PAX March/April VOL 15. NO. 2

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S! CHECK OUT PAX ONLINE AT

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AMERICA > 60Cruise

news > 52

M A R C H / A P R I L 2 0 1 1 I V O L . 1 5 , N O . 2

Bacardi Cruise

Competition winners

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EDITOR’S LETTER |

PAX International is published six times a year

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September/October, November/December) by PAXInternational, 26 Pearl Street, Mississauga, Ontario L5M

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editor. March/April 2011, Vol. 15, No. 2. Printed in Canada.

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or the second time in less than six months, members of the Marine Hotel Asso-ciation will be gathering for a chance to network and socialize, this time onmore traditional turf.

Last fall’s first ever European convention will probably be fresh on theminds of many who are gathering in sunny Orlando. The MHA has rightly and boldlytaken on the challenges of handling a second conference venue out of a need to serv-ice the global cruise line industry.

The latest statistics we could find, from 2008, showed that European manufactur-ers alone produced €385 million worth of food and beverage provisions consumedonboard cruise ships. In our last issue, we detailed how some smaller ports in theregion long passed by have now become important stops for cruise lines large andsmall. As the U.S. dollar continues to trade at levels below the euro and the pound,cruising the Med continues to be an attractive and economical choice.

“The cruise industry long ago ceased being primarily a Caribbean or U.S.-basedvacation option and well over a third of our business is done in the European mar-ket through European distribution channels and with European cruise lines,” said BillFennel, senior manager of cruise division for Nestlé Professional Vitality Foodservice,in our last issue’s coverage of November MHA Convention in Barcelona.

With the change in emphasis comes a change in cruise line itineraries. Looking overthe MHA website one runs across news that Norwegian Cruise Lines plan to deploymore ships year round in the Mediterranean in 2012 and 2013. The Norwegian Spiritwill join the Norwegian Jade there for year-round operations. It appears even off sea-son in the Mediterranean holds some promise.

In this issue, we have cruise news from around the industry. In our galley report,Daniel Laine of D-L Services gives us his approach on galley design from his com-pany’s offices in France. From Florida, Bacardi again has rewarded the two most inno-vated recipes from a chef and a bartender.

In this issue, we devote part of our back page to a new regular department for our adver-tising customers. They, and their potential customers, can now find their ads easier withthe help of an alphabetized Advertiser’s Index. Simple in concept, but it will help savetime paging through the magazine looking for information on a particular company.

RICK LUNDSTROMEditor-in-Chief, PAX International

F

Old Worldand NewWorld openfor cruisebusiness

M A r C h / A P r I L 2 0 1 1 V O L U M E 1 5 , N U M B E r 2

AIRCRAFT INTERIORS EXPO COVERAGE

14 CUTTING EDGE TECHProducts from Lufthansa Technik hold the promise of a smarter, safer and more

entertaining cabin for both large and small aircraft

18 ALL TURNED ONTried and tested meets up and coming in an industry that continuously evolves. PAX

International recently gave 10 IFE providers an opportunity to discuss the year behind

them, the path ahead and trends that shape the demands and expectations of those

who purchase these systems

26 MAGIC IN THE BOXThe world of galley inserts runs the gamut from esoteric products for business jets and

fussy clients to full product lines, branded in families

30 MAKING THE ROUNDSDriessen rolls out the hybrite in grand fashion at several important shows

32 ON A ROLLTrolley companies have been reading industry moods and designing an array of unique

products to answer the needs of airlines for weight savings, aesthetic appeal and, of

course, cost

36 PASSENGER SAFETY NEWSDevelopments in aviation and cruise cabin safety

WORKWEAR

32 FROM THE GROUND UPPAX International delves into the task of outfitting busy crewmembers onboard

airliners and cruise ships alike, because a sharp-looking, happy and comfortable crew

can directly translate into relaxed, comfortable and happy guests

MHA CRUISE COVERAGE

58 BACARDI CRUISE COMPETITIONrCI bartender, Carnival chef take top honors

62 DINING ON THE DREAMDisney style means entertainment, fun and several unique options

64 BEHIND THE SCENESFrom seemingly a clean slate, planners, suppliers and cruise lines sketch out the part

of the food service component the passenger never sees

CHARITY WORK

44 WORTHY CAUSES PART TWOwith the popularity and interest surrounding our first charity report featured in the

last issue of PAX International, we’ve once spotlighted some key players in the travel

catering industry to find out how they are giving back to their communities.

TABLE OF CONTENTS |

EDITOr’S LETTEr 3

NEwS 8

PEOPLE 12

whAT’S hOT, AIX 42

whAT’S hOT, MhA 74

ASSOCIATION NEwS 76

ADVErTISEr’S INDEX 78

DEPARTMENTS

62

44

14

18

AIRLINE PROFILE

48 A RICH PARTNERSHIPTAP’s inflight offering relies

heavily on authentic cuisine

and a well-known chef who

takes a hands on approach to

the airline’s food service

50 LION’S SHARE OF

LISBONTAP and LSG Sky Chefs have

lock in Portuguese capital’s

airline catering market

CONFERENCECOVERAGE

46 ITCA ’11, NICEDelegates meet, greet and

focus on year aheadfor its

Caffè ritazza stores

FOOD AND BEVERAGE

68 DELIVERING HEALTH AND VITALITY

SINCE THE 80’SCruise ship guests have been quenching their

thirsts with cold, fruity drinks since the holiday

ships set sail. Nestlé Professional Vitality’s Bill

Fennel shares how new technology, great taste

and old-fashioned customer service have kept

his company fresh and afloat for so many years

70 2020 VISIONIt doesn’t take long to find fans among wine

experts for the strategy and variety of wines

now being produced and exported from Chile

COMPANY PROFILES

60 THE KEY TO SATISFACTIONPreGel AMErICA’s new Key Accounts division

lets cruise lines order dessert

by design

72 NEW FRIEND FOR ‘FRIENDS’D&F Marketing scoops representation of

Colorado Foods’ French wine in a can30

46

NEWS

8 | PAX INTErNATIONAL | March/April 2011

CATERING

LSG reports profit, sees quick recovery

LSG Sky Chefs ended in 2010 well in theblack as increased capacity, a boost inand premium travel and cost management

pushed up sales and profits for the company. “In 2010, our industry recovered at a rate

faster than expected and reached stability glob-ally,” said the company’s CEO Walter Gehl in aMarch 18 announcement.”

The company reported consolidated rev-enues of €2.24 billion (US$3.2 billion) with anoperating profit of €76 million (US$107 million).

In the year ahead, LSG Sky Chefs sees cur-rent market trends continuing.

“The company is seeking to extend its cus-tomer relationships by selling additional prod-ucts and services. Consistent standardizationin production and administration aims at rais-ing the level of quality and transparency withinthe company, while creating competitive coststructures,” said Gehl

LSG Sky Chefs has also targeted several spotsin the world for expansion, particularly Russiaand China. In Turkey, the company has estab-lished a joint venture and set up a pre-produc-tion facility

Finncatering Ltd. in Helsinki announced last week that it had been granted the ISO14001 environmental certificate and the ISO 22000 quality certificate from inter-national auditing agencies.

Finncatering is a subsidiary of Finnair. It manufactures ready-made, takeaway andbakery products along with frozen meals. The company’s customers are rail and airtransport companies along with cafés, restaurant and catering kitchens.

The company has undergone an extensive environmental program. Nearly 97 percentof its waste is recycled partly into bioethanol. Packaging is studied to minimize waste gen-eration. Last fall, Finncatering Ltd’s product range was extended by the addition of a tri-angular shaped sandwich in a biodegradable package.

On the quality management side, Finncatering has taken significant steps to ensurethe safety of its food supplies. “A condition of the awarding of the certificate is thatthe company adheres to the strict quality standards prescribed by the certificate, inaddition to relevant laws and statutes.”

Its sister company Finnair Catering has held the ISO 14001 certificate since 2002.

Improved performance among airline cus-tomers in Asia, the United States and LatinAmerica helped push gategroup’s sales

and profits in 2010 “as the worldwide eco-nomic recession began to ease its grip.”

The company ended the year with a profitof CHF 50.7 million (US$56.29 million), a 35percent increase from the previous year. Thecompany recorded sales of for 2010 of CHF2.7 billion (US$2.99 billion), a 3.4 percentincrease from the previous year.

While the company enjoyed strong salesin most regions, events in Europe cut intopotential earnings. The Icelandic volcano,labor unrest in the industry and weatherevents took their toll on European cus-

tomers. The company estimated that the vol-cano ash cloud cost the company CHF 21million (US$24 million) and cut into its esti-mated before income tax profit by CHF 8million (US$8.8 million).

“The industry in Europe lagged, however,as the sovereign debt crisis in the Eurozoneproved to be an economic drag,” said aMarch 17 announcement by gategroup.

The company made key acquisitions lastyear with the purchase of Cara Airline Solu-tions in Canada and a majority share of Sky-gourmet in India. In Japan, gategroup

opened a new unit at Haneda Airport. Thecompany’s Japan units at Haneda and Naritaairports were not seriously affected by theMarch 11 earthquake, and both are opera-tional at present.

Although gategroup sees the airline indus-try in recovery mode “looking ahead in 2011,we remain cautiously optimistic” said thecompany CEO Guy Dubois.

“We expect the U.S. economy to continuemoderate growth; for Europe to exit therecession and for robust growth to continuein the Asia-Pacific region.”

gategroup calls 2010 “turning point,” posts profits

Finnacatering earns environmentaland safety designations

Do & Co reports strong catering business

Sales in the airline catering division for Do & Co grew 27.3 percent to€251.8 million (US$350 million) for the first three quarters of its2010/2011 fiscal year, earning the company an estimated before income

tax profit €14.4 million (US$20 million) for the division, the company reportrecently.

Catering sales and margins increased notably at the company’s operationsin Turkey, where it now caters Emirates. Do & Co also caters five daily cater-ing of Emirates flights at London Heathrow, where at least two are operatedwith A380s.

“The Do & Co locations in Milan and Frankfurt managed to add Jet Airwaysfrom India and Gulf Air from Bahrain respectively to their portfolio of cus-tomers,” said a release from the company.

Over all the company’s divisions, (airline and event catering, restaurants,lounges and hotels) Do & Co recorded €330.5 million in sales (US$459.7 million)with an estimated before income tax profit of €19.5 million (US$27.1 million).

“The airline catering division can expect to have its market environment fur-ther stabilized in the aftermath of the economic and financial crisis,” said arelease from Do & Co. “It can be assumed that the growth in passenger figureswill continue over the next months.”

w w w . p a x - i n t l . c o m | PAX INTErNATIONAL | 9

NEWS

CATERING

Qantas has selected Flying FoodGroup (FFG) to cater passengermeals on its new service

between Dallas/Fort Worth and Sydney,says the caterer. Service begins May 16with four 747 flights per week.

In other news from FFG, an Interna-tional flight comparison web site calledSkyscanner recently polled 1,200 pas-sengers worldwide about taste, presen-tation and choices for in-flight mealsand according to Nicolas Rondeau, Fly-ing Food Group executive vice presi-

dent, airline sales, eight of the 10 high-est ranked airlines in the poll are U.S.customers of Flying Food Group.

Emirates took first place in the pollfollowed by Lufthansa, Singapore Air-lines, Aeroflot, Qatar Airways, MalaysiaAirlines, Thai Airways, Etihad Airway,KLM Royal Dutch Airlines and AirFrance.

Chicago-based Flying Food Groupservices more than 70 airlines, primarilyinternational, from its 17 U.S. kitchensand one in Shanghai, China.

Amtrak plans wiFi expansion GuestLogix store technology combines with digEcor’s system

Lufthansa expands inflight hot spot

Servair and Ghana Airports Company Ltd. willopen a 2,000 square meter catering unit at Accraairport toward the middle of this year, the com-

panies reported March 2. The new unit, called Servair Ghana will produce

up to 4,000 meals per day. Servair will have major-ity ownership of the unit.

Servair Ghana will bring the total number airlinecatering kitchens operated in Africa by Servair to 16.Earlier this year, Servair began construction of a newunited near Lagos airport in Nigeria, which will pro-duce approximately 2,000 meals per day. It is alsoscheduled to open some time this year.

Servair to partner with GACL in Ghana

FFG picks up Qantas contract for Dallas departures

Amtrak plans to install its AmtrakConnect on its Northeast Corri-dor trains by the end of this year with hardware from NomadDigital providing the service to 450 Amfllet rail cars.

In addition, the U.S. rail carrier has completed construction of a ded-icated wireless network that “significantly improves connectivity anddelivers a true high-speed to trains while traveling through the NewYork tunnels and when stopped at the Penn Station platforms.”

Amtrak has been supplying power to the seat in addition to expand-ing its free WiFi offering. The railroad plans to expand its entertainmentoptions and give passengers the chance to track their journey with real-time train position information. Another upgrade will be the additionof 4G technologies such as LTC and WiMAX to increase the availablebandwidth for passengers’ devices.

“Nomad provides Internet links to trains around the world. ThisAmtrak contract ensures that trains in the USA will be among the best con-nected anywhere,” said Nigel Wallbridge, Nomad’s executive chairman.

GuestLogix, Inc. provider of onboard store technology to air-lines and the passenger travel industry, and digEcor Inc.,a manufacturer of handheld in-flight entertainment,

announced an agreement to integrate GuestLogix’ OnTouch® retailtechnology and merchandising platform with digEcor’s digEplayerfamily of products. The joint effort will result in a comprehensiveonboard retail, communications and entertainment offering.

“Our agreement with digEcor expands the access points toour onboard retail and merchandising platform, enabling us toprocess more transactions,” said Tom Douramakos, residentand CEO of GuestLogix. “digEcor’s purpose-built personalentertainment devices provide us the ability to embed ourtransaction processing services and travel-relevant content within-flight entertainment systems that can be easily and quicklydeployed by any airline. With digEcor’s market leading systemsalready in use onboard a number of North American and Euro-pean airlines, and soon to be deployed on several more, thisagreement positions us to augment our growth.”

GuestLogix and digEcor will help airlines develop profitablein-flight programs through a set of offerings that includes:OnTouch merchandising, advertising, gaming, movies, televi-sion shows, music, and device rental that produce recurringrevenue streams for airlines. OnTouch merchandising deliversground transportation, events, attractions, catalog shopping,and more. The combined offering can be selectively pro-grammed for specific flights and classes of travel to enhanceservice and profitability.

"We are excited about our plans with GuestLogix to helpgrow ancillary revenues for our customers with a comprehensivesolution that is essentially self-funding,” said Brad Heckel, pres-ident of digEcor. “With the built-in secure transaction capabilityand destination-based merchandising content provided by Guest-Logix, we can conveniently drive more new revenues for our cus-tomers through a single sourced, globally supported offering.”

Lufthansa’s Flynet Internet service is now equipped on 17 aircrafton long-haul flights to the United States with business travelersaccessing e-mail and leisure travelers whiling away the hours

browsing Internet sites. “Meanwhile our surveys show that passengers are very interested in

browsing the latest news on the Internet and accessing social net-works,” says Christian Körfgen, vice president product managementand innovation at Lufthansa.

The service has been in place slightly more than two months.Lufthansa’s FlyNet is offered in partnership with Panasonic and DeutscheTelekom. From any point in the cabin, passengers with a WLAN-enableddevice, can log in, open a web browser to the FlyNet portal that is free,for updates on news business, politics, sports and entertainment.

If they wish to surf the web, a one-hour flat rate is €10.95 and a 24hour access is €19.95.

Lufthansa says that approximately 20 percent of is long-haul fleet isnow WiFi equipped.

IFE & CONNECTIVITY


Beauty Air, a young company whosegoal it is to enhance the flying expe-rience for passengers, will make their

Aircraft Interiors Expo debut this April inHamburg. They will appear in the GermanPavilion for Young & Innovative Companies.

Beauty Air’s treatments include reflexol-ogy and neck and shoulder massages torelax and energize passengers before theyarrive at their destination. The company’strained flight attendants and beauticians can

also be booked to help passengers preparefor events such as photo shoots and per-sonal appearances.

Beauty Air is also planning to set up spaoutlets within airports so passengers canbook treatments during their waiting timebefore they board a flight.

Eight exhibitors have been accepted toappear in Aircraft Interiors Expo’s first Ger-man Pavilion. Each company is receivingfinancial support from a program run by the

German government to help young Germanfirms promote their products and services ataccredited trade fairs.

Aircraft Interiors Expo exhibition director,Katie Murphy, said: “It is great to see such adiverse range of cabin interiors suppliers par-ticipating in our first dedicated GermanPavilion for Young & Innovative Companies.The exhibition offers them all a wonderfulopportunity to increase their profile in theaircraft interiors industry; we hope that otherpotential pavilion exhibitors will visit theevent this year and then apply to join nextyear’s pavilion.”

AMI Inflight Inc. and D/F Marketing GmbHannounced a strategic marketing partner-ship starting March 1.

In addition to each companies food portfolios AMIwill market D/F GmbH’s European food portfolio totheir U.S. airline and catering customers and D/Fwill in turn market AMI’s food portfolio to all non-U.S. based airlines.

‘We are excited about the opportunities this part-nership opens up for us, among them we will havegreater sourcing abilities out of Europe for our cus-tomers” said Denise Poole, CEO of AMI Inflight.

SUPPLIERS

German Pavilion to promote beauty ‘while-you-fly’ service at Aircraft Interiors Expo

Key suppliers teamup for marketing

The AMI Inflight and D/F Marketing team celebrate a new partnership, marketing products in the U.S. and Europe


PEOPLE | NEW FACES, NEW PLACES

Bacardi Global Travelretail Division picks new Americas directorLeigh Irvine has been appointedas the new director for the Amer-icas region at Bacardi GlobalTravel Retail.

Before taking the position,Irvine was the company’sregional director for WesternEurope where for the last threeyears he has been instrumental indeveloping the growth of the Bac-ardi Travel Retail business acrossthe UK, France, Spain, Italy, theNetherlands and Belgium.

Before joining BGTR, Irvinewas senior buyer for World DutyFree. He started his career in theindustry as a buyer for theNuance Group.

Irvine has been based inMiami since taking on the newrole April 1.

Oakfield Farmsadds director for EuropeOakfield Farms Solutions is pleased to welcomeLorenza Maggio as their new managing director inEurope.

In her new role at Oakfield Farms Solutions, shewill be in charge of the start-up of the European busi-ness. She will develop the client base, establish the

local supply footprintand launch the newbusiness's operations.

Her working experi-ence has been for thelast 10 years in manage-ment positions withinLSG Sky Chefs, first inquality assurance andoperational excellence,then in manufacturing.Most recently she was incommercial and sales atthe company. She com-pleted her Universitydegree at the EcoleHôtelière de Lausanne,in Switzerland.

Yann Schilling isdirector of ServairSolutionsYann Schilling will be in charge of Servair Solutions, theGroup subsidiary responsible for the upstream integrationof catering services.

Schilling began his career with Servair in 2001. He hasworked in the international sales division and then as assis-tant director of international development at Servair.

From 1988 to 2001, he held the position of managingdirector of two SMEs in the agri-food sector (Pourshinsand Galyon) and was sales director, France and Europe, forDMG, a specialized wholesale food company.

Smith movesto key accountsat AMI GroupAMI is pleased to announce that Carlos Smith will be thenew director key accounts, for the AMI Inflight sales teameffective March 1.

Smith comes to AMI Infight from D&F Marketing wherehe was responsible for airline sales. He will be located in thecompany’s sales office in Alpharetta, Georgia, near Atlanta.


Lufthansa Technik will be bringing examples of its lat-est developments in cabin surveillance and cabin man-agement to this year’s Aircraft Interiors Expo, but therewill be developments on the inflight entertainmentfront as well.

