14, May, 2012, Dar es Salaam. BRITISH Airways is now offering two in
flight meal services on its flight between Tanzania and the United
Kingdom and United Kingdom.
A breakfast and lunch services is provided in all cabins. Club World
customers are also able to help themselves to sweet and savory snacks
from the club kitchen throughout the flight. On flights from Heathrow
these include popular products from Waitrose and Cadburys as well as
smaller, high-quality British brand as the Ice Cream Union.
The service has now been running for over a month and according to
Saada Juma, British Airway’s Commercial Manager in Tanzania, the
customer feedback has been overwhelmingly positive.
“There are a lot of jokes about airline food, but it’s something we
take very seriously,’ says Saada. “This includes working with top
chefs such as Heston Blumenthal to ensure that our meals are well
prepared, well presented and above all taste good,”
The challenges we of serving meals at altitude are considerable.
Compared to restaurant kitchens, aircraft galleys are tiny and the
crew has limited equipment with which to work and often just as many
meals to serve. Add to this the fact that your sense of taste changes
at altitude, so something which may seem wonderful on the ground can
seem bland at 35 000 feet.
All of this and much more needs to be considered when preparing
onboard meals. In Tanzania specialists airline caterers LSG Sky Chefs
provide the meals for all British Airways flights to London. Ms. Saada
is a regular visitor to its kitchen, strategically situated close to
Julius Nyerere International Airport.
“We have a close working relationship as we need to ensure that the
meals provided meet the standards that our customers expect from
British Airways.
The controls are rigorous from the moment the produce arrives to the
point at which it is placed on the special trays before being loaded
on the aircraft. As they tuck in, most customers have no idea of the
journey their meals has taken.
Huruma Gwakisa, Operations Manager LSG Sky Chefs, explains that
besides the quality of the meals, there are a series of health,
hygiene, security and other requirements that must be met. “Sky Chefs
is monitored by the Weights and Measures Agency (WMA) for Tanzania.
From then point of entry all the way through to loading the aircraft
we follow strict procedures. These include the temperature at which
produce is stored, the separation of food products to ensure no
cross contamination, security of high-value goods and of course,
hygiene and health and safety.”
After the production process all foods and beverages are quality
assessed before being delivered to the aircraft.
Huruma Gwakisa explains that the menu is compiled by British Airways’
in-house catering experts and Sky Chefs. Local produce is used to
prepare the onboard meals, breads, pastries and puddings, which are
all made fresh on site. Elements brought in from the UK include
branded packaging for the children’s meals and boxes of snacks for the
galley service,”
In addition to the normal meal service and children’s meals, British
Airways also offers special meals for people who require these for
religious, health or other reasons. These can be requested when the
booking is made or online at ba.com.
Africa Matters
