Winners of this year’s selection of Mercury Awards pose for pictures February 17 in Nice, France
Airlines, caterers, suppliers
take home Mercury mementos
In an presentation hosted by International Travel Catering Association (ITCA) board member Kevin Cox the afternoon of February 17, two airlines, two caterers and two suppliers were recognized 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. Additional details and instructions for entering next year’s Mercury Awards can be found at the ITCA website, www.itcanet.com. ITCA notes that this year no winner was picked in the Inspirations category this year.
Category
Onboard Service
Food and Beverage
Light Equipment
Heavy Equipment
Skills Development
Systems and Processes
Sustainability Award
Winner
Asiana Airlines
Emirates Flight Catering
W.K. Thomas
Sri Lankan Catering
DHL
Air Canada
Sri Lankan Catering
Entry
Premium service for children through
designated cabin attendants who supply
entertainment, baked products and toys
Healthy Meal offerings with low- and no-
fat products, some cooked in special oils
with natural ingredients
Snackstick chopstick replacements
designed for ease of use and space
and weight savings
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
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
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.”
See: Heavy Equipment
ITCA News Bytes Nestle Professional launched six new hot snacks and six new flavours of ambient croissants at ITCA Nice. Visitors to the company’s large central stand could sip coffee and, if they were lucky, taste the new calzones, pizzas and other recent additions as they came hot out of the oven.
Erik’s Sauces made its ITCA debut at the bustling three-day show in Nice. Launched only in 2008, the company has already risen through the ranks to claim the number two spot for fresh, cold sauces in its native Sweden. Two airlines are currently testing some of the company’s nine sauces and five dressings. Aeromar will introduce the products to its passengers on May 1 and several Scandinavian cruise and ferry lines already offer selections onboard.
Purbeck Ice Cream shared a stand this year with U.K.-based Monty’s Bakehouse. Visitors to the new and improved stand were offered generous servings of warm baked-in-box snacks and cool bowls of new and unique ice cream flavors like Beetroot and Horseradish, Cardamom and Tiramisu. Though already quite well known in the U.K., Purbeck hopes for deeper penetration into the European cruise and airline markets in 2011.
Bamboo towels and linens and other eco-friendly solutions were a big focus at this year’s ITCA event for Mills Textiles. The company told PAX International that not only is bamboo an excellent alternative to cotton, which can fluctuate wildly in price, but that it’s already seen a lot of interest from airlines and cruise lines alike.
Industry veteran Margie Mans, formerly of Marfo Martinair, has struck out independently, using her many years of experience and good industry connections to form Red Dot Trading. The new company will serve the industry as a consultancy specializing in sourcing, logistics, concept and menu development and hygiene for catering facilities.
“We established it (the business) in November of last year 2010 and we just set up our website at reddottradingbv.com and we’re getting our name out there, letting everyone know we’re here,” Mans told PAX International. She hopes to expand to eventually take her company global and is open to working in airline, cruise, and rail catering.
A visit to the busy Watermark Products booth at ITCA revealed that the design firm and manufacturer of airline service items has recently won a new contract to supply Air New Zealand with a rotable meal service items for passengers in premium economy class on flights to Los Angeles and London, for now. In addition to this, Watermark also shared that it comfort class amenities launched on Jetstar Airways in January and that it has also won awards for innovative business and first class amenity kits.
Famed Belgian biscuit, wafer and waffle maker Jules Destrooper came to ITCA Nice with a new look for its 125th birthday. The new premium packaging is designed to emphasize quality and tradition. It features a special seal which shows that the company is an official supplier to the Royal Court of Belgium as well as a historic photograph taken of workers preparing and transporting the treats carefully by hand, something that the company still tries, as much as possible, to do. Also in celebration of the 125 year milestone, Jules Destrooper launched a new website on Feb 1.
Eight year-old company Identity Games exhibited its range of customizable activities for traveling kids at this year’s ITCA show. The company showed its technological prowess with entertaining iPad activities, yet still managed to emphasize the importance of learning by ensuring that all of its fun distractions share a lesson or two while engaging young minds. Each game encourages children to read and comprehend, learn cool facts or complete puzzles.
ITW Envopak displayed a number of developments in safety and security. The U.K. company’s new sealed trays have recently replaced traditional trays for inflight duty free sale items and constantly evolving security seals prevent theft or loss.
Products by Produit Sanitaires Aeronefs are currently being introduced to Air Canada, West Jet and Air Transat, but the French-Canadian hygiene solutions provider is ready to do more business. At ITCA Nice, the company proudly showed a vast range of sanitary wipes for use on tray tables and other surfaces, which are safe on hands.
Hacor Caterer revealed to PAX International that it will begin catering the four weekly Turkish Airlines flights departing LAX for Istanbul on March 3. The contract is for all classes. The menu will feature a Turkish and halal selection and will rotate each month. With a facility close to Los Angeles’ busy hub and 25 catering trucks, it is no surprise that Hacor already caters flights out of LAX for other major airlines including Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Emirates and many more.
At their booth in Nice, Solia showcased their new range of biodegradable food trays made from sugar cane. The trays are heat resistant up to 220 degrees and are an excellent alternative for airlines that want to reduce carbon emission as well as show passengers that they are conscious of environmental impacts