Last fall, the company announced a joint partnership with Pana-sonic Avionics Corporation to form a yet-to-be-officially-namedcompany that will manufacture and sell inflight entertainment andcabin management systems for VIP aircraft. Not only do the part-ners plan a state of the art, easy to use system for corporate and VIPjets, but also the ability for passengers on the aircraft to “create anexperience that will exceed the expectations of even the most dis-cerning customers,” said a release from Lufthansa Technik.

To meet this tall order, the company will offer in its entertain-ment package digital distribution, high-definition media playback,iPod and iPhone controls, remote maintenance, high-speed con-nectivity and media and game libraries among other features.

The new venture has its eyes on a growing market for VIP air-craft and a desire long pursued by manufacturers and airlines: toprovide end users an experience in the cabin that mirrors anythingfound in a home entertainment environment that is rapidly chang-ing and developing and spinning out new gadgets.

“I would say that the VIP market over the next few years is goingto be very strong,” said David Crossett of the Lufthansa TechinikInnovation Centre. “All indications are that completion centersaround the world are pretty full. The slots are taken and we believevery strongly that there is a strong market ahead for VIP comple-tions and therefore the need for high-end IFE and CMS (cabin man-agement systems).”

To create the platform, the new company will harness strengthsthat are found in both the Panasonic high-definition X Series prod-

COMPANY PROFILE

uct line and Lufthansa Technik’s nice® cabin management and IFEsystem. The system will be designed for both narrow body and widebody VIP aircraft, and the two companies plan to make a splashwith the newly formed company at this year’s the European Busi-ness Aviation Association (EBAA) in Geneva and the National Busi-ness Aircraft Association (NBAA) in Atlanta.

Bringing all the features that such a system promises requiresmore than technological advances that are found within the reach ofthe users. The challenge of securely taking content from Hollywoodand music companies and transferring it to the VIP aircraft whileguarding against the possibility of piracy is also a massive responsi-bility that the two companies plan to meet with the new product.

“Content and copyright protection in today’s digital world isbecoming extremely important and people are trying to protecttheir investments,” said Crossett.

And what the company will be able to offer content providers for

Cabin comfort for the VIP jet

market. The niceview system in

HD aboard a business jet.

The VIP Control panel

on Lufthansa Technik’s

nice® system.

Products from Lufthansa Technik hold the promise of a smarter, safer and more entertaining cabin for both large and small aircraft BY RICK LUNDSTROM

Cutting edge tech


digital rights management is an Ethernet-based distribution sys-tem much like those found in homes and computers withencrypted data delivered throughout the aircraft from the sourceto the display system, whether it is aircraft monitors, or hand-held consumer products such as iPhones or iPads. LufthansaTechnik’s Innovation Unit has also developed a purpose builtcombined Blu-ray player and media server for the aerospacemarket that will deliver high-definition video.

“We strongly believe that the aircraft system should enablepeople to live the life they are used to living on the ground,”said Crossett.

Monitoring cabin activities will be the task of the nice® prod-uct offerings, particularly the nicemate, a small device that worksas a multi-tasking unit with Wireless LAN, cellular GSM/3Gconnections, media, maintenance and network server. For cabindiagnostics, the nicemate monitors and logs files from the nice®system network and can establish a secured broadband connec-tion once the aircraft lands. Flight logs are transmitted to a Cus-tomer Service Innovation center at Lufthansa Technik for anyproactive maintenance.

Other features in the nicemate system are the ability to sendinformation to iPhone and iTouch applications.

Also developed by Lufthansa Technik is a niceview brandmoving map product that provides Satellite 2D worldwideviews with the ability of users to access news and information.

Such bold advancements for the VIP aircraft are expected tofully take shape over the course of this year.

COMPANY PROFILE

The next step in cabin surveillanceLast year, Lufthansa Technik introduced to visitors at the AircraftInteriors Expo its new aerosight brand cabin surveillance systemwith the capacity to handle signals from up to 16 cameras in apressurized airline cabin.

This year, the company says qualification of our new CDSScamera has been completed and the first units will be delivered toLufthansa German Airlines in the month of April for use on one ofthe carriers A340s.

Work on the A340 was carried out in Hamburg and the aircraftwill have three cameras with the first installation kit.

The aerosight system is primarily for use by pilots, who areable to better control access to the cockpit and overlook the cabinand cargo compartments with the aircraft inflight. The systemautomatically switches between a colored day view and infrarednight mode. The system goes further by allowing a connection withthe pilots’ Electronic Flight Bags. It is an Internet protocol basedcamera system that is operated through a Local Area Network(LAN).

The aerosight

system can

accommodate up

to 16 cameras in

an aircraft cabin


IFE REPORT

AURA is one of a

small, but growing

group of IFE providers

offering a with a seat-

centric platform

New kid on the block

The new guy always turns a few heads as his entrance ismade. He commands attention as a result of his noveltyalone, while causing even the most prominent competi-tors in his new environment to evaluate their own effi-cacy. Intelligent Avionics burst onto the IFE scene this year

with a bold campaign and tradition-testing concept, though in thisstart-up, the new guys are not exactly new.

“It’s an experienced and creative team,” reports Rob Britton, theUK-based company’s vice president of business development for theAmericas. “Founder Martin Cunnison has broad experience withIFE and e-commerce, having previously been part of the foundingteams of both a start-up IFE company and a major retailer’s online

division. Murray Skelton, who will head the technology team, hasover a decade of avionics and IFE experience, while ChairmanSteve Cloran is owner and CEO of parent company AeroTechnics,an accredited ISO9001 company with a team of 100 providing arange of aircraft engineering services.”

Britton says that at the Aircraft Interiors Expo in Hamburg (thecompany’s official debut) visitors will be able to view a mock-updisplaying the 10.1 inch LED economy class solution, but thatthree other screen sizes (7, 15.6 and 22 inch) will soon be avail-able as well.

Light, fast and flexible are three words that could easily sum upthe most obvious benefits of this system that Britton says can be

All turned onTried and tested meets up and coming in an industry that continuouslyevolves. PAX International recently gave 10 IFE providers an opportunityto discuss the year behind them, the path ahead and trends that shapethe demands and expectations of those who purchase these systems

BY MARYANN SIMSON


IFE REPORT

easily line fit or retrofit. AURA is one of a small, but growinggroup of IFE providers offering a with a seat-centric platform,effectively shifting the ‘intelligence’ of an IFE system from a cum-bersome head-end server to the seat, helping eliminate the domino-effect failures that aircraft with traditional server-driven systemscan experience.

AURA is expected to cost far less than the current offerings ofestablished providers, both in initial cost and over the life of the sys-tem. And, says AURA, the system could pay for itself in a few yearsin fuel savings.

“We’re the new guys, the challengers, the David with a sling-shot,” says Britton. “We aim to get people’s attention.”

IMS Company would likely be grouped as one of those estab-lished competitors whose ability to produce quality seat-cen-tric IFE and back it up thoroughly is being proven on a dailybasis. Hinting at a number of upcoming contract announce-ments in early April, the IMS Company looks like a pretty for-

midable foe to any newcomer in the seat-centric IFE business.“Hamburg will see us announcing at least five and perhaps six

airline commitments to our seat-centric IFE system called RAVE, aswell as rolling out our newest portable called EDGE,” reveals HarryGray, vice president of sales and marketing at The IMS Company.“There is an ‘atomic element’ linking these two products, which cantruly be called a product line.”

The increasingly popular RAVE system and its new sibling EDGEshare common hardware, development efforts and maintenancefacilities. According to Gray, The IMS Company has successfullymigrated from its original portable product, repurposed from con-sumer off the shelf (COTS) devices, to production of a purpose-builtportable product. At one time, says the company, COTS productsoffered many IFE-friendly characteristics, but have since trendedinto different directions that make less sense for airlines seeking costeffective and reliable IFE solutions.

Still, The IMS Company endeavours to keep the experience famil-iar to the many passengers who regularly use personal devices likethe popular and ever-improving Apple family of electronics. “Pas-sengers are very familiar with these kinds of devices so our graph-ical user interface (GUI) is mimicking that look and feel. Capacitivetouch allows for a smarter recognition of what the passenger desiresto do” says Gray. “Our selection process is much more intuitive.There is really no way for the passenger to get lost and need to pressthree or four buttons to get to a particular location.”

A frustrating lag in responsiveness as signals are sent through along system of wiring to the server and then back to the screen, issomething that seat-based memory can help do away with. Whenfunctionality happens at the seat, the need for legroom-hoggingelectronic boxes underneath is also eliminated, making a morecomfortable space for the passenger.

A small and simple head-end server capable of downloading 100gigabytes in the time it take to fly from Sydney to L.A. (while pas-sengers enjoy the current content stored at a second card theirmonitors), means that uploading fresh content as simple as plug-ging in an SD card and taking flight.

France’s Vision Systems is another innovative companywhose new VisiTouch IFE offering is connected to asmall server called VisiBox, enabling the use of con-tents like moving maps, audio/video playlists andnews.

The VisiTouch system has a fresh appearance with large buttons,easy to identify plug-ins and comes in a number of cheerful colors,should an airline want to add visual excitement to the cabin orstand out from the crowd. Visions Systems’ communications spe-cialist Sonia Descoins tells PAX International that while doubledigit growth in developing regions like Asia and South America istough to ignore, the company is confident that there is a strongdesire to differentiate through IFE and connectivity in the stabilizedmarket as well.

“The work we did in 2010 has been rewarded,” she reveals.“Sustained commercial activity in the Americas to promote our

The increasingly popular RAVE system and its new sibling EDGE share

common hardware, development efforts and maintenance facilities

EDGE of reason

Vision of integration

Rockwell Collins has the ability to its ability to work with OEMs

to co-develop IFEC solutions that optimize installation,

integration and the passenger experience. Pictured here is the

dPAVES system integrated with the Boeing Sky Interior


new system is bearing fruit with major aircraftmanufacturers.”

Not missing a beat, Vision Systems hasmade note of, and responded to, the veryglobal trend towards intelligent personal elec-tronic devices (PEDs). The company hasalready implemented cabin management con-trol to a personal device for cabin crew or pri-vate jet owners and is working on otherapplications like networked gaming andvirtual books.

Unlike some other IFE players whointegrate vertically, ambitious strate-gic partnerships have been a part ofVision Systems’ development andhave allowed the company to offercomplete IFE systems with exciting features. Incollaboration with satcom provider Satcom1,Vision Systems has developed and integrated amultifunctional connectivity solution casedwithin the VisiBox server and together with NewZealand sound specialist Phitek, has pioneered agroundbreaking wireless infra-red sound distri-bution hub.

“Vision Systems is permanently expanding itsnetwork of close and integrated partnerships,”says Descoins. “Each of them has been selectedfor a specific skill complementary to Vision Sys-tem Aeronautics products in order to proposecomplete systems to end users. We are currentlyfinalizing a high level agreement with a majorplayer in aeronautic content management that willallow us to build an integrated offer towards regionalairlines who have specific short duration broadcast require-ments and flexible updates.”

IFE REPORT

Press releases announcing newly inked airline contractshave been all but pouring out of the communicationsdepartment of dig-E-cor Incorporated’s Utah-based headoffice since the company (responsible for pioneering thefirst handheld IFE device - the digEplayer 5500) rolled

out its latest L7 unit in the summer of 2010. After the initial launch with Thomas Cook Airlines, saysAdam Williams, digEcor’s marketing director and the manbehind the consistent updates, sales began coming in andhave continued to do so at a rate that makes the companyvery proud.“During the third and fourth quarters of 2010, weexperienced orders for literally thousands of players – so 2010was a big year for digEcor,” he reveals. “Some of the recentcontracts for the L7 include United Airlines on its premiumservice routes, Gulf Air, Wataniya Airways, Sun Country Air-lines, chart operator Jet Time and Azerbaijan Airlines.”

At this year’s Aircraft Interiors Expo in Hamburg, the digEcorteam will highlight the digEplayer L7’s increased functionality and anew GUI. A new partnership between the handheld solutionsprovider and Canadian point of sale powerhouse GuestLogix is alsosure to generate buzz at the show, says Williams, recommending thatthe industry “keep an eye on this partnership over the next severalmonths as we collaboratively put together a joint store/IFE offering.”

While digEcor admittedly likes all the attention that the smartphone and tablet markets have

brought to handheldentertainment options,the company does itsbest to stay humble andgrounded. They do theirbest to ensure that theystay in sync with the restof the industry and doesnott get too far ahead, orbehind, the latest trendsand requirements.

“Brent Wood, ourCEO, often reminds us indepartment meetingsthat we need to be easyto work with,” Williamsdivulges. “To that end, wehave developed not only arobust, easy to use device,but we have engineeredand manufactured all ofthe support equipment tomake content loading andplayer management easier.For example, we have acontent update station thatneeds little space and isplug-n-play. One station canhold up to 100 digEplayerL7’s. To change content, justplug a player into an avail-

able slot and it immediatelyconnects to the server and grabs

any content updates.”

VisiTouch can operate

autonomously through localized

SD cards or be connected to a

small server called VisiBox

7 reasons to smile

digEcor’s content update station

can hold up to 100 digEplayer L7’s


Southern California’s Lumexis garnered a lot of attentionat the Airline Passenger Experience Association show inLong Beach last September thanks to a very impressivebooth display. And while the company intends to scaleback the size of its demonstration in Hamburg this spring,

it has no intention of relenting in its mission to show the industrythat they are a hardworking, reliable partner that is here to stay.

“I think people were really blown away by it because nobodyhad ever been able to bring out a full system to the floor,” saidLumexis CEO Doug Cline of the hundreds of monitors set up atAPEX in a configuration much like that inside an operational jet.“We essentially brought our ship set test lab the floor.”

Today Lumexis can boast newly installed fibre-optic systems onseven jets operated by flydubai, a contract joyously announcedduring a press conference at 2010’s Interiors Expo in Hamburg,where the company also used transparent displays to illustrate thesimplicity of their wiring network. They will continue to fit the air-line’s fleet at a rate of about one per month moving forward andare eagerly awaiting the outcome of multiple additional bids.

“We have hundreds of millions of dollars of bids out right nowon every continent except Antarctica,” says Cline. “The IFE marketis a very busy place and the fact is that OEM’s like Airbus, Boeing,Bombardier and Embraer are all actively engaged with Lumexis.These guys are getting a lot of requests from their various customersfor our line fit systems and that is really our big push this year. Tosee how many lines we can get.”

If you ask Cline, he’ll tell you without hesitation that the interestin Lumexis’ offering can be traced back to a simple desire on the partof airlines to outfit their fleets with a new generation of IFE that isnot too experimental to be trusted. While seat-centric IFE has claimeda large slice of the IFE spotlight in recent months, it has yet to reallycatch on and will take even longer still to stand the test of time.

“What we have is a super broadband network and full redun-dancy of the network paths and the head end server,” he says.”Youcould even lose a network path and a server and know that we havethe ability to use local storage at the monitor to deliver and cachewhatever content is required.”

IFE REPORT

Redundancy– the good kind

At rest or at play

Twelve months ago, the Cheshire U.K. based firm IFE Serv-ices, announced a partnership with Sony Computer Enter-tainment America (SCEA), which made it possible for themto offer a new portable IFE device to airline customers, onethat they are excited to showcase again in 2011.

This is not to say that the company is new on the IFE scene. Infact, IFE Services has been around for two decades, with locationsset up across the globe, as a leader in the business of tailoring anddelivering the content packages composed of everything frommovies, TV shows, games and audio channels to safety films, enter-tainment guides and AVOD management.

“We firmly believe that the Sony PSP beats other handhelddevices hands down in terms of entertainment content, battery life,low weight and its revenue generating potential,” says Adrian AndyMcEwan, managing director of IFE Services. “Generally, adultsenjoy the films and TV shows, whilst kids love the great games anddigital comics that are now available on each device.”

IFE Services has already announced contracts to supply the PSPand customized content packages to several airlines globally includ-ing Thomas Cook Airlines, Thomson Airways and Iberia. They areset up with numerous international support locations and say thathalf a dozen more contracts to be made official this year. The com-pany is also particularly excited about another partnership that haspaved the way for the introduction of unique application they planto share in Hamburg.

“We will also be talking a lot about a brilliant sleep and relax-ation application called pzizz, which we have the rights to distrib-ute to airlines globally,” McEwanreveals. “We believe it will rev-olutionise the way air-line passengers traveland provide themwith the rest theyneed and want.”

IFE Services has already

announced contracts to

supply the PSP and customized

content packages to several airlines globally

Down to business

Many of the innovations that make their way into thecommercial cabin environment found their begin-nings in the cabin of a business or VIP jet. The busi-ness and private jet sector, after all, pours a lot ofcash into the comfort and entertainment of its very

important passengers.PGA Avionics is a French firm specializing in the development of

a number of products that contribute to the overall comfort and ambi-ence of the cabin, ranging from smart motion seat actuators, to light-ing, to IFE and CMS. “PGA is having a strong increase of business inall of its activities,” Nicolas Duchéron IFE/CMS Product Manager forPGA. “We have won several major contracts over 2010 with deliveriesexpected in 2011 and 2012. Our backlog has never been so strong.”

Recently, in a bid to increase the scope of its offering to the privatejet sector, PGA started technical discussions with Lufthansa Technikto explore interfacing techniques that will result in better communi-cation between PGA’s Cabin Management System and Lufthansa Tech-nik’s acclaimed Moving Map. Other new partnerships that will helpadvance PGA’s ranking in the competitive private jet sector includeinterface with True North, Otonomy Aviation, which will open doors

for connectivity and high definition video.Paradize V, PGA’s latest generation GUI system can be discovered

at the company’s booth in Hamburg along with several more debutproducts including a new 15 inch digital touch screen, an AVODfriendly GUI, Apple user friendly interfaces, seat controllers and a newSWING reading light. Most of all though, says N. Duchéron, he andthe rest of PGA are anticipating the maturation of 3D technology in theaviation sector.

“The visualization of these movies in 3D invites the viewer to aunique video experience,” he says. “Moreover, PGA is proud to havedeveloped the first full high definition 3D system for inflight that doesnot require the use of glasses.”

PGA reports that

business is

expected to

increase by 25

percent in the

coming year


IFE REPORT

Keeping it simple

Not every airline has the opportunity to select its IFE systemfrom a list of big name players to be line fit on its latest fleetorder. Many operators don’t have business models that allowfor the time-consuming and costly retrofits that are requiredto upgrade IFE and CMS systems on older jets. Once found

standard on almost all airplanes, DVD and even VHS players are still inuse by large numbers of operators, most of whom are still anxious toimprove their passenger experience regardless of tighter budgets.

“They often simply want to upgrade their IFE to a clean and mod-ern digital image at a reasonable cost,” says Dan Hepworth, Director ofSales and Marketing for Airline Services Limited (ASL), a well estab-lished interior-services provider based in the U.K that has recentlybegun making inroads into the IFE market. “What we offer is a cost-effective plug-and-play digital replacement for outdated, heavy andunreliable analogue equipment .”

ASL first introduced its replacement player – called AeroStream – atthe Hamburg Aircraft Interiors Expo in 2010, having already displayedits HD, LCD monitors in the preceding two years. At this year’s Ham-burg event, Hepworth says, a second generation of the player –AeroStream XP1 - will be on display that weighs under 3 kilograms,boasts 80GB of memory and uploads video of all encryptions via a verysimple USB interface.

“A combination of on-board operational experience and engineeringexpertise allows us to bring innovation to all areas of the aircraft inte-rior. We have recently developed an innovative modification that allowsus to take existing legacy screens with poor picture quality and viewingangles and upgrade them to the latest LCD panel standard, whilst retain-ing the existing housing and other sub-components. This approachavoids the higher cost of replacing the complete monitor unit, mainwiring and redesigning PSU’s etc whilst still delivering fantastic picturequality .” He says. “In keeping with Airline Services’ central philosophy,we offer a low-cost, reliable alternative.”

Not unlike many of the other IFE providersinterviewed for this report, the cabin systemsdivision of Thales Group has been hard atwork alongside several different aircraft seat-ing manufacturers including Weber, B/E

Aerospace, Recaro and Contour, in an effort to bring for-ward clever ways of better integrating the IFE systeminto the seat.

