From India's largest Newsroom. I'm Martin George.
And this is the times of India podcast.
Occasionally, we'll be reaching back into our archives to pull
out an episode that we think is still particularly relevant.
Today's episode is one of them happy listening approximately
two hours and 30 minutes before our arrival, I don't know about
you but my favorite part of a flight is when they roll out.
Those food trays, you get to choose between a vegetarian or
non-vegetarian. Neil and sometimes the choice is
made for you by other passengers, you open that tray
table, put down your meal and then peel back the foil for a
pleasant surprise. Oh, maybe even complete.
Disappointment, a lot of the in-flight eating experience has
changed with the introduction of budget Airlines.
If you haven't booked a meal in advance and are not paying for
an upgrade, this is a good chance that you get to choose
between snacks sandwiches and something that can be cooked
using hot water, but if you're flying in India, and you're
served a cooked meal, this is a good chance.
Has been cooked in a touch, a CTS kitchen.
The Tata group company has a 50% market share in the airline
catering business in India, and nearly, 70% of its meals are
served on domestic flights and how much were they serving
before the pandemic? Strung three covid we were doing
around 75,000 meals per day. We were doing a different uplift
and dip type of meals which included breakfast.
Lunch dinner, snacks midst acts mainly this Woods special meal
category which has got Jan meal kosher, bail-in, do male Mom,
but Mom didn't kneel, and all medical meals.
Also, like diabetic will pg/ml all Etc.
In this category That's the company's executive, chef Arun,
bathroom, my colleagues are obscene, or who's a senior
editor, at the Times of India and covers Aviation spoke with
him, about how catering on aircraft change during the
pandemic. And as people get back to what's
being called Revenge travel, they talk about the science of
Ln food. How inflation affects what comes
in your tray of food. And the latest trends in airline
food Arun, baccarat started by explaining how the match 2020
locked down. Shut their kitchens down for a
fortnight before they were back. Initial where 15-20 days with a
period, where no activity, took place in that part.
But nevertheless, we have never shut down or Gates.
People working with the medical fertility and with the
government. And with the trust to make the
meals available for the medical fraternity, police personals and
the evacuation flight sells well that period and approximately We
were producing around 25,000 meals per day.
Okay. So then, when did you start
seeing the recovery initial period?
It was only the snack boxes. It was not the full meal
service, nothing but allow. And the meals actually started
coming in month of October November onwards, and Recovery
was slow. And right now your domestic
scepters back to pre covid level, International around, 70%
of the market. What we were doing, pre covid.
When it comes to airline food, this is a legend that's been
recounted over the decades, the head of American Airlines in the
1980s was credited with saving the Ln, 1 lakh dollars a year.
His now legendary strategy was a simple one.
He calculated that. If you remove just one or live
from every salad served two passengers, nobody would notice
and it would save the airline a whole lot of money.
An average meal served in the economy class of an Indian
airline is around 500 to 550. T g as our own batra that
includes at bread Rule and that small pack of butter.
You get currently fuel prices are nearly hundred percent
higher than last year and food prices are also High.
Thanks to the Russia Ukraine war and other factors many airlines
are also struggling financially saurabh asked our own batra if
that's changed what they serve. I remember in the past, for
example, when some big Airlines they were on the verge of
shutting down, they asked you guys not to give any deserts and
they instead got those chocolates from the chocolate
manufacturers. And they would put that instead
of desert to cut costs and they would get those chocolate the
free because those company wanted advertising, what are the
kind of request that you get from Airlines to cut down on
cost of meals. How do you do it without
affecting quality fish? Just speaking after covered, the
things are changing, people's expectations are gonna rise
people expecting that, they will be getting the deals and in turn
the airlines also are requesting and upping the ante on this
part. And they are getting into a mode
where the full-service airlines are going into a British mode.
People are traveling and a bench travel Revenge devil.
You can say And because of that reason, now Airlines hardly are
asking anything to cut down on that part.
But yes, the cost pressures were always there three covid also,
and right now. So, but it is because of the
inflation nature also, and that has to be managed.
We always try to look for the Alternatives picture, not
compromising the quality of any product, but by sourcing the
things directly from the vendors and asking our partners to help
us to mitigate this sort of it in place, tree effects.
