Airline Catering News

[Aviafora Newsdesk]

New Heathrow Airline Catering Complex

Alpha LSG has opened a €12.2 million Premium Kitchen facility at Heathrow, which it claims will set new standards in airline catering.

The complex incorporates separate enhanced and highly-optimised production and logistics centres, the airport’s only dedicated Halal kitchen, a Japanese and Asian kitchen, exclusive Customer Lounge and a Culinary Academy.

Over 40 airlines will be serviced from the new centre which has a capacity for producing 76,500 meals each day.

Around 24,500 flights will be catered from the facility each year.

Axel Bilstein, Alpha LSG’s acting CEO, says: “Our new flagship London-Heathrow facility and Premium Kitchen brand provides strong proof of our strategic aim to become the UK leader in customer satisfaction as well as in cost.

“Our food innovation process (Culinary Academy), food production process (Premium Kitchen) and unique Customer Lounge will support our customer’s desire for brand differentiation, choice and flair."

The Premium Kitchen, which boasts a 52,000 square feet production centre and an adjacent 124,000 square feet Dynamic Logistics Centre with extra wash capacity and dispatch chillers, will commence servicing airline customers from early February.

http://www.airport-world.com/compone...ns-at-heathrow

[Aviafora Newsdesk]

Terry Hay of Auckland Announces Sale of Flight Catering Company

HONOLULU, HI, January 26, 2014 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Terry Hay of Auckland's name has long been associated with success in the food distribution industry. Even after retiring from the field, he has still enjoyed ongoing career success with his former companies. One of his recent successes involved the sale of his company, Pacific Flight Catering, to a leading airline food supplier company, Gate Gourmet. Terry Hay of Auckland is proud to announce a successful closing of the sale, which took place in July 2013.

Based in Zurich, Switzerland, Gate Gourmet is a leading airline catering firm. It is currently the biggest independent airline catering company in the world, and serves both major and minor airlines across the globe. Gate Gourmet started out as a simple food and beverage supplier, but has since expanded to cover the areas of in-flight entertainment, cleaning services, airplane maintenance, and more. The company is truly a giant in the airline catering business and continues to expand with each passing year.

For Terry Hay of Auckland, learning of his company's sale to Gate Gourmet was like a dream come true. He explains, "Gate Gourmet is the best of the best when it comes to airline catering, so we were very excited by the offer." His company, Pacific Flight Catering, stood much to gain by accepting the offer. On the subject, he says, "Like most airline businesses, we had been hit by some hard times. However, Gate Gourmet has always been a stable company, so the sale made sense in financial and logical terms."

Despite its success, Pacific Flight Catering was not immune to the stresses that hit the airline industry in the early 2000s. Terry Hay of Auckland bought the company in 1996 and served as CEO until 2008, which was a time that marked both great success and periods of difficulty. He says, "Pacific Flight Catering had some rough patches, like most catering companies in the field. But, we always managed to make it through." Indeed, when he decided to retire in 2008, Terry Hay of Auckland had led the company out of its deficit into better profits and increased overall success. By the end of his turn as CEO, the company was considered a medium-sized business with approximately 300 employees.

For Terry Hay of Auckland, retiring from his position of CEO at Pacific Flight Catering was a difficult choice. However, he knew that he still wanted to be involved in certain company dealings. As such, he was made aware of the sale offer by Gate Gourmet early on in the process. Terry Hay of Auckland watched Pacific Flight Catering grow during his twelve years of service, so it was hard for him to leave the company completely. He was grateful to be involved in the sale process, as he had many valuable insights that helped to formulate a decision on the offer.

Gate Gourmet and Pacific Flight Catering have already experienced mutual benefits from the sale. As for Terry Hay of Auckland, he is able to rest easy knowing that his former company is now in good hands.

http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/1700972