“The seat and IFE are starting to look better than evertogether,” says Lori Krans, vice president of communica-tions at Thales Avoinics, Inc. “This is very positive forcabin aesthetics.”

In Hamburg this year, the group will showcase a hostof new developments, including the latest version of thefully integrated TopSeries system displayed in variousseats and their new Crystal Cabin Award-nominatedTouch Passenger Media Unit (TouchPMU). The sleeknew handheld device can be used as an extension of theThales IFEC System enabling passengers to view andemploy system capabilities on it, while viewing some-thing else on the seatback display. It can also act as astandalone media access device.

Also on the docket for Thales’ Hamburg exhibit will bethe unveiling of the new, fully evolved TopSeries archi-tecture that drives the system's seat-centric Smart VideoDisplays (launched at last year’s event), an apps store thatsupports the TouchPMU, new GUI technology and designpossibilities, and much more,” Krans explains.

“Making Media Mobile” an online collaborative toolthat enables Thales, its airline customers and serviceproviders to work on the selection and packaging of con-tent that is planned for future months will be featured,Krans reveals. She suggests that this tool combined with thecompany's “Gate Sync” wireless gate connection to theaircraft will become game changers over the next few years.

Looking good

Thales’ Crystal Cabin Award-nominated Touch

Passenger Media Unit (TouchPMU) can be used

as an extension of the Thales IFEC System.


It can be easy to forget, in all the buzz andglamour of flashy GUI’s and the promise of asuperb individual inflight experience, that amassive percentage of all new aircraft beingbuilt today are single aisle models destined for

developing and established market segments alike. Rockwell Collins understands the growing

importance of single aisle aircraft in the overall air-line marketplace. The iconic U.S. supplier of cock-pit and cabin solutions to leading airlinesworldwide has embraced the single aisle IFEC mar-ket and made the advantageous decision to focusheavily on research and development that will helpthem dominate this sector.

In the third quarter of 2010 Rockwell Collinswas awarded contracts to install its dPAVES IFEsystem on Boeing 737’s belonging to Luxair Lux-embourg Airlines, new A319’s for Tibet Airlinesand was selected by the Commercial Aircraft Cor-poration of China (COMAC) to provide IFE systemsfor its much anticipated C919 aircraft. dPAVES IFEand other Rockwell Collins systems will be an offi-cial option to any of the six customers who will

take delivery of the first 100 aircraft, expected tomake their arrival in five to six years.

“Rockwell Collins is teaming with a number ofcompanies to co-develop new technologies andproducts for our Air Transport product line,”reveals JD Pauly, director of single aisle cabin sys-tems. “One example is our recently announcedpartnerships with Shanghai Aero Measurement-Controlling Research Institute (SAMRI) and ChinaElectronics Technology Avionics Co. Ltd (CETCA)to develop IFEC solutions for the COMAC C919.”

At the Aircraft Interiors Expo this year, Rock-well Collins will showcase an HD capable dPAVESsystem, enhanced Airshow 4200/4200D featuresand 3D interactive maps, a virtual surround soundfeature (SRS) that will be available to all dPAVEScustomers and its ability to work with OEMs to co-develop IFEC solutions that optimize installation,integration and the passenger experience.

Lastly, though no cats are running free of theirbags just yet, the IFEC provider will not confirmnor deny that has developed a new embeddedsystem targeting the single aisle market.

Are you single?

IFE REPORT

GALLEY INSERTS |

Buoyed by the improvingfinancial fortunes of airlines,and the development anddeliveries planned for twoimportant aircraft, makers ofgalley inserts and accessories

for airline use have much to be thankful foras the year begins.

At this year’s Aircraft Interiors Expo, sev-eral companies are planning to show theindustry new products, or entire families ofproducts designed not only for optimum

functionality but also an aes-thetic appeal that is demandedby the airlines. It’s not gleamingproducts from a Williams &Sonoma store but, but the desireis transforming the galley insertbox, and the lumbering airline trolley(see related story, page 29) into visuallyappealing accessories of the aircraft cabin.

Though much of the new product line atB/E Aerospace will be kept under wraps andshown to visitors by invitation only, Grant

West vice president of marketing andinterior systems at the company was able todrop some broad hints at what it has been


what does an airline do when it wants to please passengers on short

haul flights with hot or cold offerings but lacks one of the much-needed

elements for food service – a galley?

Many carriers have turned to something that has become known as

the Magic Box System. It’s a term that may not have originated in the

board rooms and shop floor at B&w Engineering in Germany, but

company executives such as hubert walter, managing director, certainly

seem to take it as a compliment.

The Magic Box is actually the A-LogEqu System. Through a

combination of tight sealing and multi-layered, proprietary insulation, the

company has been able to manufacture a line of containers that keep

hot food hot and cold food cold for many hours, without any power

consumption or dry ice. That has allowed airlines to offer a range of

products for buy-on-board and other possibilities, such as hot meals on

short haul routes.

In March the A-LogEqu system had logged millions of unit flight

hours among its users, said walter. The product line includes a

dispenser drawer that can hold 13 liters of hot liquid for up to 24

hours; a storage drawer designed for easy opening and

operation within the trolley; a high drawer with a removable lid;

and a two runner smaller drawer for products such as caviar,

ice cream and fresh seafood served on crushed ice.

The A-LogEqu containers provide another unique

feature -- the ability to fit into ATLAS, as well as into

KSSU trolleys and Standard Units for operators with

a mix of sizes in their fleet.

At this year’s Aircraft Interiors Expo, visitors to the

B & w stand will see two new products. Short-listed

for a Crystal Cabin Award is the LogSys temperature and tamper

tracking system. LogSys users can track temperature fluctuations,

obtain hACCP documentation and learn whether or not doors in the

trolley or container had been opened. Data from the LogSys is sent

through an rFID signal and obtained though a handheld device.

The benefits are not only to the airline, but the caterer as well. “By

using the LogSys possible mistakes during the catering process are

minimized, the reliability of the caterer is increased and less last-minute

re-catering will be necessary,” says the application for the Crystal Cabin

Award from B&w. “Every working step together with the data about the

person doing the work is saved to the module. In that way human

mistakes can be detected and reduced.”

B&w has also expanded its line of storage material with a new

“ColdBox” for customers who do not need the 24-hour performance of

the A-LogEqu containers. The ColdBox is a lightweight polymer container

with an intergrated Temperature Accumulator (TempAccu) lid. Like the

A-LogEqu containers, one size fits into ATLAS and into KSSU equipment.

The new ColdBox, as well as the inner cases of the A-LogEqu

containers and the other polymer items of the B&w range are made

of new, anti-microbial polymers which B&w developed with polymer

suppliers and a university.

Four products from

B/E Aerospace. The

company will be

showing a new line of

products at this year’s

Aircraft Interiors Expo.

The A-LogEqu family of galley products. B

& W Engineering is introducing a new

Cold Box to the group at this year’s AIX

B & w Engineering has been a sourcefor airlines seeking food service whenall the needed tools are not there

The world of galley inserts runs the gamutfrom esoteric products for business jetsand fussy clients to full product lines,branded in families BY RICK LUNDSTROM

Making magic

Magicin the Box

developing as well as what airlines might see in its newespresso machine, range of ovens, chiller products andintegrated trash compactor.

“What we see is a real trend in the industry and byour airline partners to really try to improve not only thefunctionality of the product in terms of cost of owner-ship and performance; but there has been a real driveto improve the aesthetic quality of the product, and thathome, high-end kitchen feel, especially in the businessclass and first class areas,” he said.

That trend is fueled by several moves by the air-lines. For front cabin service, airlines are asking forproducts that bring more flexibility into the mealservice. The carriers have also made drinks andsnacks readily available throughout a long flight.West added that the galley area of the aircraft isbecoming of a gathering place for passengers. Thus,he said, airlines are looking for a more appealingatmosphere.

“What you’ll see is a harmonization among theB/E product lines – to make them have a family andstrong brand appearance,” said West. “We haveinvested a lot in ergonomics and user friendliness aswell as developed a clean, modern, yet timelessappeal to the product.”

Much of B/E’s new insert line has been fueled bythe development of the A350 for which the companyis a supplier. B/E Aerospace will be making first deliv-eries of its galley insert products to the airframer thisyear. The A350 is scheduled to fly in early 2013.

Fresh from a major company reorganization and animportant acquisition, the line of products from theIacobucci Group will all be in one location at this year’sAircraft Interiors Expo. Among them will be a line ofhigh-tech products for the private and VIP aircraft mar-ket that is he result of the company’s purchase of theGerman company Modular Galley Systems (MGS).Multi-functional heating units, microwave ovens, cook-ing stations and accessories are part of the MGS line.



GALLEY INSERTS |

Some of the products were first seen atlast year’s National Business Aircraft Asso-ciation event in Atlanta. The MGS multi-functional heating unit combines heat andsteam induction that helps retain vitaminsand attractive color in vegetables and was awinner of three Mercury Awards from theInternational Travel Catering Association.The MGS line of inserts allows users to broilfish and meat, fry eggs and toast bread, andcook pasta and rice.

Another product as a result of theIacobucci/MGS collaboration is a “inductivecooking station” that is designed for the VIPaircraft market. Made with a Ceran cookingsurface the station is made with two stan-dard hot plates and one extra-large wokplate. MGS and Iacobucci have made the sta-tion not only functional, but also visuallyappealing with all visible surfaces coated instainless steel for looks and ease of cleaning.A fume hood accessory keeps cooking smellswithin the galley area.

Graham Postlethwaite, sales manager atU.K.-based Aerolux says that visitors to thecompany’s stand at AIX will not only be ableto see a full line of the company’s galleyinserts, they will be able to experience some-thing nearly as important to weary eventgoers – a proper cup of espresso consistently

served with the popularNespresso capsule.

It was a combination ofAerolux’s innovation andSwissair’s longtime empha-sis on cabin service thatplaced the first espressomaker in an aircraft. Thecompany’s list of customersnow and in the past were awho’s who service orientedairlines, from skillets onCathay Pacific Airways in thepast to toasters and otherspecialized equipment incabin service oriented airlines such as Emi-rates, Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways.

“We have some very loyal customers whodo good business with us, particularly inthe Middle East,” said Postlethwaite. Andwhat those customers and others have cometo Aerolux for is the company’s ability toproduce unique items in small quantities.The company does all its work out itsassembly plant in Blackpool approximatelyone hour from Manchester Airport.

Approximately 25 percent of Aerolux’sbusiness is catering equipment for railroads.Among the customers recently gained byAerolux are West Coast Main Line Virgin

Trains, rail car builder Alstom and suppliersKelox and Multirail. The company brokeinto the rail market in 1990 with a line ofrefrigerated display carts and sales carts.

“Keep it simple and Respect the Spec” wasthe company’s motto. However Postlethwaitesays that Aerolux’s customers are also lookingto the company for its innovation and its abil-ity to think outside the box to develop prod-ucts they could not find elsewhere.

“We have to do – for want of a better word– the idiosyncratic type of products,” Postleth-waite said. “Things that will be a little bit dif-ferent, a little big quirky and that is a lot of ourbusiness in the airline industry.”

MGS and Iacobucci have

developed a microwave oven

for the VIP aircraft market.

The stylish brochure for Driessen’snew Hybrite line of trolleys fea-tures on its third page a quote byCharles Darwin on the importanceof adaptation.

“It is the species most responsive tochange that survives,” reads the line.

The company’s new line of Hybrite com-posite/aluminum trolleys is the speciesdesigned to adapt to the demands of airlinesfor lightweight products without the cost asso-ciated with a trolley made completely of high-tech composites. It was rolled out first to theairline industry at this year’s InternationalTravel Catering Association (ITCA) and later atAsian Aerospace in Hong Kong. In April, theHybrite will be seen in its colorful designs atthe Aircraft Interiors Expo in Hamburg.

But behind the stylish looks and bold cam-paign to make the carts an important playerin a competitive segment of the industry, isanother message that Michiel Maris, salesand marking director at Driessen says thecompany has learned from listening to itscustomers.

“The aviation industry made it clear tous,” said Maris who put the Hybrite throughits paces at this year's ITCA Exhibition.“Don’t sell us carts that are twice as expen-sive as our other carts.”

That request brought Driessen-Zodiac Aerospace back to thedrawing board to develop theHybrite with a half-composite, half-aluminum design weighing in atbetween 10 and 11.5 kilograms inthe half size configuration andbetween 15 and 18 kilograms on the full sizemode. The Hybrite can also be customizedwith several features, including a pull-outtable, aluminum or composite panel facing.A single-wheel or double-wheel castor sys-tem gives the trolley improved maneauver-ability. Cabin waste can be loaded either fromthe top or the front.

A number of eye-catching features canalso be added. Printed placards and powdercoating can be applied in scratch resistantfinishes. Rounded corners, ergonomics anddamage reducing designs are built into theHybrite, which can be purchased in ATLASand ACE standards.

A third design feature, a fully recyclableconstruction answers the airlines’ growingdesire to reduce the environmental impactof their operations.

To answer the airlines’ desire for a lesscostly replacement, Maris said that depend-ing on the features, the Hybrite line couldcost up to 25 percent less than an all-com-

posite trolley line. Driessen said an airline’sreturn on investment could be achieved “inmonths, rather than years.”

Maris says that Driessen-Zodiac Aerospacesees an industry wide trolley replacement mar-ket at between 80,000 and 100,000 per year.He estimated that a Hybrite trolley has an aver-age lifespan of about 10 years.

To achieve the durability demanded byairlines, Driessen put the Hybrite through arigorous testing regime that can be seen onthe company’s website. To achieve certifica-tion by the European Air Safety Administra-tion (EASA), the Hybrite was brake tested,dropped, washed for a three-year cyclewhile tested for weight bearing ability andfire resistance. Each of the moving parts wasput through automated testing before meet-ing the standards of the EASA. In addition,the Hybrite also meets all the airworthinessstandards for Boeing and Airbus aircraft.


TROLLEY REPORT |

Making the rounds

Driessen-Zodiac Aerospace rolls out the hybritein grand fashion at several important shows

Michiel Maris, sales

and marketing director

(left) and David Boreel,

marketing intelligence

manager at Driessen-

Zodiac Aerospace

pose with a new

Hybrite trolley.

BY RICK LUNDSTROM

The Hybrite

in half sizes

It is a rough-and-tumble environment in the world of aircrafttrolleys these days; and a lot of the jostling and jockeying forposition is taking place far from an airline cabin with restlesspassengers in the aisles.

In recent years, and in some cases what seems like recentmonths, new lines of trolleys have been developed and what seemedlike great ideas have been modified for the realities of a rapidlychanging airline market that is one year flush and the next yearbroke. The companies that will be called on to make the replace-

ment products for a demanding segment of the cabin service mar-ket are in tight competition.

Though much has changed, demand could be the one constantthat should make the years to come interesting and vibrant for thissegment of the industry. Trolleys in the past have been the lumber-ing workhorses of the airline cabin. Like any other laborer, a hard-working trolley that has been pushed, and crashed and washed toooften has to one day call it quits. Life spans for the aluminum trol-ley have been eight years by some average estimates.

In the past, trolleys were reliable, but not pretty,and simple, but not elegant. In recent years, manu-facturers have sought to change that image. Linesand edges have been softened and slate gray sideshave given way to color and patterns.

But in addition to having wheels, a trolley alsohas a footprint – more specifically, an environmen-tal footprint.

And for reasons both altruistic and good soundbusiness policy, airlines seem to be thinking first,and perhaps second as well, about the weight whendeciding which trolley to outfit a fleet. That has ledto a greater emphasis on composite materials thathold the promise of cutting weight considerably, butat greater cost. Development and marketing of thenext generation of trolleys is often done in partner-ship with other supply companies and compositeunits are touted with their ability to pay back theadditional costs in fuel savings over the course of afew years.

Visitors to this year’s Aircraft Interiors Expo in Ham-burg will have the chance to see trolleys in their everyincarnation over the three day event in April. Includingamong them Quantum Trolley from Norduyn whichclaimed a Crystal Cabin Award at last year’s AIX. TheMontreal based company has partnered with LSG SkyChefs to develop and market the Quantum line.

Since then, Patrick Phillips, director of businessdevelopment at Norduyn has put the trolley throughits paces in a series of tests last summer “with verypositive feedback from crews.

“Production is running at full capacity, producingATLAS half-size and full size trolleys with furthermodels to be added to the series in 2011.”

In the past year, Norduyn has been taking theQuantum on the road, demonstrating at companystands in Long Beach for the International FlightServices Association Conference and Aircraft Interi-ors Expo, and at the ITCA Exhibition in Dubai.

“Our continuous efforts to bring innovative solu-tions to the market has positioned Norduyn as anindispensable provider of high quality lighter weightproducts to airlines and operators,” said MathieuBoivin, president of Norduyn.


TROLLEY REPORT |

Norduyn’s Quantum Trolley is made entirely from composites

Trolley companies have been reading industry moods and designing an array of unique products to answer the needs ofairlines for weight savings, aesthetic appeal and, of course, cost

On a roll BY RICK LUNDSTROM

The EcoLite® weighs in empty at 15.5 to 16.7 kilograms in the fullsized configuration and 9.8 to 10.7 kilograms in the half size. Butadditional construction features are touted as much as the trolley’sweight. Thicker sidewalls, hermetic door seals and insulation in thetop and base panels create a seal that saves in costly dry ice, saidChang. The construction gives the EcoLite® a high strength to weightratio which allows an airline to board fewer trolleys.

Airlines are also concerned about aesthetics and the perceptionsof passengers as they pass by a galley on the way to seats. With theEcoLite®, Diethelm Keller has rounded the extrusion edges, flushedthe pull handle and lock pan and added visual options such asprints and color possibilities.

With all these features, and more Chang said the EcoLite® canstand up to competition from the composites by keeping priceslower. “We wanted to innovate something, but we need to innovatesuch that it is commercially viable,” he said.

One of the new members of the team at Iacobucci HF Group isRiccardo Palmeri, who joined the company six months ago as the


| TROLLEY REPORT

The EcoLite® trolley from

Diethelm Keller Aviation is in its

second generation of operations,

and is found on several airlines.

Iacobucci will be bringing

two prototypes of its new

trolley to this year’s Aircraft

Interiors Expo.

Eco by nameThe Quantum Trolley won its Crystal Cabin award in the GreenerCabin Health & Safety category. At this year’s International TravelCatering Association event in Nice, Singapore-based DiethelmKeller Aviation brought its new generation of EcoLite® aluminumtrolleys, that combines what sales and business developmentmanager Joshua Chang says is the company’s desire to build agreener trolley the with the need to make a product that is afford-able to the industry.

“Aluminum is a trusted material in the aviation industry,” saidChang, as he moved about the company’s stand at ITCA show-ing the various features and functions of the EcoLite®. The trol-ley has already found its way into the fleets of Swiss International,Air New Zealand and Eva Airways, among others.


TROLLEY REPORT |

Ireland’s Onboard Logistics cuts rail dealA simple system of red and green foot pedals that controls the movement

and angles of trolley castors making them easier to move and less likely

to careen about a cabin will soon be working to eliminate a big problem

aboard tilting, fast moving trains throughout the United Kingdom.

At the end of April, a company called Sovereign On Line will be

launching a Super hybrid trolley with a Castor Alignment System (CAS)

developed by Onboard Logistics. Later this year, the trolleys and castors

will go through testing on a European rail line.

The Dublin-based Onboard Logistics announced late last year that

it completed a deal to have the two-pedal castor alignment system

installed on products made by Sovereign, a U.K. company specializing

in the manufacture and maintenance of trolleys for air and rail travel.

The system has been incorporated into Sovereign’s trolleys for the

rail catering industry. Sovereign will be offering four types of Super

hybrid trolleys: a trolley for water urn and in-cup service, a trolley for

pump pots and filtered coffee; a trolley for mini-soluble vending at the

seat and a trolley for espresso.

