Every frequent flier knows that not all in-flight meals are created equal. But very few travelers know where the meals are actually prepared, and more importantly, where to expect meals of the highest quality. On February 25th in Miami Beach, Florida, awards for the world’s best airline caterers will be announced at a gala celebration presented by a global roster of major airlines participating in the Quality and Safety Alliances In-flight Services (QSAI), a Programme developed and managed by Medina Quality. A total of nine awards will be announced for three geographic regions (Asia, Americas and Middle East/Europe/Africa) and one caterer will receive the Platinum Worldwide Award. There are 220 catering facilities in over 50 countries that are in the running for the awards.
Although most travelers associate in-flight meals with whatever airline they are traveling on, it’s in fact the earth-bound caterers, located in major airports working with airline food designers who prepare what comes rolling down the aisle at meal-times.
Award-winners are recognized for their top marks in food safety and quality Audits which cover both the meals and the facilities in which the meals are prepared. The finalists for awards in 2013 include LSG Sky Chefs, Goddard Catering Group, ANA Catering Service Co. Ltd., Kansai Inflight Catering Co., Ltd., AAS Catering, and Saudi Airlines Catering Co. The winner of the 2012 Platinum Worldwide Award was Kansai Inflight Catering Co., Ltd., at Kansai International Airport (KIX), Osaka, Japan.
This year’s exclusive Art Deco-themed awards gala will be held at the historic Raleigh Hotel in Miami Beach. Winners will be announced following the ceremony in a follow-up release on March 6th, 2014.
Medina Quality has been conducting audits of in-flight caterers since 1983. The company developed the QSAI program in 2011 in collaboration with its airline clients. QSAI is the world’s first auditing program that allows airlines to monitor and improve in-flight food supplier compliance with internationally recognized standards while sharing program costs. Medina Quality offers clients a variety of services besides QSAI, including alleged food poisoning investigations, food and water microbial analysis results investigations, and alleged foreign body investigations. The company also develops management reporting tools with clients, including operations dashboards, supplier dashboards and performance snapshots.
The airlines that participate in QSAI include Air Canada, Virgin Atlantic, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Air France, All Nippon Airways, Aeroflot Russian Airways, Korean Air, Singapore Airlines and Japan Airlines.