Can you give some examples? Chocolates example is right in
front of you Hot Wheels and everything.
What they are doing is they're cut down the G edges of the
portion size of the meat, and increase the size of the
vegetarian part to mitigate the cost.
That is the way it has been done.
We have tried to mitigate this, by using the local ingredients,
which is available on the seasonal basis, which is cost.
Effective for that purpose. How you guys to bring us a
airlines are in financial mess. Secondly, there is inflation.
Everything is more expensive. Now every table Suzuka theme is
two hundred and ten rupees tomato-y ball yesterday, 50
rupees a kg Since we haven't sent people chairs to the hotels
and everything, or cost us doesn't get that affected as you
get on the sink for near Park vendors, do pop it.
And sometimes they do ask further reading piece and
everything on that. The, on this part, what we try
to do is we try to change the mix of product to mitigate this
sort of thing, like, in the Mix vegetable, the 400g of a
high-end ingredients can be reduced to a little lighter
level to avoid this sort of institution, which are the
easily the lowest hanging fruit. So as to say if you have to cut
cost, if everything is becoming more expensive, what are the
lowest hanging fruit? That okay Squad.
Are they will attend? Squat, are there any such simple
easy to do things. Not really in this industry
where the venues and everything is predefined and everything is
done on that basis. But yes, the G which is the only
part where you can potion size can be brought down little bit
to adjust the cost. Supposing.
I am I'm an airline I have very little money.
I come to you that you reduce the cost of my meal somehow.
So what is the most ridiculous suggestion made by an airline to
you, which you had to say was, we can't do this.
We are into a business, ha ha. And that too, in a for business
are the these sort of challenges are bound to happen?
So, as a manager, that's my job to give you what you are looking
for. And we try to accommodate their
choices by a compromising slightly on their damages.
But as I told you he you can cut down the G edges and you can
bring down your cause otherwise compromising on the quality of
food is not the advisable thing which we advise, these sort of
things are the part and parcel of the my life UK's, these
certain situations every day. So, It is not one thing which
you come to the demand of that. That's sort because we are also
constantly under pressure on these parts, but that that's the
fun. That's how the life moves on.
And that makes your life challenging and brings the best
out of you and they situations. It's not just cost-cutting
demands that our own butter deals with changing tastes and
dietary preferences mean they have to keep adjusting the
options that are available on flights, like the regular white
bread loaf could soon be making before sourdough bread.
It is the in thing, nowadays we have introduced the saddle pad
to the various Airline and we are in the process of upgrading
International and as well as the domestic clients on those lines,
we are into gluten, key, beds, and vegan meals.
And as a sugar-free tell juice, we are in a process of having
the sugar-free deserts on the airline now and vegan meals.
Now Is a in thing where people are going vegan, where the meals
are being served on a different day.
Lines, with a one choice is a week, in choice, in business
plan, pays meat will be the item, which will be coming.
You'll be seeing very shortly on the airline menus.
Also, it will be a web-based. Endings plant-based means the
basically, based on a soya and Jackfruit based product And we
can create a lot of dishes, after that, we can create very
Anis, we can create best conditions, we can get Japanese,
dishes out of that. And we are into a process of
creating that sort of stuff, which will be serving their life
shortly. It will become one of the
vulture in twice in a mean, by I think, most probably end of this
year, they should be featuring in the manual.
So, the number of big low-cost airlines in India.
They don't have other ones on there.
Aircraft and they serve good meals.
So what is the challenge day that you face?
How is it that you can make something interesting when an
airline does not have an oven to heat your meal portion.
So, in that case, what we do is we do a lot of research and we
do a lot of stimulation. See how the food will react once
it is cooked chilled and whether it can be served on a chilled
and then pin temperature, There are certain product, which will
work very well on the, on, those parameters.
Like, almost home, almost works very well with the cold is that
there are cold meats which can be solved on the step, there are
cold cuts which are available and which can be served.
So we do all that sort of a combination for them.
So that these sandwiches wraps with can be so cold if we create
the menu for them on those lines.
Flight meals are not just about cold sandwiches though.
If you're flying in the hallowed first class or business class
you want more than Dolce Avail in your meal, Arun batra says
that the demands from airlines are much more specific and very
high-end when it comes to the highest paying customers.