The castor alignment system lets the operator of the catering trolley

guide the device (which is slightly larger than a ATLAS standard airline

trolley) through the aisle of the train without hitting and damaging the

side of the seats by giving the operator directional control. Another

feature of the mechanism is the ability to align the castor wheels for easy

entry and exit of an aircraft galley. Another feature useful for trains

locks the castors furthest away from the operator allowing 360-degree

movement while holding the heavy trolley in place when a high-speed train

is tilting.

“You can pull the trolley out with your little finger as opposed to all this

jerking and heavy pulling and back injuries,” said Tommy walsh an

engineer at Onboard Logistics, who designed the castor system.

In addition to the CAS, the company makes the Flex-e-bag and Flex-e-

clip waste management systems designed to be used on airline

trolleys. The Dublin based Onboard Logistics recently signed an

agreement with the makers of the Aerocat trolley, marketed by

gategroup, to make the trash management system part of its line.

A Sovereign rail trolley featuring the Castor

Alignment System from Onboard Logistics

group marketing director. The Italian company has gone through arigorous reorganization bringing in the meal and beverage trolleydivision of Iacobucci SPA into the company’s main group andacquiring Modular Galley System (see related story page 26) a Ger-man high-tech company that manufactures microwave ovens. Vis-itors to this year’s Aircraft Interiors Expo will get the first look at thisnewly organized entity with its products and services all in oneplaces in the conference hall.

They will also see the newest line of trolleys made by a newlyformed company called Iacobucci ATS Srl (Aircraft Trolley Systems).

“We are pushing the concept of innovation. As a main player inthe industry, we must look at new ideas and materials to move ourproduct forward,” said Palmeri. Evidence of that may be found in thecompany’s line of ATS trolleys that it developed with the help of Ten-cate Advanced Composites for some of the structure that Iacobuccisays gives the line weight savings and high thermal performance. Thetwo new lightweight prototypes, stressing ergonomic features, safetyand durability will be shown at the Iacobucci stand at AIX.

The new trolleys are not only meant for meal and beverage serv-ice. Iacobucci has also developed with the help of a company calledAV Seal a product that is designed for use as a catering and duty freecart. The new cart is designed with a system of sealing and lockingthat eliminates the use of plastic tie seals that are now found

throughout the industry to track and detect tampering with expen-sive onboard items.

The duty free trolley is one of the areas where Iacobucci will belooking to potential customer feedback over the next year. Test tri-als will take place over the next 12 months with the hope of bring-ing a new product line to market in early 2012.

The trolleys featured at AIX are a new wrinkle for a longtimecompany. Iacobucci first began making trolleys for the airline indus-try in the early 1970s. Meal and beverage trolleys, folding trolleys,standard units and dozens of other Iacobucci products are flying onairlines around the world.

But, visitors to this year’s Aircraft Interiors Expo will be seeing anew face on a longtime supplier, said Palmeri. “Six months ago,when we got the trolley business back in the group, we haveinvested seriously in new people, and processes and new materialand technology,” he said.

The company has also invested in something that has become asimportant to the trolley industry as it has become in other areas of man-ufacturing: steady reliable collaborators to carry the projects through.

“It is a market that seems to be pushing forward very much,” saidPalmeri. “But you have to find the right partner to make this bigchange. And sometimes this change takes a lot longer than youexpected.”

Though the idea has been around in oneform or another for more than 30 years, aGerman company has developed the firstcertified fully automatic beverage system toserve is hoping that this time the airlineindustry can find a use for with a beveragedispenser that does not rely on cans,bottles, and legwork by flight attendants.

After three years development TheSkytender “high-class for drinks” will beagain be featured at this year’s AircraftInteriors Expo. The company will beshowing visitors its combination ofconcentrate syrup containers and computertechnology that holds with it the promise ofa new way to dispense beverages.

Testing and certification was comingtogether for the company as this year’s Aircraft Interiors Exponeared. After the Hamburg event, Oliver Kloth, managing director ofSkymax, and Andreas Strauss, managing director of Air-eltec, themakers of the Skytender said the companies plan to conduct groundtesting on the system and gain feedback from flight crews, with agoal to deliver the product to market by the beginning of next year.

“Nowadays all the different materials are available in the sizeand the quality and the weight that we need,” Strauss said.

With the Skytender system, hot drinks and cold drinks can bedispensed with the touch of a button through a system thatmakes use of a carbonator, water tanks, and concentrated syrupcontainers. Technology within the trolley tracks the use of syrup.

A standard pass with the Skytender can satisfy the drinks needsof approximately 220 thirsty passengers, said Kloth. The Skytendersystem has the capability to make more than 30 mixtures in onefilling and can be modified from any lightweight trolley currentlyowned by the airline.

Where airlines save money is in storage and catering, saidKloth. With one cart able to satisfy the needs of many passengers,additional boarded drinks carts are not necessary. The concentratedsyrup can be easily stored and handled, and fewer are needed tripsup and down the aisles to satisfy passenger requests. For example,he said one liter of concentrated coffee syrup could produce 40liters of coffee.

| TROLLEY REPORT

Breakoutyear forSkytender?This year Air-eltec andSkymax will bring anewer the final versionof its concept for drinkservice promisingease of use andweight savings

The nozzle system on the Skytender from Skymax

It has been 10 years since AmSafe first developed a deployableairbag trigged by a seatbelt to help airlines meet FAA safety regula-tions for seats to withstand 16 Gs of force in some tricky aircraftenvironments.

Phoenix-based AmSafe spent tens of millions of dollars develop-ing the airbag and seatbelt. Once the FAA rule requiring 16G com-patibility went into affect in 2009, the company began receivingorders for the product. In November of last year, B/E Aerospacebegan offering side-facing divans equipped with the AmSafe seatbeltairbag for the business jet market.

But it’s the commercial application that put the product into theaircraft of more than 60 airlines.

“We continue to work actively with airlines, seat manufacturersand regulatory agencies to develop new enhancements to this life-saving technology and look forward to a day when each and everypassenger on commercial airlines is afforded the protection that thisproduct offers,” said Terence Lyons, chief executive officer of AmSafein the November announcement shortly after the company signedon with B/E Aerospace.

Where the seatbelt airbag can be commonly found is in areas of

the cabin with lie-flat, pod style seating. It seatbelt airbag is a self-contained modular restraint, which protects passengers from head-injury impact. Its construction also allows people to exit the aircraftafter an accident. The airbag inflates in less than 90 milliseconds andsafely deploys up and away from the occupant. Passengers youngand old can escape easily.

With the installation of the AmSafe says that airlines are able tooffer the safety, while at the same time avoiding the alternativeapproach of removing rows of seats, which would lead to millionsof dollars per aircraft in lost revenue.

On the business jet installation, AmSafe seatbelt airbags wereinstalled in side-facing divans.

“Current cabin interior arrangements for business jets do notallow full occupancy of side-facing divans for take-off and landingwhen a monument is installed facing forward of the divan,” said arelease from AmSafe. “At least one seat position must remain vacantfor the occupant head protection and body contact avoidance.”

The seatbelt airbag system is now standard equipment on 80 per-cent of new single engine general aviation aircraft and is availableas an aftermarket option on others.

Seatbelt airbag surpasses35,000 in service

Developments inaviation andcruise cabin

safetyBY RICK LUNDSTROM

AmSafe, based in Phoenix, spent

US$10 million developing and

seatbelt airbag deployment device

for commercial and business jets

PASSENGER SAFETY NEWS |



| DEPARTMENT

When the 787 finally takes to the skies some-time this summer with All Nippon Airways,it will have among its standard equipment ahandheld flashlight that until recently hadchanged little in the 30 years.

But as is often the case, development of anew aircraft spurs technological and productadvancement throughout the industry.

The company that makes the flashlightswas known for years as DME Corp. Astron-ics purchased the company in 2009 when itsowner Luis Mola retired. In addition to theflashlights the company makes first aid kits,emergency locator beacons and survival kitsfor aircraft emergency rafts and light har-nesses for aircraft slides. Another division ofAstronics makes the Empower power to theseat system, while another division makescabin emergency lighting.

Carl Hooper sales and marketing managerfor the Aircraft Emergency and SurvivalProducts division of Astronics in Fort Laud-

erdale, Florida said early in develop-ment of the 787, Boeing came to the com-pany with a bulleted list of desires for itsinflight flashlights. Boeing wanted severalimprovements, including the use of LEDtechnology for a lighter weight product.Hooper says the company has long held anearly 90 percent market share for in-cabinflashlights, which are installed at a ratio ofone for each flight attendant on the aircraft.

“LED’s are changing every year,” saidHooper. “They’re getting brighter and morereliable and we’ve incorporated that into ourproduct.”

The division of Astronics went to work,and developed a smaller version of the lightthat can fit in the original wall mounts, posi-tioned throughout the aircraft. The new light,dubbed the Air Lite 1E, came in approxi-mately one pound lighter than its predecessor.Depending on the aircraft, that could mean asavings of anywhere from $75 to $500 per

year in fuel costs, Hooper has calculated. Up to six of the flashlights can be found on

single-aisle aircraft, however the A380 couldhave between 16 and 18 flashlights. Withapproval by Airbus as well, Hooper said theAir Lite 1E made its first appearance in theindustry in the aisles of the A318 and A321.

So far, Hooper estimates that approxi-mately 2,000 Air Lite 1Es are flying on air-craft around the world. “We are workingwith a lot of the airlines to try and convertthe flashlights just because of the weight sav-ings and technology,” said Hooper.

787 to have to new handheld lights

Approximately 2,000

Air Lite 1E flashlights

are in service in airlines

around the world.

Visit us at Aircraft Interiors Expo Hamburg: Stand #6C12

Makers of a well-known treatment for potable water supplies in air-craft cabins are finding customers for a water tank cleaning systemthat helps them meet U.S. regulations for cleaning and inspection.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency oversees the use oflocal water supplies in airline cabins. A few years ago, the agencyconducted months of testing on aircraft water supplies and passedon rigorous regulations, requiring the airlines to regularly test forthe presence of bacteria, such as E coli as well as keep detailedrecords of their activities.

Even though much of the drinking water now consumed on air-craft is dispensed in bottles, airlines still mostly use cabin waterwhen making coffee and tea.

One of the companies that has developed products to help air-line meet the new regulations is Celeste Industries. The company’sGlyco-San® product is an EPA registered disinfectant. It is currentlybeing used by Continental Airlines, Malaysia Airlines and HongKong Aircraft Engineering Company (HAECO), which is a mainte-nance company in the Asia Pacific Region.

Glyco-San® is a biodegradable, non-corrosive cleaner thatremoves scale and organic buildup in potable water tanks, lines andautomatic coffee maker system. All are prone to scaling which canbe a breeding ground for bacterial, said Dora Cheatham of CelesteIndustries in Maryland.

The organic acids in Glyco-San® are designed to penetrate anddissolve multiple layers of scale in water.

Cheatham said one to two treatments of Glyco-San® per year cankeep an aircraft’s water system clean and free of scale accumula-tion and in compliance with EPA standards.

Currently, all aircraft entering the United States at two or morepoints must be in compliance with the EPA regulations. The WorldHealth Organization has been watching what the EPA has enactedand could create its own recommended testing regime. Though notbinding, many countries look to the Organization for guidance.

“Eventually it (the regulations) is going to impact everyone,”Cheatham said.

PASSENGER SAFETY NEWS |


A United Kingdom based company with offices in the cruise capi-tal of the world debuted its line of cleaning products for cruse, ferryand super yacht cabins at last year’s Marine Hotel Associationevent in Barcelona.

Hepburn Bio Care manufactures a line of several non-hazardous,no alcohol cleaning products that carry the designation Log 4Norokill which can kill 99.99 percent of the flu-causing virus oncontact and have a residual killing capacity of three hours. Thechemicals are sold in highly concentrated forms and Craig Gundry,vice president of operations for North America at Hepburn said thata combination of four or five cleaners can and handle all the needsof cabin stewards.

And since the chemicals are non-hazardous they are easier onsurfaces and railings within the ship.

“Since we have launched a year, now our products have been usedon Silversea, MSC and are being considered by a few other cruiselines,” said Gundry, speaking to PAX International by phone from thecompany’s stand at this year’s Cruise Shipping Convention in Miami.

The company is based in Southampton and has opened a serv-ice office in Fort Lauderdale. Gundry said Hepburn Bio Care is inthe midst of opening its European office in Dubrovnik.

EPA testing aidedwith Celeste product

Hepburn Bio Care movesinto cruise market

Green amenity bagCompany Name: Global Inflight Products

Description: Global Inflight Products pres-

ents comfort to its ‘Green is possible’ line of

products by using eco-friendly materials for

onboard amenity kits. The new bags feature

natural fibers, canvas or burlap, renewable

and biodegradable materials while also offer-

ing durability. In addition, the bag is light-

weight and convenient to use.

In-flight headphonesCompany Name: PhitekCompany Location: Auckland, New ZealandDescription: Phitek introduces comfort-able, noise-canceling headphones for in-flight entertainment. The headphonesare compact, durable and comfortablefor long-time wear and have anextended operational lifetime. The newmini headphones are available in a vari-ety of models offering high-quality passen-ger comfort and sound. Visit Phitek at theAircraft Interiors Expo 2011 at standnumber 6F10

In-flight amenitiesCompany Name: watermark ProductsCompany Location: London, UKDescription: watermark Products offersAir New Zealand a line of meal service andamenity items. Products include flatware,food trays, blankets, eye masks and more.In collaboration with Air New Zealand andDesign works, watermark presents anairline functional product, which reflectsthe airlines brand values.

Comic relief headrest coversCompany Name: Orvec International LimitedCompany Location: United KingdomDescription: Orvec recently supplied BritishAirways with printed disposable Comic reliefheadrest covers, which were used to pro-mote the airlines stand-up comedy flight. Thecomedy flight was entered into the GuinnessBook of world records and helped raisemoney for Comic relief. The headrest coversare printed onto Polypropylene at Orvec’sfactory in hull, East Yorkshire.

VisiTouch TechnologyCompany Name: Vision SystemsCompany Location: Brignais, FranceDescription: Vision Systems launches its new in-flight enter-tainment system, the VisiTouch. The system is integrated inthe seatback and provides an easy-to-navigate touch screen.It offers Audio and Video On Demand (AVOD) to an unlimitednumber of passengers, made possible by memory card inte-gration in each screen. This technology, linked to the systemheart VisiBox, avoids flow interruptions during flights. Beauti-fully styled, the VisiTouch offers the highest possibility of cus-tomization; color, applications and graphical user interface.


WHAT’S HOT! | AIX


DrawerPak in-flight SecurityCompany Name: ITw EnvopakCompany Location: UKDescription: ITw Envopak introducesDrawerPak, security-enhanced trolleytrays. Each individual tray is sealed offer-ing a high level of security and theft pre-vention. Only drawers where the seal hasbeen broken need to be counted. Theseinnovative drawers reduce securitylosses, save time, fit directly into currenttrolley positions and the single-use sealcan accommodate an airline log, serialnumber and barcode as required.

SnackSticksCompany Name: w.K. ThomasCompany Location: Surrey, U.K.Description: wK Thomas introduces a creative, fun, and innova-tive SnackSticks. These ‘fool-proof chopsticks’ are easy-to-use andare great for use on any type of food. The rounded edges makegrabbing food simpler than with traditional chopsticks

Aviation footwearCompany Name: SKYPrO ShoesCompany Location: Lisbon, PortugalDescription: SkyPro presents an assortment of innovative and trendyfootwear, with the utmost comfort in mind. The new insole made of poronwith ambicork technology is anti-static, alarm free, temperature resistant,resilient and remains comfortable for long-time wear and use.

Business class amenity designCompany Name: FOrMIACompany Location: hong KongDescription: FOrMIA is excitedfor the upcoming launch of Aus-trian Airlines’ new Care Kit forlong haul Business Class flightsin May. The new concept intro-duces a set of eight motifs cap-tured inside the kit, making it acollector’s item. The series ofmotifs, hand-picked andarranged by Austrian Airlines,evokes live Austrian momentsback in the early 20th century ina contemporary style

Yoga Therapy for Frequent FlyersCompany Name: Yoga Tune UpCompany Location: Studio City, CaliforniaDescription: Yoga Tune Up offers frequentflyers the Yoga Tune Up Therapy Balls, torelease stress and tension while flying. Ther-apy Balls are available for flight attendants,passengers and pilots and exercises can bedone while seated. The Upper Body seriestargets neck and upper back pain, the LowerBody series focuses on lower back, hips andfeet, and Total Body series features exer-cises for all main muscle groups.

The team at digEcor strives to maintain a mentality and lifestyle of giving back.Acknowledging that the company itself is entirely owned by a group of threecharities, it’s not difficult to understand their eagerness to contribute. Each

charity works to help individuals and families suffering from a variety of daily chal-lenges. The combined effort reaches beyond domestic borders into countries aroundthe globe.

In addition, digEcor employees also participate in the Clear Horizons Academy’sAnnual Gala and Fundraiser. Clear Horizons Academy is a non-profit private schoolfor children between the ages of 3 and 8 who suffer from Autism Spectrum Disorder.The school focuses on helping children gain communication skills using relationship-based learning.

The annual fundraiser allows the school to offer tuition and to expand its budgetfor operating costs. Proceeds from the gala go directly to the scholarship fund forunderprivileged families.

Learn more: www.digecor.com, www.clearhorizonsacademy.org.

Rockwell Collins has been recognized fortheir culturally diverse attitude and fre-quent community involvement.

DiversityInc magazine has named RockwellCollins ‘Top Company for community develop-ment’ for the second year in a row. The com-pany’s president and CEO Clay Jones acceptedthe award at the publication’s award event inWashington, DC in November 2010.

“Our community involvement extends acrossan array of diversity initiatives,” said Sue Nelson,director of Diversity for Rockwell Collins. “We’rehonored to be recognized for our efforts, and wewill continue our focus to create inclusive com-munities where we work and live.”

The company was honored for their efforts toform Diversity Focus, a Cedar Rapids non-profitorganization whose goal is to increase diversityand cultural experience in eastern Iowa througheducation, programming and connecting people.

Their support of educational efforts throughEngineering Experiences – its group of targetedprograms to introduce at-risk students to scienceand engineering programs and careers were alsorecognized. Rockwell Collins’ has actively sup-ported diversity resource groups and non-profitorganizations and has worked to attract morediverse talent into the engineering and technol-ogy professions.

Learn more: rockwellcollins.com www.diver-sityinc.com

In June of last year, Southern Comfort, owned by Brown-Forman Corp. announced that it plannedto raise and donate up to $250,000 to the Gulf Relief Foundation to help the fishing communityand wetland preservation in the Plaquemines Parish. By November, they had reached their goal.“The outpouring of support for Gulf communities has been heartwarming,” said Kerry Walsh

Skelly, global managing director for Southern Comfort. “Southern Comfort is proud to have provideda mechanism for people around the country to help our neighbors in southeast Louisiana. South-ern Comfort’s contribution to the Gulf Relief Foundation will make an ongoing difference to com-munities that will need help and support for many months to come.”

Southern Comfort initially donated $50,000 while raising the additional $200,000 through an ini-tiative on Facebook and a donation per bottle sold campaign.

The Gulf Relief Fund was established in response to last April’s oil spill in the Gulf region. Fundswere raised to support the well being of fishermen, wetlands and wildlife in Plaquemines Parishand St. Bernards Parish. Originally, 100 percent of the total donation was going to go toward help-ing the Plaquemines Parish area. However, it was decided that the funds would also be distributedto organizations in other communities in southeast Louisiana, as the need for assistance is great.

