Paula Kraft, founder and President of Atlanta, GA-based Tastefully Yours Catering.
It takes teamwork to build a great catering experience

How often have you opened up a catering request and find it different from what you expected? In other words the catering didn’t meet your expectations, and you immediately want to assign blame. It might well be your catering source’s fault for not following your directions - but could it be yours or even the handler/FBO's?

I see a lot of new faces in the industry as the old guard begins to retire, and with the new faces comes a time for education and training. We are all part of a team . . . a big team, with lots of moving parts. It takes the work of many to successfully organize, plan, order, prepare, package, deliver, receive and serve even the simplest of catering requests. Let me explain using an extremely simple request; a box meal. That seems really

basic, easy, how could anyone screw that up, you're wondering. Oh, believe me, when I look into my crystal ball I have so many options, so many choices, and if I don’t see the details then I get to choose what to send! That's right . . . if you don’t tell me what you want, then I get to choose. Scary isn’t it? Let me explain how this team needs to work together to make every catering order successful.

I have taught numerous classes over the years on how to order catering and you'd think the class could be done in a few minutes, right? Not a chance! At first, I couldn’t understand why we - the catering sources - were always the one link in the chain that was blamed for any errors. Does the PIC forget to check the details, does the line technician fueling the aircraft forget the details, does the CSR forget where they left your aircraft? Not a chance! Somewhere, someone in one part of the long chain of communication may be forgetting to ask for the details when catering orders are placed. Remember the old fashion telephone chain game where someone starts a rumor at one end of a long line of players and it is repeated and repeated, and by the time the last player repeats what they were told, it doesn’t come close to the rumor that was started. Things were forgotten, omitted, assumed, added, and changed along the way - details. This, I believe is the largest reason for mistakes in that simple box meal order and resulting production.

Today technology has entered the catering industry in a big way. It is simpler to place a catering order; you can simply tick the boxes, make a note here and there. Are you still omitting details or specifics? As fantastic as these new tools are, you - the person entering the details - must enter all the details each and every time or double check that the details are saved and auto populate the given fields. Many require you to have more information than you may know at the time you're placing the order and thus you begin to assume. Don’t know about allergies? (so you tick the no allergy box); Don’t have a bread preference for the sandwich? (you choose); Don’t know the way the client wants that box meal packaged? (you omit it). Great tools - and I am all for them - but I want to alert you to things that should be with every order so that it comes exactly as you choose, and not as I have chosen for you.

About 20 years ago, I was teaching a class about ordering to several groups which included schedulers, CSRs, handlers, pilots, flight attendants, cabin servers, owners, flight technicians. I needed a way to show how important all the little details were in placing an order . . . telling me how you envisioned your food looking and tasting upon arrival to the plane. If you didn’t share this with me, then I needed to jump inside your head and find out what you were envisioning. My ordering training program was entitled “A lemon is not always a lemon”. I detailed the importance of all that I will share here today, and concluded by asking if they ordered a lemon, what do they think it should come to them delivered like? Whole, sliced, wedged, seeded, zested, peeled, curls, peels twirled into a rose, halved, quartered, ice tea cuts, cocktail cuts for a bar set-up, wagon wheels, muslin wrapped, half wagon wheels, twists, and baskets - yes back then we sent lemons carved like animals and in baskets filled with parsley to garnish a plate - and this list went on. What I do know is that if you do not tell me what you want, and give me all the details, I will choose the whole lemon (and what if you have no knife, no time to prepare it?

A box meal can hold anything that you can put on a plate. It can hold items which need reheating, cold items, salads, fruits, sauces, dips, spreads. It can hold desserts from a cookie, brownie to pastries, cake and pies.

I must digress a bit; From experience I will say a slice of pie looks like something regurgitated when scooped into a cubby or on a small plate, especially when overwrapped in cellophane. Here is something to consider about details: We all think of a nice slice of pie, correct? Why not ask the catering source about how they send pie and their presentation ideas so the food looks appealing when delivered. Think about the transportation side for a minute. Your catering is picked up carried, loaded in and out of a van, often stacked, most generally not held level, slipping and sliding from side to side. What are the possible results of that movement, possible lack of refrigeration for your food? I know each of you has received catering that was as flat as a pancake, tipped over, all out of shape, dripping juices . . . am I right? How can the catering source present the food so it looks appetizing. As far as pie, make a mini hand held pie, baking the pie into a small ramekin , increase the thickener to hold the filling together better so it can be cut and withstand hotter days, or even make an acetate collar to hold the ingredients in shape. Think outside the box, think about the details!

Sounds simple, but what is the first impression of a messed up regurgitated slice of pie, a sloppy salad, or other ingredients sliding all over the box? For me, I look at it and decide it is too messy to eat, I pass on it and then complain. The food can be photo-worthy in the kitchen when packed but sloppy on arrival. The entire meal turns into one big complaint even though just one component was visually unappealing.

Back to the box meal. How about the packaging of the meal? What are you envisioning?

Did you envision a hinged lid, clamshell type of box, rectangle, round, a plastic box with a lid which tears off, a two piece box, a Styrofoam hinged lid box, a box with compartments, a box with three, four or five compartments. Is the box you envision a wooden box, a paper box, or is your box meal served on a bamboo tray, a plastic tray, or a tapioca starch tray that is biodegradable compostable with a snap on lid? Image your boxed meal. What do you envision?

