Do airlines serve five-star quality food? Yes, if it’s the superior meals prepared by Flying Food Group that carefully matches the food to the destination.
- By Simone Summers
One day in the early 1980s, Sue Gin was on a flight at a point when food quality seemed the last thing that was important to the airlines, as the industry was going through major upheaval due to deregulation. She was served a half-frozen sweet roll which, she tactfully explains, could have been improved. When she arrived home, Sue Gin promptly wrote the airlines’ Chairman of the Board, explained she had a bakery with fifty employees servicing universities, hospitals, and restaurants in the Chicago area, and could improve the food products the airlines was serving. The Chairman called her, said they knew they had a food quality issue, and wanted to send her a copy of the RFP that had already been issued.
The rest, as they say, is history because Sue Gin won her first $12 million contract for airline catering. The story is not important as much for the happy ending but for the way it demonstrates entrepreneurship. Sue did not sit on the sidelines and wait for opportunity to come her way. She reached out and created an opportunity for her bakery that has grown into a first class corporation with a product line that includes airline food catering, readymade meals for businesses in the retail grocery and food service industries, the branded San Parfait yogurt, and Automatic Icemakers. Company revenues exceeded $436 million last year, with the majority produced by the airline food catering business. Flying Food Group (FFG) now services over 70 airlines, primarily international carriers.
Cooked How?
The airlines food catering business grew mostly through referrals, and FFG’s reputation for high quality grew with each new customer. Sue developed the business so it was uniquely suited for a marketplace where people routinely fly around the world. She talks about the “flying experience” in which people are served food that represents where the airline is flying to or the country the airline represents. Adding complexity is that meals served to first class and business passengers, who pay higher rates, is different from the meals served in economy class.
As Sue explains, “I have many Chinese airlines. One airline company may be flying to a region where food is spicier than the food that represents Hong Kong in southern China. Though people tend to just call it ‘Chinese food’, we serve foods that taste different and are cooked differently. For example, Hong Kong dishes are usually sautéed with meat products or have a strong poaching component. Taiwanese dishes, on the other hand, have a major vegetarian component.” FFG must keep up with the changes in food trends at the same time. Right now the focus is on healthy foods that are low in fat and cholesterol and high in vegetables and protein.
To produce the millions of meals with a gourmet quality, Flying Food Group has 18 U.S. catering kitchens across the country headed by expert executive chefs. They cook American, French, Chinese, Halal, Japanese, Indian, Malaysian, Korean, Turkish, and Thai cuisines. It is not simply a matter of the French chef cooking French food or the American chef cooking American food. “We have globalization, and it tends to mix up the foods and flavors,” explains Sue. “Everybody has had the experience of some of the foods. The way we combine the foods is extraordinary and it differentiates us from our competitors.”
Truly Entrepreneurial
Sue has been entrepreneurial since she was a child, and that quality translated into a competitive differentiator for Flying Food Group. “As airline caterers, our model is truly entrepreneurial as opposed to corporate. We are much quicker to respond, offer a high level of customer care, and are more creative and aggressive when marketing.”
These are important factors in the company’s success. However, her key best practices for building a successful global business start with history lessons. It is important to understand the history of a country and the backgrounds of the people. Understanding biases and the source of their thoughts helps with understanding the intricacies of decision-making within a business. Studying the history and culture also builds respect for different cultures and the differences of others.
Asked how to build a long lasting customer experience, something Flying Food Group is so good at, Sue’s answer focuses on the customer. “It’s achieved by really caring for customers and trying to understand where they are coming from. It’s not the on hours that make the real difference. It’s the off hours, when you are thinking about the customers and interacting with other people, that leads to ideas as to better ways to help customers have a quality experience.”
The airlines industry is in a constant state of change, making Flying Food Group’s success even more remarkable. Asked if she had any advice for diverse companies, Sue’s perspective is that diverse companies already have an advantage in a changing, globalized business environment because they already have people working for them that represent the countries with the customers they are trying to attract. “Get your diverse managers to visit those countries,” she advises. “It’s great when you have an Asian customer and someone in your firm speaks the same dialect. What is learned can be used to develop tighter communication for a sales presentation.”
The success of Flying Food Group depends on the company being responsive to customers. Currently, the airlines are looking for the higher paying premium and business class customers. One of the strategies to attract them is upgrading the meals and distinguishing their airlines by the type of meal service provided. FFG’s customers want authentic food with good taste, meaning the chefs and production staff will study the history and style of food desired. “If it’s Kosher, you have to understand what makes it Kosher,” explains Sue.
Most people would be surprised to know the research that goes into Flying Food Group’s meal planning and the level of customization offered. Sue Gin believes in the power of diversity – diverse airlines, diverse locations, diverse workforce, and diverse products. Staying attuned to customer needs is not always easy as the industry continues to change, but for Sue Gin and Flying Food Group, it is an essential core value.