Learn more: www.SouthernComfort.com www.gulfaid.org


CHARITY REPORT |

Hope on the horizon

Diversity makesthe difference

Message in a bottle

Worthy Causes Part Twowith the popularity and interest surrounding our first charity report featuredin the last issue of PAX International, we have once again spotlighted some keyplayers in the travel catering and cabin services industry to find out how theyare giving back to their communities BY CHANTELLE BOYAL

digEcor.jpg: digEcor contributes

annually to Clear Horizons

Academy, a school for children

with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

or a second year, OnAir has taken a charitable initiative sup-porting three different charity organizations.

“OnAir will donate the proceeds saved through sending elec-tronic greeting cards this year to three charity projects; two interna-tional ones, ‘ Autour de la Russie’ and ‘Aide & Action’ and one localone ‘Caritas’.

The company first got involved with Aide & Action in India last yearby funding a project to help children of migrant workers have accessto education. The ultimate objective of the project is to provide a longterm, quality education to such children living in Chennai, Tiruvallurand Kancheepuram of Tamil Nadu districts. Aide & Action’s educa-tional centers help the children catch up scholastically with their class-mates in order to be accepted at a state school in their home village.

Recently, OnAir has added Autour de la Russie and Caritas to theircharity roster. Autour de la Russie is an association based in Franceand directly assists an orphanage in a small provincial Russian townby providing funds for the vital needs of abandoned children. Cari-tas is a Swiss-based charity helping local populations in need.OnAir’s charity project with Caritas involves funding social activitiesfor isolated elderly people or people with illnesses who do not haveaccess to everyday resources nor a family.

The company says that these specific charities attracted thembecause they were seeking a charity in their community to helpthose in need as well as international charities helping specificregions of the world with existing needs such as migrant populationlacking access to a standard schooling program for its children, oran orphanage without funds to buy basic equipment such as cots,chairs, mattresses, clothes or food.

OnAir has received very successful and rewarding results sinceworking with Aide & Action. Approximately 150 children who have notbeen able to attend school have been accepted to reintegration centersand have been registered to different schools; 300 children under 5 havebeen accepted to nursery school; Approximately 1,000 children whohave never attended school have received an alternative education.

Learn more: www.onair.aero www.aide-et-action.org www.cari-tas-geneve.ch

Patrón founder and owner, John Paul DeJoria, has been consis-tently supporting causes in communities worldwide and activelystriving to improve his business in terms of going green. Among

his charitable contributions, one such organization is The Smile Train,an international charity dedicated to helping millions of children aroundthe world who suffer from cleft lip and palate by providing free surgery,free training for doctors and research to find a cure.

The fight against worldwide hunger is also a cause that PatrónSpirits has embraced. The company’s Ultimat Vodka brand is heav-ily involved in raising awareness and funds for Action AgainstHunger, an international organization committed to eliminatingworld hunger.

In addition, the company has made a commitment to being envi-ronmentally friendly and responsible by using recycled glass andother recycled materials to produce and ship their products. Patrónbottles are made from recycled glass and shipping boxes are madefrom other recycled materials.

Learn more: Patrónspirits.com

IFE Services male staff

took part in ‘Movember’

last year to raise

awareness for men’s

health by changing their

clean-shaven appearance.

FGiving backon a global scale

Green initiatives

Last November, five of IFE Services’ staff rose to the chal-lenge of growing an array of eye-catching moustaches invarious styles in support of ‘Movember’. Organized by the

Movember Foundation, a non-profit charitable organization, thefundraising event which is held once every year challenges mento change their appearance and the face of men’s health by grow-ing a moustache.

“Movember is a fun way of raising much needed funds for avariety of diseases that affect men,” said Andy Reid, Movemberorganizer and IFE Services’ Movie Programming Manager. “Theteam really embraced the opportunity to help this very worthwhilecharity and did a brave job of raising awareness of men’s healthissues in the most visible way possible.”

Participants begin the challenge November 1 clean-shavenand then grew a moustache for the entire month. The moustacherepresents the ribbon for men’s health, the means by whichawareness and funds are raised for cancers and other illnessesthat affect men.

The moustache-sporting men at IFE Services raised fundsfrom friends, family and work colleagues for research into dis-eases such as prostate and testicular cancer.

Learn more: www.ifeservices.com www.movember.com

The management team at Plane Talking Products have hada long history of supporting charitable causes. One in par-ticular has been the co-ordinatation with Virgin Atlantic to

provide ‘shelterboxes’ to destinations around the world follow-ing a natural disaster. The shelterbox is a small plastic box con-taining a tent which can house 10 people in three separatecompartments and includes all that is required to survive for aperiod of three months following a natural disaster.

Plane Talking Products has provided shelterboxes to placessuch as Haiti, Iraq, the east coast of India, Sudan and morerecently Japan following the catastrophic earthquake andtsunami that shook the country on March 11th, 2011.

The company also co-ordinated eight marine specialists torefloat the many hundreds of fishing boats that had been washedinland following the tsunami in India, as well as delivering 47tons of shelterboxes.

The management team at Plane Talking Products have also beeninvolved in the design and production of Red Nose badges for over

20 years for ComicRelief. Last year, theRed Nose campaignraised approximately€80 million.

Additionally, forthe last 25 years,they have hostedmany annual char-ity events for goodcauses at their ware-house in the Countyof Hampshire.

Learn more: www.planetalking.net www.comicrelief.com.

Moustaches grow awareness

Patrón continues

to be vigilant in

reducing, re-using

and recycling while

also supporting a

variety of charitable

organizations

A helping hand

Plane Talking Products takes a hands on

approach with Comic Relief


CONFERENCE REVIEW I ITCA

In a mood that was described as everything from “relaxed”to “collegiate” visitors and exhibitors to this year’s Interna-tional Travel Catering Association 2011 event February 15-17in Nice, France carried on business and networking in typ-ical style despite the lack of the physical presence on thetrade floor of the industry’s two largest caterers and their

many ancillary services.During the three days, highlighted by brisk traffic on Tuesday and

Wednesday, the 1,500 visitors had the chance to not only get outof the ever falling rain that loomed over the Mediterranean coastalcity day and night, but to try their hand at wine tasting and iden-tification and learn the finer points of perfume making. On the finalday, winners were announced for the annual ITCA Mercury Awards(see story, page 76).

But mostly, the 130 exhibitors that in years past had operated inthe shadows of the two large players, gategroup and LSG Sky Chefs,did their best to take advantage of the possibility of more time withpotential airline customers, many of which are ending a year flushwith profits and eyeing a 2011 that although plagued by high oilprices still shows promise.

This year’s ITCA event organization was a departure from previ-ous ones in ways both large and small. The traditional gala dinnerand the morning line-up of speakers and programs were eliminated,and attendees gathered for of an end-of-day cocktail reception.Lunches were free and coffee and water and wireless Internet wereavailable throughout the time the trade floor was open.

The new format gave delegates the ability to carry out what ITCAPresident Stephen White said was the interaction that so many

seek each year. “I think the biggest success has probably been the networking

side of it,” White told PAX International, the last day of ITCA 2011.“We cancelled the conference and I do not regret doing that at all.”

During the weeks and months that led to this year’s ITCA 2011,planners reached out to CEOs around the world, urging them tobring members and staff to Nice. Airlines, shipping and rail com-panies were told that by attending ITCA, they could get a full pic-ture of what the industry had to offer, White said.

“Without sending them here, they cannot possibly have the cor-rect knowledge when they send out to tender,” White stressed.

“It was a good, fast two days,” said Cedric Mancini regional man-ager for travel channel Europe and Nestlé. The company’s centrallylocated stand saw a steady stream of coffee seekers and stakehold-ers in the industry in search of quality time with one of the largestsuppliers.

Mancini said the Nestlé travel channel division ended the yearwith 5 percent growth. “We believe this year, we make it to the nextlevel,” he added.

Kevin Cox, sales manager of the snack supplier Brinker’s andmember of the ITCA board was one of the people who felt theatmosphere at this year’s event was more relaxed than previousyears. In addition, he said he thinks airlines are again looking atwhat they can do to enhance the offering for their customer base.

“They see they have to spend a little more to keep passengerssatisfied,” he said.

This year’s winner of the W. M. Seeman Award for stand designcame from faraway Australia. The winner, buzz creative product


ITCA ’11, NiceDelegates meet, greet and focus on year ahead BY RICK LUNDSTROM

Australia-based buzz

Products was the

winner of this year’s

W.M. Seeman Award

for best stand.

Approximately 150 companies exhibited

at this year’s ITCA trade floor

ITCA I CONFERENCE REVIEW

agency brought with them a wide assortment of unique items thathave found their way onto Qantas Airways. The selection focusedon innovation and adding value to the customer experience, frombag tags with RFID readers offered on Qantas domestic flights to awide range of products for children’s amenity kits.

“We feel there is a strong confidence overall in the industry,” saidLeonard Hammersfeld, director at buzz.

Even though a strong catering presence was not part of thisyear’s ITCA event, caterer representatives were among the dele-gates. Senior management at LSG Sky Chefs spent a day at ITCAand White added that he has had useful feedback from caterers

such as Flying Food Group, Newrest and Servair.In the months ahead, ITCA will working on some key goals and

projects, said White. A task force from both ITCA and the Interna-tional Flight Services Association (IFSA) met recently to discussways the two groups can work together. By June, White said thegroup would submit another report on what form additional coop-eration would take. At the end of March, White said Association andindustry representatives would use the services of a professionalfacilitator during a two-day session to “discuss and debate thefuture of what they would like to see the Association and the tradeshow to look like.”

Juliana M. Lopez On Board Service Director AviancaTaca Airlines (third from left) was rewarded to superior

networking, setting up appointments in advance with a new iPad from WESSCO International. Also picture,

left to right are Nick and Bob Bregman, Ricardo Arredondo, Sharon Conway-Deherder and Petros Sakkis

Asian Pioneer Onboard

Services brought a line of

products to this year’s

ITCA Conference. Here,

managing director Pep

Manich Grau shows a

new coffee pot developed

by the company

Vitor Sobral may be as familiar tothe chefs and workers at theCatering de Portugal SA unit inLisbon as he is to the employeesand chefs at his restaurant incountry’s capital city.

For the past eight years, Sobral, one ofPortugal’s most famous chefs or one of hiscolleagues have made a weekly trek to theunit, known most often as Cateringpor (seerelated story), for a spot check on theprogress and success of his many menu cre-ations for TAP Portugal. He learns whatworks and what doesn’t among the thou-sands of Executive Class and Economy Classmeals produced each day at the unit.

Sobral’s menu creation are but one, albeitvery important, aspect that TAP Portugal hasdone to enhance the offering for passengerson the airline, which last year topped the 9million mark for the first time. A sparkling,high-tech, lounge stocked generously withfreshly prepared products from Cateringporwas opened in December of 2008 at LisbonAirport. A Panasonic on-demand inflightentertainment system has been rolled outfleet wide and a revamped, award-winninginflight magazine in Portuguese and Englishoffers a stylish look at the airline’s homecountry, often educating passengers onaspects of the airline’s operations, amongthem the food service.

“Our goal is to have homemade cuisineon board,” said Sobral. “To use lots of aro-matic herbs and olive oils.”

Both ingredients can be found in abun-dance on TAP Portugal menus. What canalso be found is a wide selection of domes-tic wines and robust tasting Ports that havemade the country a favorite from historic fig-ures such as Winston Churchill to film starslike John Malkovich, who is featured in arecent issue of the infight magazine and ispart owner of one of the most popularrestaurants in Lisbon.

TAP has also worked with top-flight chefsfrom Brazil. In 2007, the airline teamed withDanio Braga, the country’s 2006 Gastron-omy Personality of the Year.

Sobral and Isabel Alves, TAP’s head ofinflight product talked about some of the air-line’s food service strategies above the din ofevening diners at Sobral’s Tasca da Esquina(The Corner Tavern) restaurant in the capitalcity. On this particular stop, the pair was inthe process of making several changes to theTAP menu. Sobral was developing a new lineof appetizers. And the airline had decided, bysurveying passengers to remove a staple Por-tuguese entrée, pork from future menus.

But pork was still part of Executive Classmenu from Lisbon recently. The service toNewark started with an Amuse Bouche ofChick Pea Mousse with Spices and SunDried Tomato, Potato Salad with Onion andCoriander Vinaigrette. The salad course hadthe choice of several toppings: Parma Ham,Smoked Halibut, Green Asparagus, DriedBlack Olives and Melon.

The Soup course (a staple in Portuguese

cuisine) was Cream of Potato with PoachedEgg and Mint.

Main Courses were: Roast Pork with Mush-rooms, Stone Bass Confit with Sparkling Wineand Leek Risotto and Fusilli with SautéedFresh Tuna.

Dessert was the choice of Azorean andTerra Raia Cheese and Apricot Compote, ortraditional suspiros, a Portuguese dessertwith Mango.

Economy Class offered passengers anappetizer of Chicken Mousse with ToastedAlmonds; a main course of Roasted Vealwith Artichoke Purée or Rigatonni with Cau-liflower, Spinach, Goat’s Cheese and Rose-mary. Dessert was an Apple Crème Brulée.

Passengers fortunate enough to fly TAP’sExecutive Class have the chance to step intoa new 500 square meter passenger loungethat incorporates elements rarely seen insimilar lounges around Europe. In additionto the standard offerings that cater to busi-ness travelers, a spacious upper deck sectionfeatures entertainment with a multimediarelaxation area with several large screen tel-evisions. Guests in the lounge can pick theirentertainment and listen on headphones. Inthe terminal, Executive Class passengershave access to fast-track customer accessand priority processing in security.

The lounge has become something of adestination of its own. Alves say that often-times, passengers will arrive up to threehours before a flight to enjoy the atmosphere.

“We serve real food in the lounge,” shesaid. “Nothing is industrially made and nocrackers. We have real sandwiches, Por-tuguese cheese and finger-food whichchange throughout the day.”


AIRLINE PROFILE |

TAP’s inflight offering relies heavily on authentic cuisine and a well-known chef who takes a hands on approach to the airline’s food service BY RICK LUNDSTROM

A rich partnership

The Executive lounge at Lisbon Airport was opened in 2008

Expansion this yearThe year 2011 holds the promise of being abreakout year for TAP. By this summer, thecarrier will be adding two new internationalroutes from Lisbon to Miami and to PortoAlegre, Brazil. The latter route is an addition

to TAP’s extensive service into Brazil, whichcarries more than 1.4 million passengers peryear between the two countries and landsTAP aircraft at nine Brazilian gateway air-ports. In 2010, TAP saw a 25 percent increasein traffic to Brazil.

The teeming city of Porto Alegre, Brazil ishome to 10 million people. With the additionalroute, TAP will now extend its flight offeringson to Buenos Aires and Montevideu, Uruguay.

Brazil is part of a two front niche for theairline. While its routes to Brazil are lucra-tive (more than 55 percent of the airline’ssales in 2009) its routes to former Por-tuguese holdings like Angola and Mozam-bique in Africa amounted to 30 percent of itssales in the same year.

The airline has other plans for 2011. WithinEurope, TAP plans to launch six new Euro-pean destinations: Athens, Vienna, Düssel-dorf, Bordeaux, Manchester and Dubrovnik.

Within Africa, TAP opened three newdestinations: Accra(Ghana), Bamacko(Mali)and S, Vicente(Cape Verde).

TAP ends 2010 with healthy profitTAP S.A., holding company for TAP Portugal announced in early March a financial yearthat saw the carrier end 2010 with a profit of €62.3 million on sales of €2.22 billion.

Increased sales in the carrier’s Brazilian and Angolan markets made a “hugecontribution” to the successful, year, said TAP in a March 3 release of its 2010 financials.

During 2010, TAP carried 9.087 million passengers, a 7.7 percent increase from theprevious year. Load factors increased from 68.5 percent in 2009 to 74.5 percent.

TAP boarded its 9 millionth passenger near the end of 2010 on a flight from Lisbonto Funchal. The carrier said that nearly 58 percent of the passengers leaving Lisbon Airportare aboard TAP aircraft.

Chef Vitor Sobral and TAP head of inflight

product Isabel Alves outside Sobral’s

restaurant Tasca da Esquina in Lisbon

Soup service is an

important part of

TAP inflight menus.

Photo by Dario Zallis

It may not be the only game in town,but nearly every airline operating serv-ice out of Lisbon looks to Catering dePortugal SA, (known as Cateringpor),for its food service needs.

Since its opening, the medium-sized unithas become the established leader in theLisbon market. It has secured the spot inpart by nurturing a healthy partnership withone of the country’s most well known chefs,Vitor Sobral (see related story) for the flagcarrier TAP, and harnessed the vast opera-tional network through its affiliation withthe world’s largest airline caterer for supportand quality control.

Cateringpor is owned 51 percent by TAPPortugal and 49 percent by LSG Sky Chefs.The 15,000-square meter unit was opened in1993 and built to average approximately25,000 meals per day. But last summer, pro-duction reached its peak capacity of 35,000meals per day for the dozen airline cus-tomers that rely on its service.

Cateringpor also supplies food and bev-erages for three-quarters of the lounges atLisbon Airport and has an integral role toplay in outfitting the TAP Executive loungethat opened in 2008.

Since its opening, Cateringpor has beenin round the clock operations with threeshifts for its workforce of approximately 700employees with two unions. The unit is builtin three floors with the bottom floor devotedto production.

Luís de Sousa, general manager at Cater-ingpor, has been with the company sincethe unit opened in 1993. Currently, he saidthe unit enjoys a 95 percent market share inLisbon. Gate Gourmet operates a unit in Lis-bon, and another unit LSKY caters to thesmall jet market.

That market share meant annual sales ofapproximately €35 million last year as Cater-ingpor sent meals far and wide on aircraftflying for the airlines moneymaking routesfrom Brazil to Mozambique.

Cateringpor plays a part in a bit of airlinecatering history as well. It has the distinctionof being the first investment outside theUnited States by what was then Dallas-based Sky Chefs. Shortly after the venturewas completed, Sky Chefs joined with LSGLufthansa Services to form the world’slargest airline catering operation.

LSG Sky Chefs is responsible for the oper-ation of the unit and quality control and

HACCP along with a lean operation strategiesprogram from the head office in Frankfurt.

And even though it has access to the net-work and the resources of LSG Sky Chefs,Cateringpor keeps a close watch on its localproduction and stays very close to a tradi-tional airline-catering model.

“Ninety-percent of the meals we putonboard are produced in this kitchen,” saidSousa. “We don’t use frozen meals, except tocertain customers in certain times of the year.

“We produce in house to have this flexibil-ity to answer to the needs of our customers.”

Cateringpor is also watching its envi-ronmental footprint and safety procedures.The caterer is working to achieve its ISO14001 environmental certificate and the ISO22000:2005 safety certificate. They are alsoworking with TAP to make some significantenvironmental steps, such as replacing alu-minum foil products with cardboard andlooking to rid the TAP cabin of plastics.


AIRLINE PROFILE |

TAP and LSG Sky Chefs have lock on Portuguesecapital’s airline catering market BY RICK LUNDSTROM

Lion’s share of Lisbon

Cateringpor operates 24 hours a day

for a dozen customers at Lisbon

Luís de Sousa, general

manager of Cateringpor

and Natasha Planas Dias,

head of food safety and

quality assurance.


CRUISE NEWS

Diageo, HollandAmerica andCarnival open

Captain Morganon the Rocks

Located at Half Moon Cay, Bahamas, Captain Mor-gan on the Rocks is an new bar created by DiageoGlobal Travel & Middle East (GTME) in collabora-

tion with sister cruise lines Holland America Line andCarnival Cruise Lines.

Owned by Holland America Line, Half Moon Cay is a2,400-acre private island that provides an exclusiveCaribbean island experience for cruise guests.

Inspired by an episode from the history of the real-lifeprivateer Captain Henry Morgan who sailed the watersmore than 350 years ago, the bar is a 101-foot long twindecked, three-masted schooner that is “washed up” onthe private island’s sand-swept beach.

