I write this, 30 000ft in the air with a view over an ocean of golden, rippling clouds. I’ve just enjoyed a glass of dry white wine with my dinner of tangy ruby coleslaw followed by creamy chicken korma with cinnamon infused basmati rice. And to top it off, a little chocolate-coated Turkish Delight. I mean seriously, I don’t eat that well at home!
Yesterday morning I caught the red-eye out of Cape Town on my way to JHB and was treated (yes, treated!) to a breakfast of blood-orange yoghurt and a fluffy cheese-omelette with juicy meatballs, topped with rosa tomatoes. Oh yes, and coffee in a real-sized cup. It somehow makes the idea of crack-of-dawn business travel that much more appealing. I mean, I’d get out of bed for a breakfast like that any day, wouldn’t you?
Ok, so something I haven’t yet mentioned – which is solely responsible for the two above awesome experiences – is that dear Woolworths has recently entered the meals-in-the-sky catering game and we do so love them for it. Cafe Cloud is the name of their offering on British Airways flights, and I’m pretty keen on becoming a regular patron of their flying establishment. Also operated by Comair, Kulula has similarly adopted a Woolies pay-to-nosh snack menu which now offers serious yummies including those really cool wasabi stick-chip things that take you an entire flight to eat, much to the dismay of your neighbour who gets to listen to the persistent crinkling of the packet as you work your way down.
So my question – or challenge – is what are the other airlines doing to up their game? Because for every opportunity I get from here on, I will try and fly on BA because the food’s just so good. That to me is giving them the competitive advantage over the others right now – or maybe I just haven’t yet experienced their own gourmet offerings, and if so I do apologise and look forward to coming up for dinner. But I know that I’ll no longer settle for the dried-out chicken breasts, flaccid butter-soaked vegetables and rubbery boiled potatoes that I’d come to expect of in-flight catering. I’d rather pack a sandwich. The bar has been significantly raised. Good on ya Woolies.
