BW Communities

Airline Food: Love It, Hate It

Business World Nov 17, 2015

“...but the airline industry forks over $40 billion  —  the same amount commercial carriers have lost since 2001 —  on in-flight food” —  Louise McCready Hart, in The Huffington Post, May 2011 By Meera Seth Ruzbeh Kapadia slapped his head several times and cursed as he read the senseless news item on the front pages that screamed about a pest having been found in a passenger’s food tray. The newspaper had just been brought to him by his team at SwiftAir, the domestic airline that flew to 17 destinations. SwiftAir was four years old in the market with seven carriers. While business was growing, costs always stared them in the face and had to be contained. Looking up at Duleep Sanyal, SwiftAir’s commercial head, Ruzbeh said, “This is really bad. One irresponsible headline and your brand is mud! Lizard in the food tray? Seriously? There is not a paisa’s worth of investigation done. Not one. Not half. Lizards do not get onto planes, for God’s sake! And these jokers have published it as if it is true? When will our governors treat companies like social citizens with respect? I am so mad! Say, you have been in the industry for 28 years, have you encountered pests in the food tray? Duleep: It is always possible for the lizard thing to happen — that is the reality of India. I was reading a letter in one of the neighbouring country newspapers some time ago and a passenger wrote of a rat running around in the plane! But our national carrier does have good food, and all our netas travel on it. So, I would take all this with a bag of salt. The larger problem is that such one-off incidents tend to get blown out of proportion by the media. It’s grist for their mill. Funny thing Ruzbeh, hygiene standards in a five-star hotel kitchen may be worse than on an aircraft, but diners do not get to see the restaurant kitchen. Ruzbeh: We are in the business of carrying people to their destinations, but we are always in the dog house over food. This is the national carrier, if the press is carrying false stories just to stay relevant, it is very sad. Duleep: What are you thinking? Ruzbeh: However much we train people, attitudes cannot be trained. You get what you get. But brand equity has to be protected… they were now looking at each other…. Duleep: No, Ruzbeh… don’t do that, I know what you are thinking... Ruzbeh: I have been thinking on these lines ever since that noodle company drama. It takes just a careless match stick to burn down a brand. Stopping food on SwiftAir will prevent costs that we will incur thanks to mindless damage to brand equity. Our media is unrestrained. As it is my brand building costs are going through the roof. One irresponsible news report without giving the brand time to check and respond will wipe us out. If they could put a lizard in an Air India food tray, they will put an elephant into ours! Duleep: Not offering ANY food would be a bigger problem. Passengers will complain. You should not worry about hygiene; Hygiene standards on a flight are very high — we can’t have the pilot suffering from food poisoning, now can we? Ambi Iyer, the chief of accounts and finance, walked in. “Did you read the news? These guys are mad… Oh, you have seen it!” Duleep told him what Ruzbeh was suggesting and what he thought. Ambi: I don’t think passengers will complain. But I will be a happy man, the cost of food per head is very high. Remove the food and we will be posting profits. Ruzbeh: No, Ambi, Duleep is right, passengers will crib. Ask me. I have a few letters here cribbing about the food tray mix; surely they care about being fed on a flight. Let me show you one that came yesterday from my cousin, Dilshad. She says, “Dada, what airline have you joined?” With three exclamation marks. As if we must choose our employers by the food they serve. This letter is worth reading. She goes on, “ On a recent SwiftAir flight (since the family is supposed to patronise your company): there was an unusual combination of vegetarian food served — uttapam with either paneer masala or chole. Seriously dada? Dilshad is the only Parsi in the whole world who is vegetarian, please. “It was a mid-morning flight, 10.30 a.m. or so, so people would have left home after a breakfast. The foil container looked crushed and my neighbour remarked that it looked like somebody had already tasted the food. There was salad, which I think is a bad idea. I have often told you about cut fruit and veggies getting oxidised, and then all that handling, ewww…!” Sorry guys, she is my older cousin sister and she is allowed to say stuff about my work. That’s life. Anyway, I asked Aarti in PR to reply to her and this is what she wrote... Parts of which was news to even me. Ok, so she replies. ‘The inflight catering department decides the different types of meal (breakfast /refreshment / lunch / dinner) then they decide on the catering agency (TajSATS / Oberoi flight kitchen, etc.) The next step involves meal selection out of a huge menu.  In your case, the meal selection was done by the inflight department and uplifted from one of the stations … da da da ...was reheated and given to you. The Swift airline oven has 24 slots for reheating….” I wonder why she told her all this. Knowing my Dilshad, she will write and ask: ‘Why 24 and not 25?’ Ok, chaps let us call Larry from F&B if he is around. I am sure he is again tasting some culinary expertise somewhere and wasting my money. so it was. Larry was at a tasting session at Klassica. Ruzbeh: All this is clinical aspects of catering food: who, what, when, which flight kitchen, selecting meal, budget... these are not critical to Dilshad’s real question. The real drama unfolds when the tray reaches the customer’s table and the foil is peeled off. It is here that the real customer experience is felt, whereas all that happened up until now is meant to make this moment a happy one. I am not even saying this moment has to be breathtaking. No, not at all. But food must seem like food! And that is why I am waiting for Larry, once he is done sending me those food pictures on WhatsApp. Yes, I was right. He is at this super premium new flight kitchen Klassica tasting some pointlessly gorgeous food. Why? This Klassica kind of event ends up being more a tasting ceremony than about the end-consumer experience. The accent is on variety, mix of foods, experimental/creative cooking. So, what does young Larry have to say? Hear this message from him: “The Ginger-Pistachio Encrusted Chicken with Tangerine Sauce was served with honey roasted pan seared carrots, and on the side, you have Roasted Rosemary Fingerling Potatoes and a helping of Vegetable Minestrone Soup with Fava Beans and Mint”? You see our MLAs lovin’ it? Duleep: Fusion foods won’t work in air. Nor will mixing northern and southern cuisine. It’s blasphemy. I would be offended too if someone served paneer with uttappam. <img alt="" src="http://bw-image.s3.amazonaws.com/shutterstock_2-lrg_0.jpg" style="width: 650px; height: 384px;"> Ruzbeh: Here I am wanting to do away with food, and Larry wants smoked chicken? Here is another image, spotlight on ‘Slash of basil pesto, drippings of vinaigrette ….! How beautiful and appetising is that smoked chicken going to look when it crawls out of a foil box? Who tests this in the usage situation? Polished cutlery, starched napkins, bright white porcelain.... pistachio gremolata and pomegranate reduction just dotting the borders, a slash of chutney smearing the plate to set off the red of the pomegranate... all very pretty and just right for a media intervention. Devyani Khare (marketing): …But now you take a look at Mr Anshuman Kaviratne, a finance manager rushing to Madurai to examine a broken down ERP system, with three days to audit finalisation. Kaviratne’s wife, who is monitoring his cholestrol, feeds him oats with milk at 7 a.m. and packs him off to the airport. He does not mind, he waits for the airline food tray. It comes, he peels off the foil and presto! What he sees can dampen the appetite of the strongest willed person: uttapam with paneer mush, where the mush (once gravy) has caked up against the paneer and the uttapam, heated to death, but saltless and tough.... You have to experience this sight on an empty stomach to know frustration! But for arguments’ sake, if we agree that the airline is not promising you a home meal but food to see you through, then I can see Kaviratne pulling the foil back upon the uttapam and pressing the bell for the lady to take his plate away. Therefore tell me, all that happens in a Klassica kind of set up, how does the Klassica tasting session help the man who is going to eat that 10 hours and many levels of freezing and reheating later? Larry (having just walked in): You guys talking about me? Duleep: Let us forget Larry’s events. It is part of his job to check out flight kitchens and it is part of their job to impress him. Now... Larry: You guys are not getting it. What I take away is a certain something about their ability. You saw those images? When that smoked chicken and gremolata is placed before me, I get to know what Klassica is capable of and all capability holds the essence of efficiency and skill. Just looking at their chef’s body language I can tell if he can handle our orders placed 48 hours before departure. The food caterer is aware that he needs to cook 10 hours prior to despatch and cooling below 0°C for four hours before despatch. This food has to be foil packed to enable heating on the flight and it must stay moist! This is included in capability. The flight kitchen that can spend time showing off its smoked chicken already knows the act of tossing up 175 meals eight hours in advance and cooking below 15°C. They have mastered the logistics Ruzbeh, and logistics is key to deciding between a smoked chicken and a choley. And… ensuring that the food tray opens moist, not caked up and dead. Ruzbeh: I don’t think the end user cares where you tested the food. You are SpiceJet, Jet Airways, Air India… they have an estimate of your brand name. All that you say is process. She wants the end-product to be to her liking. Let me give you an example: Customer: Coffee is bad. Hostess: I used the best coffee we have … Customer: It has no body, no taste. Hostess: I will tell the chef/ It must be the powdered milk / This is what we serve even the pilot… See? You are giving explanations. Whereas what she wants is good coffee. So, when you say fresh/moist, I say, tasty, good looking! Devyani: This is not entirely about the passenger. It is not about logistics or efficiency. It is about what the hell am I in the business of! Duleep: I am not buying that. Why then do we fuss with Business Class passengers. Isn’t that different? Then again, they use bone china not foil boxes, real cups with silver trimmings, not disposable plastic cups that bend to the touch. Half the selling is in the packaging. In the delivery. You serve that same bad coffee in porcelain and then see… Ruzbeh: So, have we got our act mixed up. We spend on tasting ceremonies but the end-consumer is scowling. I am not wishing to offer a fine dining experience. Klassica is doing that for an audience that is NOT the end-consumer of that food. Two, THAT is not the condition of the food that the end-user experiences when he opens his foil box. Devyani: So, see how apart the supplier and the buyer are. The supplier is addressing only the man who will pay or not pay for his services. That airline official, like Larry, can be pleased if the kofta still retains shape, is hot, fluffy and dancing in the gravy. Whereas that same kofta comes all soaked up and a glop when it climbs out of the foil box to the end-user — Mr Kaviratne’s tray. The important question here is this: do the food tasters at the stage of Klassica marketing taste their offering in the usage situation, 10 hours later? The amount of preparation and planning and ideating that goes