With a total capacity of 326, the bar’s design istrimmed with nautical and historic references, includingrum casks for seats, cannon barrels for bar stools andpalm leaf-styled ceiling fans. The mid-deck featuresanother bar that is surrounded by cannons that releasemists of water to keep guests cool in the Bahamian sun.The crafted wooden walls, decks, surfaces and fittingsalso include a series of branding concepts, includinglogos, messaging and images that are burnt into thewood, telling the story of the famous captain.

Captain Morgan on the Rocks also offers outdoor seat-ing on two awning-covered, themed decks. The openupper deck of Captain Morgan’s Bar offers sweeping vis-tas of the turquoise waters ringed by the mile-long, whitesand beach and the lush tropical vegetation, as well asthe migratory bird sanctuary present on the island.

P&O Cruises introduces the Chef’s Table onmaiden voyage

Set in the elegant, bottle-lined Wine Room within the PacificPearl’s chic Waterfront Restaurant, P&O Cruises’ new Chef’sTable will feature a carefully designed seven-course degustation

menu paired with Australian wines.The exclusive dinner will be offered up to three times on every

Pacific Pearl cruise, with 14 passengers able to reserve a seat.Sture Myrmell, vice president of hotel operations at Carnival Aus-

tralia, which operates P&O Cruises, said the concept was designedto showcase the high quality of P&O Cruises’ food and wine and cre-ate a special experience for passengers.

Priced at $75 a head including wine, the three-hour Chef’s Tableexperience starts with pre-dinner cocktails, canapés and an intro-duction by the ship’s executive chef. Diners will then enjoy a tour ofship’s main kitchen before enjoying their dinner, with the chef intro-ducing and explaining all seven courses.

Pacific Pearl’s Wine Room was created during the ship’s multi-mil-lion dollar refurbishment prior to joining P&O Cruises’ fleet in Decem-ber. Launched in Auckland, Pacific Pearl arrived in Sydney for hermaiden season of cruising from Australia on Thursday, February 3.

Plans have been made to extend The Chefs’ Table concept toPacific Jewel, which also features a Wine Room, later this year.

Food and wine offerings on P&O Cruises have been completelyrevamped over the past two years, with all ships now offering fresh,gourmet cuisine that reflects Australian tastes along with a wine listfeaturing only Australian and New Zealand labels. Three of the cruiseline’s fleet now also offers a ‘Salt Grill by Luke Mangan’ restaurantamong their dining options.


CRUISE NEWSViking Line shakes withHavana Clubmonth

Six ships in the Viking Line fleet were thefloating home of a Cuban themed cam-paign launched by Pernod Ricard for its

Havana Club Rum.The promotion started January 16 and ended

last week. During the event, the ships’ dancefloors pulsated with Latin rhythm as 130 dancersentertained passengers and cigar markers fromCuba plied their trade.

Pernod Ricard also brought aboard top bar-tenders, including entertainment mixologist IvarsRutkovskis and others gave classes on how tomake a Havana Club mojito. Passengers couldcompete against each other to create the fastestand tastiest mojito.

“The Dance Revolución campaign has been ahuge success for bars and tax free shops onboardViking Line Ships,” said Christian Løn, area-mar-keting manager for Pernod Ricard Travel RetailEurope. “Our Nordic consumers were veryenthusiastic about trying Havana Club Cubancocktails and embracing the Cuban atmosphere.”

During the two-week campaign, Løn saidViking line served more than 3,000 mojitos.

After 10 years with an average of double digit passenger increases, NetworkCruise Baltic, which promotes cruising in 10 northern European countries noteda decrease in both ship calls and passengers last year.

The group released its 2010 Market Review recently. The 40 ship operators that pliedthe Baltic waters in 2010 made (coincidentally) 2,010 calls and carried 3.1 million pas-sengers. A total of 68 cruise ships worked the region.

“The number of passengers to the region in 2011 is expected to grow substantiallywith a growth rate of around 12 percent,” said rundown of the results, released Feb-ruary 7.

“Despite a small decrease in passengers overall, 2010 was a great season, whichwent really smoothly with excellent feedback from cruise lines, guests and suppliersalike,” said Bo Larsen, director of Cruise Baltic. “Several destinations mainly in thesmall and medium segment, even saw explosive growth rates…Rostock in particular.”

Larsen said the region has reached a point where growth cannot be expected yearafter year. Nonetheless, Cruise Baltic is estimating that it will see 3.5 million passen-gers this year, due to an extended season that will start in early April and continueto the end of October, five weeks longer than the 2010 season.

Top five destinations in the 10-country Cruise Baltic region are Copenhagen, St.Petersburg, Stockholm, Talinn and Helsinki.

In March, at the Annual Seatrade Convention in Miami, Cruise Baltic announcedtwo new partners to join the group, The Port of Klaipeda in Lithuania, and the Portof Sassnitz in Germany. The group’s director, Bo Larsen a lot unveiled plans by CruiseBaltic to attract smaller cruise lines, such as the SeaDream Yacht Club with its 112-passenger mega-yachts. The line has committed to continue its itineraries in theregion through 2012. Also recently calling in the Baltic is the Spanish line HappyCruises that has repositioned its ship The Gemini to the Baltic, starting in May

In a new partnership agreement, Silversea Cruises will work closelywith Slow Food Promozione, an arm of Slow Food Italy.The collaboration will focus on highlighting the Italian heritage of

La Terrazza, a specialty restaurant featured aboard the all-suite, ultra-luxury ships Silver Cloud, Silver Wind, Silver Shadow, Silver Whisperand Silver Spirit.

"We believe this partnership will enhance our guests' dining expe-rience," said Rudi Scholdis, Silversea's director of culinary develop-ment. "At the same time, we take pride in supporting Slow Food'smission to link pleasure and food with awareness and responsibility."

The joint initiative will also entail a program of special Slow Foodculinary voyages designed to showcase products of excellent gastro-nomic quality, help guests rediscover the joys of eating, and under-stand the importance of caring where their food comes from, whomakes it and how it's made.

Founded in Italy in 1986, Slow Food has become an internationalorganization dedicated to promoting greater enjoyment of food through abetter understanding of its taste, quality and production. It seeks to defendbiodiversity in the food supply, spread the education of taste, and link pro-ducers of excellent foods to consumers through events and initiatives.

Silversea and Slow Food will jointly work at sourcing food prod-ucts from around the world that meet the standards of Slow Food.Starting this summer, with voyages to Europe and the Mediterranean,Silversea's La Terrazza will be the first and only restaurant at sea todisplay the Presidio Slow Food logo next to foods that comply withthe philosophy of Slow Food, including products made by producersthat are part of the Terra Madre project, a global network of food com-munities committed to responsible and sustainable food production.

Mixed signals in Baltic cruise numbers

Silversea Partners withSlow Food Promozione

From the ground up

Sole of the matterAny person working a job that involves hours of standing on endis likely to report sore, aching feet. Moreover, professionals work-ing in the aviation business, particularly those men and womenwho cross the jetway and take to the skies for a living, have alti-tude and other variables to consider when selecting the perfect shoefor their sometimes lengthy and demanding shifts.

In 2008, a perceptive Portuguese comfort footwear chain based inLisbon took a chance and developed a line of footwear made specif-ically to accommodate the unique needs of male and female flightcrew. The idea, says Ricardo Oliveira, CCO of the young companynow called SKYPRO Shoes, came when one of the original comfortshoe stores located near Lisbon International Airport began receiv-

ing visits from TAP Portugal crew seeking a comfortable work shoe. “We saw the impact that footwear can have on peoples lives,”

Oliveira tells PAX International. “We were amazed when we real-ized there was no other footwear brand in the world that wasthinking about aviation-specific footwear needs.”

SKYPRO’s first airline presentation took place that same year atthe offices of TAP and resulted in a contract to supply the airlinewith footwear as well as all other leather goods for cabin andground crew. The lessons learned in the first few months of the part-nership helped SKYPRO research and develop the product line intowhat is now a wide range of footwear and leather products, com-bining top quality materials in a stylish design to enhance comfort,durability, hygiene and safety. According to Oliveira, temperature


PAX International delves into the task of outfitting busy crewmembers onboardairliners and cruise ships alike, because a sharp-looking, happy and comfortable crew can directly translate into relaxed, comfortable and happy guests BY MARYANN SIMSON

UNIFORMS |

control and breathability are key to comfort and health and can onlybe properly attained with traditional leather.

Rising quickly into the industry spotlight, SKYPRO exhibited atthe International Travel Catering Association in Cologne in 2010 andrepeated its participation in 2011 with an even larger, more eye-catching booth. “We had the chance to develop several contacts inthe stand that were followed afterwards with a very big interest inour products,” Oliveira reveals. “The evaluation is positive, espe-cially because we are talking about a trade show that is stronglydirected towards food products. Several companies were looking forthe SKYPRO stand, which means we already have good brandawareness.”

Overall, SKYPRO’s range of products now includes belts, hand-bags, traveling trolleys and peak caps in addition stylish profes-sional footwear. Several contracts have been signed with newcustomers in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. At ITCA Nice inFebruary, the company introduced an anti-bacterial and anti-fungalinsert that is extremely resilient to compression, only losing a max-imum of 2.5 percent of its original cushioning height (a major prob-lem, says Oliveira) after up to 100,000 steps.

Moving forward, SKYPRO has partnered with researchers atAveiro’s University in Portugal to develop footwear for marketniches of a similar nature. Says Oliveira, “We are preparing our-selves to present to cruise lines and rail companies, a footwear pro-posal directed to their needs.”

Custom threadsFounded in 1987, CTI Group Worldwide Services got its start whenfounder and CEO Robert Upchurch began recruiting entertainers to

work aboard cruise ships. Today the company does much more than just that. With its

main headquarters in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and satellite officesin China, Thailand, Burma, Vietnam, the Philippines and Indone-sia, CTI Group now specializes in everything from recruitment tocorporate travel services, money transfer services and outfittinghospitality staff in attractive and comfortable work-wear.

“Due to our close business associations with various cruise lines,it was a natural progression of CTI Group to expand its UNO,” saysUpchurch, referring to the company’s line of garments for house-keeping, garments for deck and engine crew and linens. “UNO is acompliment to all the services that CTI offers, it is an ever-expand-ing line.”

Well-known clients of CTI Group include Carnival Cruise Lines,Celebrity Cruise Lines, Oceania Cruise Line, Hard Rock Cafes andthe massive Atlantis resort in the Bahamas. Most recently, contractshave been signed between GTI Group and Royal Caribbean CruiseLines and Sandals Resorts throughout the Caribbean islands.

Upchurch stresses that for these innovative and high-profile cus-tomers, bespoke solutions are key, helping them not only projecttheir unique brand identities, but also to ensure the comfort andefficiency of their massive workforces. CTI works diligently to stayon top of changing trends.

“Dry Fit is a new buzzword,” he reveals. “Even the weave of thefabric comes into consideration when selecting uniforms made toorder. A warp thread could provide added strength, or an openweave may provide a needed cooling factor. Construction is cus-tomized to meet the demands of an active crew. No detail is toosmall to be considered.”

| UNIFORMS

New fabrics being developed continue to lighten the weight of CTI Groups gar-ments and allow for easier stain removal as well as longer life cycles. Taking advan-tage of synthetic blends also makes sense price-wise as the notoriously unstableprice of cotton pushes upwards. Another way to keep costs low for cruise lines isto take advantage of CTI Group’s “made to order” option and factory direct ship-ping, which cuts out middlemen and can save them up to 30 percent.

Steeped in traditionIn the United Kingdom there is rich naval history and seafaring is deeplyingrained in local lore and legend. In fact, historical records show that the RoyalBritish Navy can be traced back through time to the ninth century AD.

And while not quite as well established as that, Miller Rayner, a uniform sup-plier based Southampton, U.K. has been supplying uniforms for sea captains andofficers for more than century and a half.

“Back in 1911 we used to do White Star, so we did the Titanic and theOlympic,” explains Rob McLaren, director of sales at Miller Rayner. “In fact thereis a Titanic exhibit right now in London that is featuring a jacket that came fromthe ship. Back then we were called Miller & Sons and you can still read that onthe jacket’s buttons.”

Miller Rayner focuses primarily on the European cruise and ferry market. Thecompany has supplied its classic fashions to P&O Cruises for more than 80 years.Miller Rayner provides facets of Cunard Line crew attire and has most recentlywon a contract with the Isle of Man Steam Packet ferry service, which is the old-est continually operating passenger shipping company in the world, havingbegan operations in 1830. The contract, says McLaren, will see Miller Rayner sup-plying the historic ferry boat operator with full uniforms for everyone from “theold man down to the deck boy,” or the captain and everyone else onboard.

Over the years, Miller Rayner has evolved with the times as much as wasnecessary to stay relevant without losing its hard-won reputation for honoringthe rank and responsibility of the men whooperate great passenger, naval and mer-chant vessels. Enhanced safety requirementsthroughout the industry, rather than fashiontrends, have been the most significant cause ofinnovative new developments in both onboardand shipside apparel.

“We have recently been looking at self-illuminating, high visibility jackets forthe marine, as well as the airline(ground support) industrieswith battery packs built in. Wehave also had requestsrecently for camouflage orfatigue-like uniforms andeven Kevlar because ofpiracy issues,” McLarensays, adding that the jack-ets and other garmentsordered for captains andfirst officers have notchanged since 1936.

“So until somebody ingovernment or in the RoyalNavy changes what theywant an officer to look like,they are going to remainthe same. Classic, timelessdesign.”


UNIFORMS |


RCI bartender, Carnival chef take top honors in Bacardi Cruise Competition

BACARDI WINNERS

RCI bartender, Carnivalchef take top honors inBacardi Cruise Competition

On March 14, the recently reno-vated Forge restaurant andwine bar in South Beach,Miami, played host to the

glitzy and exclusive awards presentationevent that marked the end of the most suc-cessful Bacardi Cruise Competition to date.

Simon Blancoe of Royal Caribbean Inter-national was awarded the Bartender of theYear title for his cleverly named creation ‘OBloody Hell’, made with Grey Goose L’Or-ange, blood orange purée, Cointreau OrangeLiqueur, juice, simple syrup and a topping ofginger ale. Served long, the winning cocktail

is ideal as a light and refreshing poolsidebeverage on a hot Caribbean cruise.

“I had a few drinks up my sleeve,” said aglowing Biancoe when asked in a post-wininterview whether he had created this drinkon a whim. “I have quite a few more in storeas well. I can’t believe it. I just came intoMiami not long ago. I got off the plane andcame almost directly to the event. I reallywas not expecting to win anything, but it isa wonderful feeling.”

Going home with the distinction of Chefof the Year was Anuroop Konikkara of Car-nival Cruise Lines who created the visually

appealing and equally delicious Pillars ofGlory, sure to catch on quickly as a favoriteappetizer in the cruise line’s a la carte din-ing rooms. Made using 10 milliliters of Bac-ardi Limón flavored Rum and Bénédictinereduction, the dish features three crunchywonton pillars of various height stuffed withcrab meat, shallots, red and green pepper,and cucumber seasoned with lemon juiceand salt and pepper to taste.

The evening gathering, attended by awho’s who of the local cruse industry, beganwith a walk down the red carpet leadingguests into a foyer where a reception line of


Bacardi girls dressed in flamboyant red garbwelcomed them with glittering smiles andsparkling wine.

Past the front entrance, with nametagsand flutes of citrus-infused bubbles in tow,sharply dressed guests entered the beautifuland intimate courtyard in the center of thehistoric restaurant and cellar. There they wereable to taste signature Bacardi creations, sam-ple some appetizers from the Forge’sacclaimed Chef Dewey LaSasso, and minglewith the lucky finalists who were able attend.

Before long the music changed and theattention of the esteemed guests was drawnto the center of the courtyard, where manyhad noticed upon arrival that there hung,above their heads, a large ring with ropestrailing down to the terrace. Dressed as theiconic Bacardi Bats, albeit more feminine,came two gymnasts who easily scaled theropes up to the ring and entertained thegroup with difficult maneuvers and poses.

As guests made their way inside for theawards portion of the evening, they foundtheir senses delighted one again by extrav-agant decorations, music, newly wardrobedBacardi Girls working various stations fea-turing perfectly prepared samples of the fivedrinks finalists and the top five culinary cre-ations. On either side of the yet empty stagenext to grand plush sofas, stood long, lowcocktail tables. Upon closer inspection,guests were surprised to find beneath theirglass surfaces, each table housed yetanother costumed girl, lying still at timesand moving gently at others.

Everything happened rather quicklywhen it came time to announce the awards.Zachary Sulkes, regional manager of Bacardi

Travel Retail Americas took the stage sayinga few words of gratitude to Chef DeweyLaSasso for helping to prepare all the food,drinks and ambience enjoyed through theevening and during January’s VIP judgingevent where the winners were selected. Herecognized his own team as well as thecruise lines for their exceptional promotionof the competition, which resulted in animpressive 77 percent increase in submis-sions over 2009.

Luis Ortega of Celebration Cruises wassingled out and applauded for the impres-sive 160 submissions contributed by hiscruise line, which is currently comprised ofbut a single vessel. Also recognized wasCaroline Pritchard, executive director of theMarine Hotel Association (MHA).Pritchard’s contribution to the cruise linefood and beverage industry through her not-for-profit association’s scholarships, confer-ences, trade shows and workshops is farreaching and has shaped the industry formore than 25 years.

With flash bulbs illuminating the stage,Sulkes and Bacardi Global Brand Ambassa-dor Mark Plumeridge handed giant $5,000checks to Blanco and Konikkara. Both menwill also have the opportunity to attend afive-day intensive High Performance Lead-ership course of study for cruise industryprofessionals at Florida International Uni-versity (FIU) School of Hospitality &Tourism Management, courtesy of the MHA.

The eight category finalists who were notselected as Bartender or Chef of the Yearwent home with a $500 check each - and arenewed determination to create somethingmagical next year.

BACARDI WINNERS

BARTENDER OF THE YEAR FINALISTSName: Sanja VukoticCruise/Ferry Line: Celebrity CruisesRecipe Name: Creole MojitoCategory: BACARDI® Rums and flavoured rums

Name: Simon Blacoe *WINNER*Cruise/Ferry Line: Royal Caribbean International Recipe Name: O Bloody HellCategory: GREY GOOSE® vodka andflavoured vodkas

Name: Michal MillerCruise/Ferry Line: Cunard LineRecipe Name: English Breakfast Spiced TeaCategory: BOMBAY SAPPHIRE® gin

Name: Muhamad MuttaqienCruise/Ferry Line: Azamara CruisesRecipe Name: All Night LongCategory: DEWAR’S® Blended Scotch Whiskies

Name: Mart JürikiviCruise/Ferry Line: TallinkRecipe Name: Hot Apple BoatCategory: Signature Cocktail – Ginger

CHEF OF THE YEAR FINALISTSName: Joe XavierCruise/Ferry Line: P&O Cruises UKRecipe Name: Lemon Hearts with Strawberry CoulisCategory: DessertBrand Used: BACARDI® O Flavoured Rum

Name: Suman DodlaCruise/Ferry Line: Royal Caribbean InternationalRecipe Name: Baker’s Chicken with Choux SauceCategory: Main Course (meat, poultry, fish)Brand Used: BACARDI® Gold Rum

Name: Antonio CorteseCruise/Ferry Line: Princess CruisesRecipe Name: Red Snapper MojitoCategory: Heart HealthyBrand Used: BACARDI® Superior Rum

Name: Abelardo AlvarezCruise/Ferry Line: Princess CruisesRecipe Name: Deep-Fried Sushi with Bacardi Wasabi EmulsionCategory: VegetarianBrand Used: BACARDI® Superior Rum

Name: Anupoop Konikkara *WINNER*Cruise/Ferry Line: Carnival Cruise Lines Recipe Name: Pillars of GloryCategory: AppetizerBrand Used: BACARDI®LIMÓN Flavoured Rum

PreGel AMERICA is a member of the Marine HotelAssociation and an important fixture in the dessertrealm of the American foodservice industry. Likeparent company PreGel headquartered in ReggioEmilia, Italy, PreGel AMERICA was established in

2002 to develop, manufacture and distribute authentic Italianingredients, toppings and fillings used in specialty desserts.

