From Hungry Jacks to MoVida, airport food is evolving
There's little doubt gourmet food is in fashion, whether it is fine-dining restaurants from celebrity chefs, farm-to-table options or pop-up stands and food trucks.
And just as food is evolving in the community, airports are moving beyond traditional fast-food options to keep up with the desires of their travellers.
Sydney Airport now hosts a branch of popular Spanish tapas chain MoVida and an outlet from Machiavelli's more casual Mach2 brand, while Brisbane Airport's Brisbane River Grill focuses on bringing locally sourced products to its diners.
Overseas, offerings include the Petrossian Caviar & Champagne Bar at Los Angeles International Airport and celebrity chef Heston Blumenthal's The Perfectionists's Cafe at London Heathrow.
Dining's a defining experience
"The whole perception of your airport can be defined by the quality of the food and beverage experience at the terminal," Gold Coast Airport general manager commercial and terminals Marion Charlton said at the Australian Airports Association annual conference in Hobart last week.
Paul O'Brien, the managing director of Red Rock Leisure, which operates bars and cafes at Melbourne Airport and Perth Airport, said airports had to cater now for a maturing and broadening range of passenger tastes.
"At airports, there are a percentage of people who are foodies, but also a lot of mums and dads in the suburbs happy to grab something cheap," he said.
Andre Slootweg, the general manager of SSP Australia Catering, said his experience with chef Jared Ingersoll's Danks Street Depot, which once had an outlet at Sydney Airport, had shown partnerships with celebrity chefs could cause difficulties at airports.
"Food costs were going through the roof," he said, referring to the exacting requirements of the chef to keep it on brand. "That shop didn't make any money [for a long time]. But we turned it around. We made it a success from the airport's point of view."
Transient customers
However, Mr Slootweg said one difficulty in placing such brands at airports was that the facility was transient in nature and many of the visitors were international or from other states and might not recognise a local brand.
"Not everyone will know or care who you are," he said of celebrity chefs. "They might just be looking for a coffee and a sandwich."
Adam Summerville, the managing director of Emirates Leisure Retail Australia, said his company was experimenting with known brands by launching a pop-up Bacardi Mojito Bar at Sydney Airport. "It brings some summertime fun to the airport," he said. "It is going well. It is being well received."
John Chapman, chief executive of Airport Retail Enterprises, which offers brands like Hungry Jacks and Toby's Estate coffee in east coast airports, said his outlets were trying to cater for a variety of needs. He said a stand might sell a regular ham and cheese croissant and a more expensive one with a more gourmet ham and gruyere cheese.
"If someone is prepared to pay a few extra dollars for that, that makes good commercial sense," he said. "You have got a complete mix of people coming through the airport – the business traveller, the people who might need to fly home for family reasons, the people going on holiday. It is about adding value for the customer and trying to find the product they want."
The reporter travelled to Hobart as a guest of the Australian Airports Association.
Source: The Sydney Morning Herald, Jamie Freed, 19th October 2015
Originally published as: From Hungry Jacks to MoVida, airport food is evolving