on until the food is frozen at below 0 degrees is fabulous. No airline traveller may know the effort that goes into this. But it is heartbreaking that all that effort remains disconnected from giving the end consumer a great food experience. Larry: Completely agree. Food tasters do not taste the same food. There are few places in the world that have facilities to analyse effects of different pressure and atmospheric conditions on food; They employ star chefs to create signature dishes, even accommodate religious and dietary requests and they have better-equipped galleys. Etihad’s economy class also provides surprise popcorn, cappuccino and espresso! These airlines have invested a lot in getting their passenger-food relationship right. These are also airlines that see very high repeat customer rate and people willing to pay a premium, while our home airlines are still fighting costs to attract international passengers. Devyani: The real question is this: Why is food so important on a flight? And I will answer. The air is a surreal experience that is unmatched by any other. On a flight, near the clouds, there is an unusual soundlessness. Food gets served with just one question: Vegetarian or non-vegetarian? None of the, ‘How is the galouti kebab, sir?’ There is a niceness to eating silently on a plane, a tiny uncomfortable table, your chomping neighbour and the cramped tray notwithstanding, the consumer has his personal joy that he will not express, for it is a personal moment of acute hunger and being served and being satisfied. Unless, of course, he orders coffee, which is unilaterally, across every airline the most insufferable experience, because coffee is made with the lowest grade of coffee, badly, and in plastic cups. So, tell me, why do they even bother to serve bad coffee? Duleep: Coffee is as crucial as food on a flight. And good coffee, I agree. Powdered milk should be banned. But on the domestic sector, you must have food because competition has it too. For example, Jet had to return to full-service model and give free catering since the buy-on-board did not work. Air India after the Dholakia committees report had cut back on food but had to reintroduce food to attract more passengers. Larry: So, can an airline do without food? And can airline food be good? Yes, it can be good. I have had some of the best meals in the airline (economy class) and people continue to praise airline meals (Emirates / Lufthansa / Singapore Airlines). On the other hand, some of the worst meals are also on flight. So, it is a function of cost, selection and choice offered. Ruzbeh: Tell me, what per cent of operating costs is food cost? Give me a comparative… Larry: What per cent  is very difficult to tell, but roughly the whole meal for a full-service carrier is Rs 750, which includes tea/coffee, salad, dessert and the main course. The complex logistics makes it expensive. If you see the supply chain: Selection ->Actual cooking ->Security Clearance ->Dispatch to airport ->Loading and then, the reverse logistics from aircraft -> Airport security ->Back to flight kitchen ->Segregation/Disposal -> Cleaning / Washing and disposal of trays and other reusable containers. So, let’s see. Air India domestic meal and Jet Airways domestic meal will roughly be Rs 750. It could also be similar for smaller sectors like Delhi-Kathmandu, Kolkata-Dhaka where the flight time is comparable to domestic. Sorry? Yes, sector does determine cost; because the meal to be served is determined based on the sector length. In India, it is on an average 90 minutes; with a time of 22 minutes for climb and 18 minutes for descend, the service time is considerably reduced. This actually makes logistics more tedious. For example, Jet Airways that operates the same narrowbody aircraft (B737) on Mumbai-Delhi and Mumbai-Singapore will have a more elaborate meal to Singapore as Mumbai Singapore is a longer sector; hence it will have two meals and drinks, while Delhi will serve only one meal. Delhi-Kathmandu will have one meal similar to the one served on Delhi-Mumbai. Devyani: Then, it seems, we are spending disproportionate time and attention on food, which ends up occupying so much logistics time, is expensive and worse, is not our business purpose? And at the end of it all, we get brickbats. Ok, forget the brickbats, but this ‘lizard in my food tray’ kind of damaging nonsense? Duleep: Ok, much as I resist the no-food idea, I want to share with you some findings from a study we conducted some years ago at my earlier employers, AirLift. What I would depend on is a key finding that the quality of food was the least important factor among several that influenced how passengers rated an airline. Having better quality food increases costs without a commensurate improvement in customer satisfaction. Yet getting a really good supplier of food for airlines is limited due to the multiple clearances required. This reduces flexibility and adds costs. Even a simple menu is costly (to the passenger) and airlines do not profit  a great deal on the sale of food items. Don’t forget, reheating food on an aircraft adds weight (and fuel costs). Keeping more menu items adds space (again a scarce commodity) both of which increase cost. There is also a premium on the serving cabin attendant’s time. Despite all this, airlines do research meal options. Again, my experience at AirLift, there are a miniscule number of complaints related to food. And again, the pilots and cabin crew eat the same food, so their feedback is monitored regularly as well, since they are ‘repeat customers’. The problem with airline food is a global phenomena. In India, it is prominent as we have very diverse   food habits, not to mention social norms where serving good food is traditionally a measure of your goodness! But NOT serving food is definitely a dampener. So I feel! casestudymeera@gmail.com  Businessworld case studies (This story was published in BW | Businessworld Issue Dated 02-11-2015)