Now in its third year of operation, the Key Accounts Divisionof PreGel AMERICA continues to help the company’s largestcustomers develop custom solutions through intimate collabo-ration. The small, dedicated Key Accounts team is made up ofthree company veterans who devote their time to learning aboutthe specific needs of high-volume clients like quick-servicerestaurants, supermarkets, food manufacturers and cruise lines.They then work diligently using research and development,custom products and training programs, to find solutions thatfit those needs.

“Providing a specialized and personalized service was some-thing that we recognized was extremely important to these seg-ments,” explains Key Accounts Manager and former East CoastSales Manager Anna Pata. “Developing a Key Accounts Divisionwas something that we knew would result in a winning strat-egy for everyone involved.”

Key Accounts representatives Sandy Courtney (East Coast)and Chris Lozier (West Coast) currently round out the tightlyknit team that is supported by several other departmentsthroughout the U.S. branch of the company. While similar divi-sions do exist in several of PreGel’s other global segments, Patasays that the U.S. team is likely the most developed, even uti-lizing international company segments as a resource whenaccounts require it. And although Key Accounts clients make upjust a tiny percentage of PreGel’s overall customer base, they areresponsible for consuming roughly 40 percent of its output:making them a valuable commodity.

“We have had our technical product specialists and chefspresent specific solutions to our cruise ships docked in all partsof the world,” says Pata, providing an example of how her teamregularly exceeds customer expectations. “One of the interest-ing things we have done is show (the cruise lines) how ourdessert ingredients can be used in savory presentations. Forexample, our pure pistachio paste makes a delicious vinai-grette.”

Four major cruise lines can be found among the customers ofPreGel AMERICA’s Key Accounts division. Many more cruiseand ferry operators turn to the global supplier for dessert-relatedproducts, but those accounts are handled by head office in Italyor by other subsidiaries found in Germany, Austria, Belgium,Switzerland, Canada, Mexico, Australia and Brazil. According toPata, maintaining successful relations in cruise supply requiressome special effort on the part of suppliers, keeping everyonesharp and focused.

“Perhaps, one of the largest challenges is understanding theexact product quantities that the ships require for each voyage,and more specifically, the particular demands of their clientele– which varies with every excursion,” she divulges. “Variety andaccessibility are important. Our global presence and numerousproducts help us meet these demands.”

More in recent years than ever before, passengers have begun

COMPANY PROFILE |

Hands-on training programs

and onboard demonstrations

are just part of the value that

the Key Accounts division

brings to PreGel AMERICA’s

high-volume customers

PreGel AMErICA’s new Key Accounts division lets cruise lines order dessert by design


making demands of their own. Today’s cruise line pas-senger is worldlier. He or she still likes the comforts ofhome but wants the option to taste the exotic, or watchtheir waistline, by experimenting with new cuisines andfood concepts.

“Gelato and frozen yogurt are definitely hot items rightnow,” says Pata. “Consumers’ tastes are becoming moreglobal and as they expand their repertoire of food selec-tions, gelato is one dessert item that is emerging. Theuniqueness of its presentation, the temperature that it isserved at and the variety of flavors play on many of thesenses and create an exhilarating food experience.”

Gelato contains less butter, fat and calories than icecream and other desserts, making for a relatively guilt-freeindulgence that people of all ages can enjoy. The tradi-tional method of making the treat however, is long andarduous. The labor–intensive process requires pasteurizingegg yolks for the base and then flawlessly balancing theremaining ingredients (milk or water, sugar and other fla-vorings) to create the ideal flavor profile and consistency.

This method, says Pata, is no longer feasible for manyfoodservice outlets and the volumes they require, and soPreGel has created two different powered bases that con-tain the precise emulsifiers and stabilizers needed to makeconsistent gelato while foregoing some of the more time-consuming steps of traditional preparation.

“Quality should never be sacrificed for efficiency andthat is exactly what we created our products for,” sheexplains. “We maintain the quality that dessert businessesrequire, but we make it easy on them with products thatprovide quick, consistent and healthy solutions.”

Gelato is currently

seeing a surge in

popularity thanks

to consumer

experimentation

“Developing a KeyAccounts Divisionwas something thatwe knew would resultin a winning strategyfor everyone involved.”Anna Pata, Key Accounts Manager for PreGel AMERICA

When Daniel Laine sits down withone of his cruise line customers,who look to him for his expert-ise on ship galley design and his

knowledge to the vast number of productsavailable for the marine food service market,he says the process of making a working gal-ley starts with the equivalent of a “whitepaper” where everyone at the table projectstheir ideas and needs into a prototype design.

It’s a different process every time, saysLaine, who is head of DL Services, a com-pany he formed in 2005, based in Basse-Goulaine, France, to see to the niche marketof ship galley design and supply. But thequestions never seem to end and eachanswer or decision brings with it a new setof challenges. In the end, what inevitablyemerges is a galley section and accompany-ing service rooms and wash areas awash ingleaming stainless steel.

“If I were a chef, I would understand (achef) better,” Laine laughs. “But I would notknow what equipment to buy.”

There seems to be no shortage of willingsellers. The meticulously arranged databaseon the DL Services website www.dl-serv-ices.com can take the user to tens of thou-sands of products, parts listings, andmanufacturers covering every aspect ofcruise line and ferry food service. The sitewas the product of feedback by Laine’scruise line customers and it receives heavyusage by the cruise line industry.

However, DL Services’ website is probablyvisited little by the people who the cruise lines,and, by extension, the companies that sell tothem rely on heavily, and that is the passen-gers. For years, cruise lines have been modi-fying ship layouts and catering to a passengerthat is demanding greater choice and moreflexible dining. Cruise lines have responded,but one of the challenges is making an infra-structure that can cater to those demands.

Behind the scenes at dining rooms, spe-cialty restaurants and anywhere else food andbeverage is dispensed is a complex maze ofgalleys, pot washing stations, sculleries andwaste management systems that are integratedin many ways, but are unique in others. Chefsmay at one moment be serving steak and atanother moment serving sushi or pasta. A sin-gle scullery may handle incoming dishes andfood waste from multiple restaurants.

Demands on galley space can vary, saidLaine, and restaurant location is critical toan efficient operation behind the scenes.Buffet service requires less space in the gal-ley to accommodate wait staff. When theblank paper is filled, it is passed on to archi-tects on the new builds to design the diningrooms, bars and Lido decks.

“We can sit together, and it’s really acommon project,” he says. “We are aroundthe table and everyone has their own idea atthe end of the day.”

In this hothouse of condensed activity,there is also the need for efficiency particu-

larly in activities that use the limitedresources upon which each ship relies. Andthat need has had companies like the marinedivision of Meiko working year and year outto improve the efficiency of their products.

“They are looking for very space-efficientsolutions plus, of course, efficient use ofresources, which are very expensive,” saidJürgen-Iver Sell, head of the marine divi-sion of the wash ware manufacturer. Thecompany’s products are found on 80 cruiseships. Recently, Meiko was called on to out-fit Royal Caribbean’s Oasis of the Seas andAllure of the Seas with 129 washers on theformer and 133 on the latter. Other cus-tomers for Meiko products are NorwegianCruise Line’s Norwegian Epic as well asships from Celebrity Cruises and Aida Line.In addition to washing equipment, Meikosupplies vacuum food waste disposal sys-tems that send food waste to garbage roomswhere it is pressed, dried and incinerated.

Water and electrical power must be usedto maximum efficiency to save on preciousfuel. Each cubic meter of conditioned air car-ries with it a cost. That cost is increased ifthere is unnecessary heat or steam or humid-ity in the galleys and sculleries. To meet thesedemands for energy savings, Meiko’s newline of washer engineers and designers haveimproved on the M-iQ line of washers toreduce the temperature of the wash cycle to35 degrees Celsius and eliminate the steamand humidity released. The modifications

From seemingly a clean slate, planners, suppliers and cruise lines sketch outthe part of the food service component the passenger never sees BY RICK LUNDSTROM


CRUISE LINE GALLEYS |

have resulted in a direct savings on waterand energy by 30 to 40 percent.

The M-iQ system was introduced to theUnited States in February of this year at theNational Association of Food EquipmentManufacturers Show in Orlando

A Dream ShipWhen Costa Cruises launched its 2,828-pas-senger Costa Deliziosa last May, passengerswere treated to an Italian appointed extrav-aganza that featured 11 bars, four restau-rants and an exquisite club restaurant calledthe Deliziosa.

Its ambience stressed old world Italy inmany ways, but behind the scenes ExecutiveChef Ettore Bocchia and his team had otherplans as well. The Michelin-starred Bocchiais a master in “molecular gastronomy” andthe dish that he planned, for the Buffet Mus-caines, Albatros and Samsara restaurantsneed high-tech equipment.

Ettore Bocchia has been tweaking tem-peratures and exploring what the experi-mentation does to instill a lighter feel to food

that is rich, by Italian standards (whichmeans very rich). Bocchia calls it “molecu-lar cuisine” and serves it at his Mistral finedining restaurant at the Grand Hotel VillaSerbelloni in Bellagio, Italy.

To achieve the effects of molecular cui-sine, food is frozen with liquid nitrogen.Among the molecular menu items is a buf-falo mozzarella gelato where the cheese ischilled with liquid nitrogen to retain its fla-vor, while taking on the consistency of icecream. The gelato is placed on top of gaz-pacho. In another instance, a fish iswrapped in leek leaves. While the fishretains its taste, it loses the oils that arefound in a more traditional recipe.

To help the chef in the galley, Costa rolledin 22 OptimaMeister units made by MKN.Other equipment was needed, and Costaselected three HansDampf units, also madeby MKN.

Cruise lines represent approximately 5percent of business by MKN. In addition tohigh-tech cooking equipment, the companymakes a selection of specialty products that

find their way onto cruise lines, from solidtop ranges, baking ovens, deep fat fryersand pasta cookers.

“We have been supplying products for thecruise industry for more than 20 years,” saidStephan Kammel, vice president of globalmarine at MKN. “And we have a global mar-keting department with its own sales, tech-nical and design support.”

The Costa-selected OptimaMeister isdesigned for harsh conditions on the highseas. The products are coated with 3-millime-ters of high-grade steel allowing them to besafe and hygienic while the Deliziosa is at sea.

“Ships require different hygienic stan-dards,” said Kammel. “MKN modifies itsinnovative professional cooking technologyto these special requirements; for examplewith seamless hygienic inserts with pot secu-rity for ranges and oven door latches orflanged feed and special voltage.”

MKN products are also alongside Meikoproducts on the two large Royal Caribbeanships the Allure of the Seas and the Oasis ofthe Seas.

With more than 30,000 units at restaurants, grocery and retail andintuitional operations around the world, Power Soak Systems, basedin Kansas City attended the Marine Hotel Association for the first timelast year, with the hope of finding new customers in the cruise linesseeking both effectively sanitized products and labor saving devices.

Power Soak equipment is automated and can operatecontinuously taking galley staff away from the sink with moretime to concentrate on other tasks

“Basically, the equipment in the continuous pot and panwashing system reallocated 50 percent of the labor that wouldnormally be used in that area,” said Bob McNamara, vice presidentof institutional sales at Power Soak Systems, Inc. “That would lend

itself to not only giving them better results but also…to reallocatedo other things besides washing pots and pans.”

Approximately a year ago Power Soak introduced a producewashing system that is designed to clean and extend the productlife of the produce and can effectively dislodge bacteria. Combinedwith antimicrobial products, McNamara said, “ensures sanitizingthat produce prior to being served to the customer.”

McNamara said the Power Soak can be particularly effective forporous products such as cantaloupe, “because the outside of acantaloupe is like a sponge and it collects this bacteria, and when youdraw a knife through it you pull bacteria right through the product.”

The Power Soak can is designed to effectively clean two typesraw agricultural or processed produce in about 60 seconds to aminute and a half. In addition to pots and pans and produce, thecompany also manufactures a silverware washing system alongthe same concept.


CRUISE LINE GALLEYS |

Washing for freshness

The Produce Soak System for

washing and sanitizing fresh fruits

and vegetables about a year ago.


CRUISE SHIP LAUNCHES |

Disney style meansentertainment, fun andseveral unique options

Dining on the Dream

One of the first major launches ofa cruise ship this year came inJanuary of this year with thesailing of the Disney Dreamnow on itineraries throughout

the Caribbean out of Port Canaveral. And though there is as much color and

childlike fun as a cruise line can fit into130,000 tons, a quick overview of the DisneyDream finds plenty of sustenance for thefoodie. And if a passenger is fortunate, he orshe can rub shoulders with the protégé of atwo-Michelin Starred chef or gaze longinglyat a bottle of Château Cheval Blanc thatretails for $25,000. Never mind that its restscomfortably in a vault within a restaurantnamed after a cartoon chef called Remy.

But the dining program at Disney’slargest cruise ship boasts a number of firststhat the line takes pride in. It was the firstline to implement a rotation-dining conceptthat allows guests to move each night to adifferent themed restaurant while keepingthe same servers and tablemates.

It also offers something seen less and lessin a cruise: a freebie. Guests have 24-houraccess to complementary soda, coffee, teaand water.

The three main dining rooms are the Ani-mators Palate, the Royal Palace and theEnchanted Garden. In the Animator’s Palate,guests enter in a clever mockup of an ani-mator’s studio with pencil and paintbrush

motifs and plenty of Disney and Disney/Pixarfilm pictures on the walls. After they areseated, the room transforms into a underseadesign featuring characters from the DisneyPixar film Finding Nemo.

For dinner, chefs have prepared a freshfare of smoked salmon tartar, stir-fry veg-etables and lemon-thyme chicken, and veal.California and Pacific Rim wines are served.

Next night may find the guests at theRoyal Palace with a classic lineup of Disneyfilms such as Cinderella, Snow White andthe Seven Dwarfs, Beauty and the Beast, andSleeping Beauty featured as decoration. Lob-ster, jumbo shrimp, Dijon rack of lamb andbeef tenderloin lobster medallions are partof the service. Old World wines are poured.

The Enchanted Garden is more casual inapproach but the décor is distinctly Ver-sailles. White trellises, spring-green archesand a terraced fountain with a CherubicMickey Mouse are part of the display.

Breakfast and lunch are both buffet styleis served in the Enchanted Garden. Dinneris plated, featuring New York strip steak,pan-seared sea bass and lobster ravioli.Desserts are a selection of gelatos duringthe day and truffles and hand made confec-tions during the night.

French and Italian fare are featured in theDisney Dream specialty restaurants. ForRemy, the line worked with Chef ArnaudLallement from l’Assiett Champenoise, aMichelin two-star restaurant just outsideReims, France. Executive Chef for Remy isPatrick Albert.

As expected, dinner at Remy is lavish andlong. Interesting flavors from smoked bisonwith fennel salad and blood oranges is on

the menu. In addition there is lobster withvanilla, bisque and lobster roe foam, wildloup de mer; Australian Wagyu; and tomatotart with Parmesan espuma; coastal turbotwith vin jaune sauce and gnocchi andyoung pigeon pie with foie gras, spinachand tomato.

Dessert in Remy is vanilla-poached pearor dark chocolate praline with cocoa sherbetand post-prandial coffee service featuresFrench press and grand crème.

The other specialty restaurant, Paloserves northern Italy cuisine and classicreserve wines. The service is more casualwith six selections of pizza. There is alsofresh pasta such as wild mushroom risotto,liter penne with fresh tomato and basilsauce and grilled shrimp. Seafood mealshave an Italian touch. Turbot is pan searedwith porcini, pancetta and fennel with wal-nut butter. Classic beef tenderloin is servedwith Barolo wine or Gorgonzola sauce.Desserts are classic and tasty with tiramisu,chocolate soufflé and an orange soda floatwith vanilla gelato.

Wrapping up the dining offering on theDisney Dream are three casual restaurants.Cabanas offers pizza and pasta, grilled spe-cialties, stir-fry, soups and fresh salads. Italso has sushi chef.

Flo’s Café has a design after popularcharacters in the Disney/Pixar film Cars.Pizza, grilled favorites, burgers and chickentenders are on the menu.

The final offering is on Deck 11 wherepassengers can feast on Eye Scream frozentreats while gazing on characters from Mon-ster Inc. An array of soft serve ice cream andtoppings are offered.

BY RICK LUNDSTROM

Guests on the

Disney Dream dine

in a different room

every night, but

with the same

tablemates and

servers

In 1982 there were no mega-shipslike Oasis or Allure. In fact, in theearly part of that decade there wasnot yet a Royal Caribbean Interna-tional, nor was there a CelebrityCruises and Princess Cruises wasdivided between Sitmar and

Princess. There was, however, a HollandAmerica Line and a man named Bill Fennelwho called on them to see if they would beinterested in a dispensed, concentratedfrozen juice program which would allow fora consistent product, the right equipmentand an ongoing global service program fortheir three ships. They were.

Today much has changed for Fennell aswell as for Vitality Foodservice Inc. InDecember of 2009 Vitality Foodservice wasacquired by Nestlé Professional, becomingNestlé Professional Vitality, whose morethan 300 products can now be enjoyed onan estimated 95 percent of the world’s cruiseships and ferry boats.

“It was an acquisition that fit well withNestlé’s hot beverage platform. They were andare very successful as far as coffees, hot choco-lates, cocoas are concerned and we represented

a popular cold beverage line sobetween the two of us we

have a complete beverage offering,” Fennellexplains. “Another part of the great fit betweenNestlé and Vitality was a mutual culture ofhealth and well-being in both of our productlines. We want our products to be good for youin addition to tasting good.”

Of the many Nestlé Vitality products thatcruise passengers enjoy on holiday in theCaribbean, Fennell says that the POG or Pas-sion Orange Guava juice blend compels themost returning vacationers to email the com-pany in search of places to buy it on land. InEurope, preferences differ slightly and there isa prevalent demand for slightly heavier ormore concentrated versions of what the NorthAmerican clientele demand.

“We have a strong base of European cus-tomers,” Fennell reveals. “They prefer theircoffee a little heavier and they like nectarssuch as peach nectar in addition to the reg-ular juices that we offer. We provide far moreof the Citrus-Peach product in Europe thanwe do when ships are in the Americas.”

One trend that Fennell and his team havenoticed across the board is the growing con-sumer awareness of health and wellness.Using national trade shows as a barometer tomeasure and predict where and how far thetrend will go, Nestlé Professional Vitality hasdetermined that it is not only worth a dedi-cated response, but has already developed aline of fruit-flavoured Vitamin Waters to caterto this sector. Many cruise lines are eitheralready using the waters or are in the processof onboard testing and according to Fennell;the market is looking quite favourable.

“People are trending towards a lot of newflavors such as ginger (known for thera-

peutic properties) based drinks andthings that are more health-oriented

including these vitamin enrichedwaters,” he says. “Whichagain goes along with our con-

cept of offering products thatpeople can feel good about.”Health and ‘vitality’ may be crit-

ical to many cruise line guests these

days, but it certainly is not a pressing con-cern for them all. The fact remains that acruise is a vacation and there will always bea guest demographic that wants nothingmore than to unwind and let loose duringhis or her hard-earned escape from the grindof everyday. According to Fennell there is(and probably always will be) an incrediblystrong and consistent demand for blendedfrozen drinks: virgin and otherwise.

Nestlé Professional Vitality offers a selec-tion of products specially designed to aid inthe execution of these traditionally labor-intensive drinks and increase the efficiencyof the bartender charged in doing so. Highvolume ice shavers provided by the com-pany are capable of making up to four drinksat a time and do so without deviation.

“Literally the bartender just has to pour ashot of rum and push a button and it willmake a Strawberry Daiquiri, Pina Colada orsimilar drink time after time,” says Fennell,adding that Nestle Professional Vitality alsodoes its best to find new and effective solu-tions to reduce environmental impact; some-thing the cruise line industry has takencriticism for in the past. “We have main-tained a pure- pak casing for the cruise indus-try in order to eliminate plastics and othernon-recyclable elements. All of the packagingthat we use for the cruise industry is organicand recyclable or can be incinerated at seawith little to no effect on the environment.”