And my next question would be about food safety. Why is this a key question for a simple box meal?

My thought would be to think how long this meal was going to wait to be consumed? Was it for the first leg, or is it being front loaded? Where were you going to store it once received on the aircraft? Do you really have enough space in the gasper drawer or are you lucky enough to have a refrigerator that will accommodate all your chilled catering requirements? Will the packaging fit? Will it even fit in an insulated bag? How many bags, how much space are they going to take?

In the search for details, ask the catering source how it will be delivered. You can request the catering source to send Ice gels with the food, packed in a soft sided cooler bag to squeeze into your space. Are you planning to strap a stack of boxed meals into a seatbelt to eat later, under chairs, in a closet, in the lav, or cargo area? Will the containers withstand the holding and space ? This too needs to be considered for successful safe catering. What if the box delivered is too big to fit into your gasper drawer. Do you happen to have the dimensions of your storage spaces in your cell to let the catering source know what the space constraints are?

The packaging can be changed to fit your spaces!

Working as a team, we can make things fit and remain safe. If the meal is for a crew member are they going to have to eat the meal balanced on their lap in the cockpit with the glare shield to contend with, forget the hinged box lid then. Is the packaging going to protect the aircraft interior from leakage of juicy items? Did you forgot to request a juice liner be placed under to absorb liquids and protect the aircraft from damage? It is all in the details.

Seems endless, doesn’t it? And we have only touched the surface. Does your app let you know what the portion size is? If you requested a seafood box meal off the menu, what comes in that meal? Do you know the details? Is it hot, cold? Do you get to customize the box to your passenger’s likes and dislikes? For example, the box comes with a beautiful seafood salad presented on a baby lettuce base so it doesn’t slide here and there in the box or does your catering source create a spectacular plate of freshly made succulent fish and shellfish as Air Gourmet does from Los Angeles and Las Vegas? Your catering order is planned and designed for the aircraft, with all the questions thought through for you - including all necessary sauces presented in a box or on a plate; even including the shape and size of the plate to fit your gasper drawers. Their signature plate is fruit and seafood, but they can easily adjust based on your needs and wants. Want the muslin wrapped lemon, closed tea sandwiches and a garden salad box? By asking the details of what your catering source can do and will do for you, your possibilities are endless.

There are no standards for what comes in a box meal, it is up to the individual catering source. Unless you provide the details, I get to choose for you.

Now here is what I believe the secret is to successful catering order is. Get to know your catering source- don’t be a tail number on an order sent via an app or answering service. Follow up to go over the details after you sent your email or filled in the app, work as a well-oiled machine - a team. As your catering source, my primary goal is to make you, the flight crew, the scheduler, the pilot, the CSR look great. To look as if you whipped up that catering request like the well trained aviation professional you are. Your catering source is there to be part of the team, to make YOU look good in the air.

So, you say you want a lemon . . . ?

About Paula Kraft . . . Paula Kraft is the founding partner of the DaVinci Inflight Training Institute located in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and the founder/president of Tastefully Yours Catering, an aviation specific caterer, located in Atlanta, Georgia for over 35 years. Paula is active with many aviation and catering-related groups including the International Caterers Association, the International Inflight Food Service Association and is a board member of Women in Corporate Aviation. She is the past chair of the NBAA Flight Attendant Committee Caterer’s Working Group for 15 years perfecting unique catering training sessions for NBAA conferences and events. Currently, she serves on the NBAA Flight Attendant Advisory Committee and is a member of the Training and Safety Subcommittee. Paula was a founding member of the Steering committee for the creation of a European Flight Attendant Committee and conference and serves as a subject matter expert to the board of International Standard for Business Aircraft Handlers (IS-BAH). After founding Tastefully Yours Catering, she has been offering culinary and food safety related training to the general aviation community. With a strong dedication to improving catering safety, risk mitigation and safe food handling, she developed and introduced the concept of “catering safety management systems”. As a certified food safety instructor, Paula offers catering SMS and culinary classes for all aviation professionals. Paula’s first-hand experience, business acumen, research, and relationships make her an industry expert - one which allows her to share information that will help raise the professional training level for flight attendants today that will reduce the risk of food-related concerns tomorrow. From Paula . . . I have coordinated training programs and clinics for NBAA and EBAA conference attendees for over 10 years, created mentoring programs for caterers and flight attendants to broaden their aviation culinary skills, and to assist them in adapting to the unique challenges and constraints found in catering for general aviation. I recognize the need for training and have worked closely with flight departments, flight crews, schedulers and customer service reps at the FBOs to ensure that catering specific training provides information and skills necessary to reduce risk while assisting them in their job duties that include safe food handling, catering security, accurate transmission of food orders, and safe food production, packaging and delivery. I fell into aviation catering quite by accident. I was the in-house caterer and bakery supplier for Macy’s department stores in Atlanta when catering was ordered for a Macy’s customer which was soon to change my life. After the client enjoyed the catering provided, I was summoned to the client’s corporate office to provide several of the items delivered through Macy’s to the executive dining room. Within a week, I was providing food for the flight department and my first order was for the President of a foreign country (as I was too be told soon after). So, here I am, some 35 years later, still loving every minute of every day in aviation catering. Got a question? Paula welcomes your comments, questions or feedback email: paula.kraft@blueskynews.aero

BlueSky Business Aviation News | 15th February 2018 | Issue #451