The team behind the World Travel Catering & Onboard Services Expo (WTCE) have launched a new guide aiming to help companies pitch their products to airlines.

WTCE’s Guide to Getting onboard: What you need to know before making your airline product pitch is a new report offering insight for brands and businesses looking to supply onboard products and services to commercial airlines for the first time.

WTCE worked in collaboration with Brand Consultant and former British Airways Food & Beverages Buyer Kelly Stevenson to create the report, as well as featuring additional insight from independent brands that are now stocked onboard.

Set in the context of a growing inflight sector – set to reach USD$27.6bn by 2030 – the report covers everything from inflight food and drink to amenity kits, tableware and cutlery. It looks at the types of products that do best in the various airline cabin classes, while also helping steer pricing policy, packaging formats, sustainability – even flavour. 

The 18-page report helps new aviation suppliers understand how to prepare for their first buyer conversation and what to ask once they’ve secured a meeting. It also takes a closer look at how brands and businesses can use WTCE to create opportunities and how they should maximise their time at the event to win new business and grow sales.

It also includes Stevenson’s top tips for speaking to airline buyers and what to consider before making long-term supply commitments during the current times of economic instability. 

Polly Magraw, WTCE Event Director, said: “This report is essential reading for any brands or businesses new to supplying aviation. This is a sector like no other, with demands, restrictions and circumstances that simply do not apply to any other industry.

“There is a right and a wrong way to approach inflight supply and this report helps businesses negotiate what might otherwise be pitfalls by arming them with the right information from the outset. It’s also encouraging and inspiring, so I’d urge anyone who hasn’t yet downloaded it, to do so now – particularly if they’re planning to attend next year’s WTCE.”

Download the WTCE Guide to Getting onboard: What you need to know before making your product pitch.