The basic elements of nutritional, highquality products, the correct equipment forthe application, and the ability to provideservice in ports worldwide are still the fun-damentals of the Nestlé Professional Vitalitycruise ship program - proving the old adagethat he more things change, the more theystay the same.

COMPANY PROFILE |

Delivering healthand vitalitysince the 80’sCruise ship guests have been quenching their thirsts with Vitality's fruit juices and cold drinks for almost 30 years. Nestlé Professional Vitality’s Bill Fennell shares how new technology, great taste and old-fashioned customer service have kept his company afloat and steaming ahead for so many years BY MARYANN SIMSON

Pina Colada (shown here),

Strawberry Daiquiri and

Margarita flavours make up

approximately 80 percent of

frozen cocktail mix sales for

Nestlé Professional Vitality

European juice preferences differ

slightly and there is a demand for

slightly heavier or more

concentrated versions of what

the North American clientele

prefer, says Bill Fennell of

Nestlé Professional Vitality


As Peter Richards poured wine for a small gathering inthe corner at this year’s International Travel CateringAssociation (ITCA) in Nice, he talked about the pleas-ant climate and the long growing season in Chile thathas made such fine tasting, moderately priced winesas the Sauvignon Blanc from Viña Leyda Garuma from

the Leyda River valley that the group was then enjoying. “It has been a period of rediscovery for Chile,” Richards, a Mas-

ter of Wine and host of television and radio shows on the BBC andfounder of the Winchester Wine School told the group. “Chile hasbeen discovering itself again, and it is making really lovely wines.”

At roughly the same time, half a world way, Jennie Cho Lee wasalso predicting a new period of growth and awareness of Chileanwines and their potential, following a stint as a judge of Chileanwines earlier this year.

“Chile’s wine industry has a good grasp of the international winemarket and its role as an exporter within it,” said Lee a Master ofWine, who is also a consultant for Singapore Airlines, critic, authorand journalist. “Their unique strength in the Asian market, in par-ticular, Korea, China and Hong Kong, is their great value. Red winesat every price point and level – from icon wines to everyday wines.”

And even though Chilean wines are seemingly mentioned withthe exuberance of a recent discovery, the history of their productionis hardly new. By the 1830s, more than 19 million vines had been

planted in Chile. Grapes from Italy and France began yielding theirfirst vintages by 1850 and more than 40,000 vines in one region ofChile alone were producing 70 different varieties of grapes.

Despite nearly two centuries of toil, Chilean growers themselvesseem to be meticulously plotting a dramatic entry into the worldwine markets with a bold strategic plan aimed at taking their indus-try to new heights by the year 2020. And even setbacks such asearthquakes do not seem to be deterring growers or planners. Winesof Chile, an organization of 85 member wineries representing 85 per-cent of the country’s exporters, has moved ahead and project anannual growth rate of 9.2 percent per year and an export goal ofUS$3 billion by 2020.

Influence is growing in other directions as well, for example, therecent announcement that Brown-Forman Corporation agreed inMarch to sell one of its longtime holdings, Fetzer Vineyards toChilean wine producer Viña Concha Y Toro S.A. for the princelysum of US$238 million.

“You do not live on the Ring of Fire (earthquake zone) withoutbeing both resilient and positive,” Richards tells PAX International.“The magnitude of the earthquake was enormous and yet the coun-try bounced back straight away. Wine was lost, infrastructure dam-aged, very severely in some cases, and workers lost their houses.But the supply has not been interrupted – it is service as usual fromChile.”


WINE REPORT |

“Chile has reallygrown up. It is nolonger a country filledwith cheap andcheerful wines. Thereare impressive winesthat in a blind tastingwill stack up wellagainst the very bestin their category. Ifyou don’t believe me,seek out any of thewines recommendedbelow and include it ina blind tasting lineupof top wines in theirrespective categoriesfrom anywherearound the world —the results maysurprise you.”

Peter Richards gives visitors to this

year’s ITCA exhibition a lesson on

wine properties and leads them

through some blind tastings

2020 VisionIt doesn’t take long find fans among wine experts for the strategy andvariety of wines now being produced and exported from Chile BY RICK LUNDSTROM

Also among the goals in the Wines of Chile group strategyis to further promote Chilean tourism. The Wines of ChileStrategic Plan 2020 included programs for increasing aware-ness of Chile as a wine tourism destination.

Other important goals the 2020 growth plan is to encour-age innovation, diversity and quality. The industry has formedthe Vinnova and Tecnovid technical consortium for researchand development projects. Twenty-four initial projectsexplored viticulture, enology, environment and marketing.The next phase will explore genetic resources, sustainability,terroir and consumer preferences.

And from the 14 diverse growing regions in the country isa consolidated strategic plan to move the Sauvignon Blacks,Chardonnays, Pinot Noirs, Syrahs and the national varietyCarmonere into world prominence. According to Wines fromChile, growers are committed to environmental sustainabilityfrom the vineyard to the glass to keep the region rich anddiverse.

Both wine experts found much to offer airlines in the wayof Chilean varietals.

“I found numerous wines that would work well in the air,”said Lee. “Fruity Merlot based wines are terrific and many ofthe Chardonnays and Sauvignon Blancs were very fruit-for-ward but with enough substance and refreshing character tobe taken seriously.”

Richards agreed, saying that he has found suitable airlineservice wines from the coastal Sauvignon Blancs to the tastySyrah’s and Carmenere varietals.

“The best Chilean wines tread a very fine line between NewWorld exuberance and Old World elegance and finesse,” hesaid.

■ 2008 Errazuriz Wild Ferment Chardonnay: Corton Charlemagne-like depth andintensity, filled with toasted hazelnut flavours. An impressive wine with wonderfulcomplexity and length. 93 points■ 2009 Cono Sur 20 Barrels Sauvignon Blanc: An intense crisp Sauvignon Blanc filledwith vibrant passion fruit and herbal characters. Seductive nose, great palate and longfinish. 90 points■ 2007 Tabali Payen Syrah: A beautifully complex expression of spices and dark berryfruit all seamlessly woven with a fabulous texture. Balances elegance with concentrationand depth. 95 points■ 2003 Almaviva: A generous, seductive wine with silky tannins and lovely flavours.Bottle age has given it grace and elegance, but it is still extremely youthful – wait anotherthree to five years to enjoy it at its peak. 95 points■ 2007 Vinedo Chadwick: Hauntingly clear Cabernet Sauvignon varietal expression andclarity of flavours from Alto Maipo. Impressive depth and generosity of flavours that aredistinctively Chilean but also reminiscent of top Bordeaux. Long, lingering finish. 95points■ 2007 Don Melchor: A firm velvety textured wine with gentle flavours. Don’t expectpunch and thick concentration, this Cabernet Sauvignon-based red is subtle, almostgentle, classy, with a long finish. 94 points■ 2007 Montes Purple Angel Carmenere: Delightful aromas of dark exotic fruits andspices jump out from the glass. It’s the harmony and balance that are most impressive– the ripe plummy Carmenere gets a lift from a touch of Petit Verdot in the blend. 93 points■ 2006 Neyen Cabernet Sauvignon-Carmenere blend: Attractive, enticing bouquet leadsto a textured, graciously woven combination of flavours. Velvety and sumptuous on thepalate with a long finish. 92 points■ 2008 Gravas del Maipo Syrah: This newly launched icon wine from Concha Y Toro isgorgeous -- filled with complex spicy flavours with great density and length. A seriousSyrah with a long finish -- has great cellaring potential. 93 points


PRINTED JANUARY 2011 BY JENNIE CHO LEE MW

Jennie Cho

Lee a Master

of Wine is a

consultant for

Singapore

Airlines

An excerpt from The Best of Chile

WINE REPORT |

D&F Marketing Inc. and ColoradoFoods have announced that theyhave entered into a new partnershipto market ‘Friends Just Wine’ gen-

uine French wine in a can to the airline indus-try, effective March 1st, 2011.

“In addition to the benefits of the wine andcontainer, we will be able to package specificwines selected by the individual airline to com-pliment their onboard service and able to rotatetheir selections to meet their customer request,”Jody Jones, VP of operations for D&F Marketingsaid. “We represent many brands from juices tosparkling water, but this is our first in the alco-hol sector. We currently have business withAmerican, Continental, Delta, United, US Air-ways, Virgin America, Jet Blue, Lufthansa,British Airways and more domestic and inter-national carriers.”

One of the first tasks for the new partners isto offer an additional option to the airlines touse a selected wine from a favorite vineyardthat can be packaged in the aluminum canexclusively for that airline.

“After speaking with several companies in

this field, we knew immediately that D&F wasthe perfect fit for us. They are professionals andknow the industry as well as market trends,”commented Joe Peleg, CEO of Colorado Foods.“They have a vision and know how to thinkoutside of the box. They are a strong and solidcompany that has built excellent relations withleading airlines in the industry.”

Colorado Foods adds that their ultimate goalthrough this partnership is that travelers will beable to enjoy ‘Friends Just Wine’ on all theirflights. The new partners also added that theyare in the process of meeting with various air-lines to discuss program specifics.

“I only had three main targets in the begin-ning,” Peleg reveals about his business. “Thefirst was to make a high-quality, great tastingFrench table wine, the second was to have avery attractive price and the last is to have anattractive design that makes people who see itwant to grab it.”

D&F Marketing Inc. is a well-known salesand marketing company in the airline businesshaving worked in the industry since 1988 andalso known among caterers and distributors.

D&F Marketing will work with Colorado foods

to offer airlines the option to package a wine of

their choice in the lightweight aluminum can

D&F Marketing scoopsrepresentation of ColoradoFoods’ French wine in a can

BY CHANTELLE BOYAL

Mineral waterCompany Name: Acqua Minerale San BenedettoCompany Location: ItalyDescription: Acqua Minerale San Benedetto offersa variety of non-alcoholic drink products includingmineral water, tea, carbonated drinks, still drinksand sports drinks. The drinks are available in a widerange of formats such as plastic bottle, glass bottleand cans. Also available is healthy mineral water-based and juice drinks for toddlers and kids, offeredin a small plastic bottle with an easy-to-drink nozzle.Visit them at stand number 319-321 at the Marinehotel Association trade show and conference 2011.

Fabric tote as a cart alternativeCompany Name: wESSCO InternationalCompany Location: New YorkDescription: As a lightweight alternative tobulky trolley carts, wESSCO Internationaloffers staff a hand/shoulder bag for roomcleaning products and amenity refills. The cus-tom heavy-weight durable fabric tote has manyinner pockets for convenient carrying. It canbe done with custom logos and a variety of col-ors and sizes.

The white wine of romeCompany Name: Banfi VintersCompany Location: Long Island, NYDescription: Discover the white wine ofrome, Fontana Candida. It’s dry and soft withexotic fruit and a touch of ripe pear and greenalmonds to finish. The grapes are harvestedduring September and October and are imme-diately taken to the cellars, gently pressed andvinified in temperature-controlled stainlesssteel. It is ideal as an aperitif or with Caesarsalads, avocado based starters, fish, veal,chicken and Thai and Indian food.

Airless DispenserCompany Name: T-YGroupCompany Location: Miami,FLDescription: T-Y Grouppresents the Ecosource Air-less Dispenser; the first dis-penser of preservative-freecosmetics. Ecologically

friendly, the dispenserholder and refill bag are

made from recyclableplastic. The product pro-

vides a controlled dispensedmeasure and the airless technologyavoids any risk of oxidation or bacterial contami-nation, allowing liquid to remain fresh and cleanat all times. Available contents are soap, hair andbody gel, conditioner and hand and body lotion.

All-natural ice creamCompany Name: Purbeck Ice CreamCompany Location: DorsetDescription: Purbeck IceCream presents new flavorsfor 2011 such as tiramisu,banofee ripple (a delicious com-bination of banana ice creamand toffee) and Joe’s cider sor-bet. All Purbeck ice creamproducts are produced on theDorset farm with local freshmilk, thick double cream andnatural ingredients. The icecream is gluten-free, nut-freeand doesn’t contain eggs.


Natural Fibre-composite eating and drinking vesselsCompany Name: KupilkaCompany Location: FinlandDescription: Kupilka presents outdoor eating and drinkingvessels that are made of environmentally friendly naturalfiber-composite. The containers consist of 50 percent pinewood fiber and 50 percent polypropelene. The materialcompound makes its structure solid, humidity resistantand hygienic. The products are dishwasher safe and canbe recycled.

WHAT’S HOT! | MHA

New egg productsCompany Name: Gut SpringenheideCompany Location: GermanyDescription: Gut Springenheide intro-duces a variety of new flavors of its egg-based products including crème bruleematcha made from classic crème bruleeand matcha tea added and crepe pearsmade from chocolate crepes filled withcaramelized pears. In addition, they alsooffer mini omelets, frittatas and tortillaswith a variety of flavors and fillings.

Mint-flavored waterCompany Name: MetromintCompany Location: San Francisco, CaliforniaDescription: Metromint introduces a line of all-natu-ral purified water infused with real mint and a vari-ety of flavors providing energy and hydration. Flavorsinclude peppermint, spearmint, chocolatemint,orangemint, lemonmint, cherrymint and goodber-rymint. Also new is Metroelectro, a micronutrientwater that provides purified water and electrolytes that carryenergy through the body, antioxidants that prevent cellulardamage and zinc to boost the immune system

Kerrygold Irish butterCompany Name: Kerrygold CateringCompany Location: GermanyDescription: Kerrygold Catering foil-wrapped pure Irish butter portions areavailable now. It is available worldwideunder IDB Deutschland, providing shipchandlers through ports including Baltic,Mediterranean and North America. Alsoavailable is chilled-foil wrapped butter por-tions and mini portions. The mild Irish cli-mate enables cows to graze in openmeadows with fresh, rich grass, providingvery creamy milk.


All-natural real fruit juiceCompany Name: XANGOCompany Location: Lehi, Utah Description: XANGO provides a refreshing all-natural fruit juice product, which contains man-gosteen, fruit in its whole fruit form. The pulpand rind in the juice provides many antioxidantsand nutrients. The juice is made with no artificialsugars or sweeteners and contains nine gramsof total carbohydrates and six grams of sugar.

In an presentation hosted by International Travel Catering Asso-ciation (ITCA) board member Kevin Cox the afternoon of Febru-ary 17, two airlines, two caterers and two suppliers wererecognized for the their entries in this year’s Mercury Awards.

The Mercury Awards have long been part of the yearly ITCA

event, this year held February 15-17 in Nice, France. The following is a list of winning entries in each category. Addi-

tional details and instructions for entering next year’s Mercury Awardscan be found at the ITCA website, www.itcanet.com. ITCA notes thatthis year no winner was picked in the Inspirations category this year.

The China International Aircraft Inte-riors and Design Expo will welcomenew and traditional exhibitors Octo-ber 21-23 in Xian.

New exhibitors include: Thales, specializ-ing in defense, security, aerospace and trans-portation; Goodrich Corporation, whichsupplies systems and services to the aerospace

and defense industry; Measurement Special-ties, designer and manufacturer of sensors andsensor-based systems which measure pres-sure/force, position, vibration, temperature,humidity, and fluid properties; Vector, provid-ing tools, software components and engineer-ing services for the networking of electronicsystems; and Avic, involved in developing and

manufacturing large and medium-sized air-craft in China, and under the leadership ofAVIC Aircraft Company Limited.

CIAIE plans to feature areas such as air-craft infrastructure, flight/passenger safety,passenger commodity/consumable andinformation and entertainment. The CivilAviation Administration of China (CAAC),China Council for the Promotion of Interna-tional Trade and People’s Government ofShanxi province will be host organizationsfor CIAIE.


Airlines, caterers, suppliers take home Mercury mementos

Category Winner EntryOnboard Service Asiana Airlines Premium service for children through designated cabin attendants who supply

entertainment, baked products and toys. Food and Beverage Emirates Flight Catering Healthy Meal offerings with low- and no-fat products, some cooked in special oils with

natural ingredients. Light Equipment W.K. Thomas Snackstick chopstick replacements designed for ease of use and space and weight savings. Heavy Equipment Sri Lankan Catering Sterilization through an autoclave system that heats airline food waste to 121C for 25

minutes. The sterilized product is converted to animal feed. So far, the caterer says it has saved US$105,000 in incineration costs.

Skills Development DHL A Colleague Training Academy for employees to learn new skills for the company’s recent entry into the airline catering market. Employees go through a nine-day academy program stressing security, safety, health and environment.

Systems and Processes Air Canada A Globe Information System that provides cabin crew with operational and customer information that has prevented overloading of food for its Onboard Café service. It has been successful in “removing the complexity and frustration of using multiple legacy systems and paper documents.”

Sustainability Award Sri Lankan Catering See: Heavy Equipment

Winners of this year’s selection of Mercury Awards pose for pictures February 17 in Nice, France.

CIAIE 2011 welcomes new exhibitors


UPCOMING EVENTS

ADVERTISER'S INDEX

2011Aircraft Interiors Expo, April 5-7, hamburg. For

more information, contact reed Exhibitions at 44 20

8271 2134 or e-mail [email protected]

Cruise3sixty, April 14-18, Broward County Convention

Center, Fort Lauderdale, Florida. For more information,

contact Gail Collins at (949) 457-1545, extension 110 or

[email protected]

Marine Hotel Association 26th Annual

Conference and Trade Show, April 14-16, Grand

Lakes resort, Orlando. For more information, contact the

association at (415) 332-1903.

APEX TV Market, May 9-10 hotel Melia Avenida

America, Madrid. For more information, contact APEX at

(212)297-2177, e-mail [email protected].

International Flight Services Conference and

Exhibition, September 12-14, Airline Passenger

Experience Association, September 11-15, Aircraft

Interiors Expo/Americas, Sepember 12-14, All are

at the washington State Convention Center, Seattle. For

more information Contact IFSA at (404) 252-3663, e-

mail [email protected] for APEX call (212)297-

2177, e-mail [email protected], for Aircraft Interiors Expo

call 44 (0)208 910 7126 or e-mail

[email protected]

ASSOCIATION NEWS |

BOSE Corporation............................. 13AMKO International............................ 6AVID Inflight Products ..................... 49B&W Engineering ............................. 25Bacardi Global Travel Retail ........... 69Bayart Innovations ........................... 31BestPartner Food.............................. 27Brand Stand Ltd. ................................. 3Castello Monte Vibiano.................... 52Celeste Industries............................. 38Certified Angus Beef ........................ 51Clearwater Seafood ......................... 39Cuisine Solutions .............................. 71Diethelm Keller Aviation .................. 47digEcor, Inc. ....................................... 11Dreissen Aerospace.................... 40,41First Concept International ............. 56Formia Amenities .............................. 23Friends Just Wine............................. 55Global Inflight Products ................... 72IDB Deutschland............................... 78IFPL...................................................... 36Johnny Walker Double Black ......... 73

Kettel One Vodka .............................. 80Linstol.................................................. 21LSG Sky Chefs ................................... 79Meiko ................................................. 54MillerCoors ........................................ 57MPPiTEC............................................. 28Nautspill Pty Ltd. ............................... 53Nestlé Professional Vitality............. 65Norduyn ............................................. 15Onboard Logistics............................. 33PreGel AMERICA .............................. 63Rockwell Collins ................................. 5Select-A-Vision .................................. 7Servair ................................................. 2Shmidt Seafood................................. 77SKYPRO Shoes .................................. 16SkyTender .......................................... 29TESCO Equipment ............................. 17Varda Chocolatier ............................. 43Watermark ......................................... 9WESSCO International..................... 67White Toque....................................... 61WK Thomas ...................................... 12

PAX March/April VOL 15. NO. 2

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Transcript of PAX March/April VOL 15. NO. 2