent creating bespoke items for our customers, the trend for vegetarian has inspired particular investment in vegetarian, vegan and flexitarian options. Airlines recognise these have long term rewards.

We have had great uptake for our halal-certified Middle Eastern hot snacks such as fatayers, and also our Bombay Burrito (corn tortillas, filled with modern Indian gluten-free flavours).

Frozen to the fore
We have seen a shift away from fresh being the priority to frozen products, mainly because you can get great quality frozen ingredients that you would never be able to find fresh. We ask our suppliers to source in season veg to get the best results.

The ‘eat local, think global’ campaign has not only made people more interested in where their food comes from, but also toughened legislation. Our chefs pay great attention to where we source raw ingredients from and the traceability laws only make this easier.

Be bold
With regard to sustainability we see it as our responsibility to provide all the options available to our customers, not only in regard to food, but also packaging and logistics. However, we are only one piece in their somewhat complicated puzzle.

This kind of decision-making is often customer-led rather than environmentally-led, which further begs the question…are consumers making it clear enough what they expect from the rail and airline industry?