“Pasta or chicken?” Have you ever stopped to think about the process behind this question, one of the most classic and iconic in flight service? It may seem simple, but the logistics that ensure that the meal served at 10,000 meters of altitude arrives perfectly involves strict protocols and impressive numbers.
Proof of this is the daily operation of the gategourmet which provides meals for 17 international airlines in the Guarulhos Airport the largest and busiest in South America. Born in Switzerland, the company estimates that, in 2023, 590 million passengers were served worldwide in 60 countries on six continents .
Five kilometers away from the airport ramp – or around 13 minutes by car –, the company’s unit in Guarulhos has 17 thousand square meters which cover several cold rooms, kitchens, bakery, confectionery, laundry and hygiene and assembly areas.
From here, an average of 17,500 meals per day which fill thousand carts called “trolleys”, pushed by flight attendants in the aircraft corridors. About 700 recipes are made per day, which supply an average of 30 daily long-range flights .
“When we sit in the armchair and receive the food, we don’t know the logistics behind it. It’s a world apart”, says Ivan Catucci, country manager at gategourmet in Brazil.
Airplane food beyond “chicken or pasta”
The menu that will be served on the aircraft is already defined even before the ingredients arrive at the unit, determined exclusively by the company or made in conjunction with the catering company. The location of each airport influences what will be used or not, but it all depends on one factor: the airline budget .
“If the airline understands that it is earning through on-board service, it will invest more. When you feel like you are losing space, you also invest more”, says Carlos Bittar, president of gategourmet for Latin America.
The “chicken or pasta” persists as the champion of combinations, mainly at the request of North American airlines, but airlines from other territories demand different versions.
According to Guilherme Schulze, the company’s executive chef in Brazil, there is always an attempt to change and new recipes . “We’ve already tried to move away from the idea of chicken breast with other types of preparations, such as fish flan in economy. The biggest issue is the companies’ budgets. The idea is to move away from the tradition of ‘chicken or pasta’ as a protein and vegetarian option”, he explains.
“The dish for vegetarians doesn’t have to be pasta. We recently tried a heart of palm moqueca. I am managing to replace this recipe with pasta, as it caters to both vegetarians and vegans”, reveals the chef.
On certain Middle Eastern airlines, Asians make up the largest number of passengers, which led Guilherme to opt for Japanese-inspired dishes for the in-flight service. Ramen, for example, may appear on future menus.
The number of dishes for certain routes is also defined by the airlines. “It works for all classes in the same way, where percentages are defined for each dish. In economy class, the most common thing is that the protein corresponds to between 60 and 70% and that the vegetarian dish is 30 to 40%. But it’s their decision”, says Guilherme.
You menus are designed following cycles commonly served monthly. According to the chef, four cycles are created per year. “Each menu is different from the other. There are four menus for each class of the aircraft, which usually change every first day of the month. Then there is a menu in January, February, March and in April. January will repeat in May, and so on,” he explains.
Arrival at the unit
The gategourmet unit in Guarulhos works 24 hours every day, and has 800 employees. The process does not undergo much mechanization, with priority given to manual work. A system updates the number of flights, the number of passengers and the class division that will be served per day.
One of the highlights is that the operation is divided between Halal and not Halal, so that Middle Eastern airlines, such as Emirates, Qatar and Turkish, for example, are covered with specific service standards following Muslim pillars.
Employees who mess with Halal foods They do not handle other foods and even cloths, blankets and pillows go through the division process.
And it all starts with the supplier flow: the truck arrives, goes through tax receipt and is inspected. The cargo goes to the warehouse, with dry areas and cold storage rooms. Egg cartons, for example, are not included in the unit: pasteurized eggs are used instead.
To avoid contamination, no cardboard, glass or tin boxes are allowed into the internal areas close to the kitchen. The products are decanted and placed in plastic baskets, which enter the large corridor of the culinary area.
How airplane food is made: pre-preparation
The first stage of pre-preparation is fruit and vegetable cleaning . Around 1,800 kg are processed per day in addition to what already arrives ready – deliveries are made the night of the previous day and are handled the following morning. Carrots, cucumbers and leaves are cut and washed, then refrigerated and used within 48 hours.
THE hot kitchen is also impressive. There are stoves with numerous burners, fryers, griddles and boilers between 100 and 200 liters. Here are made about:
- 900 omelets daily;
- 250 kg of mashed potatoes (for a single airline);
- average of 400 liters of sauce;
- 550 kg of ragu.
After cooking or grilling, as in the case of grilled meats, the food goes to cooling, where it reaches 5ºC between two and four hours. In the hot kitchen area, everything made one day will be served the next.
THE bakery also has superlative numbers: they are, on average, 70 thousand units of bread per day of 55 different types, such as brioches, croissants and bagels, made from scratch. They are produced on the day to be placed on flights on the same date. Already the confectionery does, on average, 8,600 desserts daily with around 75 types of sweets.
Once inside the plane, the lunchboxes are heated in special ovens and stewards receive plating and oven time guides.
Conditions such as low pressure and dry air inside aircraft cause changes in smell and taste, consequences taken into account by the team. “You lose a little seasoning with the pressure of the plane. The food served is always a little stronger in pepper or salt. We also try to always look for softness and a good texture so that it is easy to chew”, explains Guilherme.
The challenges go further: dishes that make mobility difficult, especially in economical mobility, as well as foods that are very liquid or that require the use of a knife, are avoided. Depending on the refrigerator time and temperature, crunchy foods are not popular in the air . The height between one shelf and another on the cart is a barrier, limiting fancy dishes or jars of yogurt, for example.
It is important to note that food for first, business and economy class is all made in the same kitchens, but at different times.
Certain recipes are made by cooks in a standardized way. They receive a box with all the necessary ingredients, without more or less, with the quantities already dosed, so there is no risk of changes.
Assembly and distribution
With the recipes ready, it’s time to assemble. Food is placed on plates, then placed on trays and sent to carts. Food plating follows a standard, in which employees follow the model of a photo.
Closed drinks, such as soft drinks and wine, also leave here. These are the only items that, if they remain sealed, can return to the ground and be used on other flights after screening.
There are more than 20 types of dietary restrictions respected by the company, and special foods must be requested by passengers from the airline in advance. The order is passed on to gategourmet and the passenger’s name is written on each special meal.
Once the entire process is complete, the carts are filled, sealed and taken to the dock area – there are 28 in Guarulhos. Inspection agents analyze each trolley shelf and give the green light for the trucks to be loaded and reach the aircraft. An Airbus A380, for example, requires the supply of five trucks.
Pillows, blankets, duvets and napkins are also stored here, where they are washed, ironed and repackaged after use. Each company has its stock with these items and, if there is a difference in the number of blankets, for example, the airline replaces it – it is common for passengers to take home the blankets given during the flight.
And what goes around comes around. Planes arriving in Guarulhos return trolleys to the unit, where all trash is taken to the disposal area. With the exception of sealed drinks, everything that went up has to be thrown away .
Food and packaging waste, including plastic, is incinerated. Even if a sealed tray comes back intact, aviation rules require it to be discarded. If a flight was canceled at the last minute, food must also be discarded. The health requirements are clear: if the food has left the factory, it does not get a second chance.
*The journalist was invited to learn about the gategourmet facility following hygiene protocols and the use of special clothing.
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Source: CNN Brasil
Johanna Foster is an expert opinion writer with over 7 years of experience. She has a reputation for delivering insightful and thought-provoking articles on a variety of subjects. Her work can be found on some of the top online news websites, and she is currently lending her voice to the world stock market.