There are clients who look for the international choices which
are quite premium which is served in the restaurant type of
meal to sort of items. Also are asked by the airline
for the first class segment. Also, take a look Lobster.
They look point and is it in Lamb.
They look for high-end prawn dishes, Pan.
Asian dishes, Japanese means they all look for these sort of
stuff. On the internet, you can find
food ratings for Ln food, much like you would for a restaurant.
Most travel Vlogs on YouTube, have the vlogger, eating the
food, much like a judge would on MasterChef.
If you don't like it, if you don't like what you see and then
that food gets wasted. Another problem for people in
the business is even a sense of taste changes.
When we're flying Sora Master own butter about how they decide
what makes it to the meal tray. And so since you've been in the
industry for a very long time, in very simple terms, can you
explain us how our taste buds react differently when we are
high when we are flying and secondly, keeping that reaction
of the taste bud in mind. How is the meal prepared for an
airline different from a meal prepared for a restaurant?
What are the changes? See the lndustry?
What a process is V, cook jail. It.
And so in the restaurant, it is scope and served.
The process is entirely different in the LA.
And as far as your taste buds are concerned.
Yes, there is a different of taste buds when you apply at
that temperature. So we do lot of Stimulation on
this part. And we do all the trials and
this part where of all meals, everything is folk shared and
stored for some time to look at what are the impact on the food
presentation in that part after doing so much of multiple trials
and everything. Then we do the tasting and look
at the position then only it is a gesture to the airline ticket.
This is what you need to take. And we may have to certain Beat
the recipes and certain ingredient to meet the disorder
of challenges in this thing. So what I have heard is when I'm
flying my taste buds are more likely to recognize salty thing.
Then a sweet thing. Is that correct?
That is correct here? Yes, it is personal.
You have to salt and soreness. These are the two parameters
where you will see the taste but will react at that.
Atmosphere. These are the two parameters.
Also when we are designing, the man whom we keep in mind when
we're designing their sort of stuff, that's a sweet thing.
Also stay sweet like the desert also tastes sweet.
So butter jelly you will not get that taste of a per se of this
thing so you need feel the sweetness but you actually don't
get that a stand that is so like this is 100% sweet then I will
ninety eighty version this weakness.
Yeah, yes that's what I also only never read meal played,
what items are consumed the most and what is left the most most
of the thing, when you look at the tray, when we have done the
survey and everything later, Salad is the part, which is
consumed quite less by the people, because being in the
airline industry salad, doesn't remain fish, but that's the
reason why with the prior passage of time, the airlines
also moving in two Directions. They beget they give you a
composed salad now and the healthy salad with a of the
weather. No dressing involved in this.
So there it remains, crisp and fresh.
We have seen vegetable parts are being left.
When kids are traveling Young Generation Airlines, also take
note of that part and that is being substitute to the lentils.
Now to take care of that car. Take the subject, apportion
toward outcomes, are there. They are with mr.
Geum, very dark, picture more acceptable, by the people.
So the Veer more going into that mode now.
Now, which are being accepted. So reduce the portion of the
vegetable is rice and lentil a little more.
Yes, plant is. What is what?
Vegetables are favorites. I'm a vegetarian.
So I can't ask any non veg question.
I'm sorry. Normally, on cauliflower okra
Spinach, these sort of a tabular form and Pari your waist in the
cottage cheese. The parenting plan till scan,
the you have rajma, you have Dal makhani, yellow doll.
These are the basic doll which works very well.
You. This and they are time-tested,
they can remain and they can sustain that cold soak and
everything. It doesn't go, this thing and in
fact there it gets the more tastier when they go into this
sort of environment. And what is it that our own
butter will never serve you on a flight turns out.
It's not really a big surprise. In real life, what we do is we
avoid items like brinjal pumpkin, all this stuff we may
eat, but no one wants to have this sort of stuff on the flight
when you're traveling. Today's episode was produced by
Jay Raj, Singh soon. I moratti and on Vijay Singh for
a daily Spotlight. On people ideas and stories that
matter, subscribe to us. We are available on T.
Y+ Spotify, Apple Google podcast and all other platforms of your
choice. For any new steps email us at
DIY podcast at times, internet dot in.