GIC celebrates silver service milestone
GIC International Catering, a family-run business, continues today to choreograph the complex dance of providing inflight meals from the company’s headquarters at Kelsterbach
It may be hard to believe, but we are a quarter of the way through the 21st century. Twenty-five years ago, life was a little bit different. Coldplay had just burst onto the scene, the world's first camera phone was introduced, cinema tickets cost under £4 (US$6) and aviation was enjoying a near continuous increase in the number of passengers flying.
It also marked the foundation of GIC International Catering, a family-run business, which continues today to choreograph the complex dance of providing inflight meals, satisfying the different needs and demands of its airline customers and their passengers, from the company’s headquarters at Kelsterbach, directly adjacent to Frankfurt International Airport.
In numerology, 25 is a symbol of harmony and balance, and this was very much in evidence as GIC celebrated its silver anniversary at the FRALounge, with its exclusive views of the runway, in the company of partners, clients, and friends from business, media (including PAX International), and politicians.
The event was also a time to remember the late Talet Yildirim, affectionately known as "Mr. T," a founder of GIC. His presence was felt throughout the evening, with guests treated to his favourite caviar canape, as part of a carefully and thoughtfully curated menu that paid tribute to both GIC’s founders and airline customers.
Göksel Yildirim, Managing Director, GIC
In a welcome speech, Mr T.’s son and GIC Managing Director, Göksel Yildirim, emphasized that the success of the company was due to the people in the room. “This achievement is your achievement. This achievement is something we just can't reach together without discipline and consistency. That is what GIC is.”
It is an ethos which has seen the company recently obtain ISO 9001:2015 certification – a standard for creating, implementing, and maintaining a Quality Management System.
Yildirim added that the founders of the company had taught the importance of treating work as a self-portrait and the significance of adopting the right mentality, without which he said, “we will never be successful.”
But successful they have been. From their first airline customer, Malaysia Airlines, GIC now caters to many of the leading airlines at Frankfurt International Airport, including its largest customer, Air Dolomiti and recent recruit, Air China, for the Frankfurt-Chengdu route.
Taking time away from the celebrations, Yildirim tells PAX International that the company is always at hand to respond to any airline query. “It is something which we always try to do… we really try to come back to our customers very quickly. So, whenever they have something, we fix these things immediately.”
For Yildirim, the discipline and attention to detail are not just framed around the delivery of the food onboard; it begins with the purchase of the ingredients themselves. He explains that to overcome food fraud and introduce high levels of transparency and accountability, the company has a team of four quality managers, who work with suppliers to ensure they always have the best and right equipment and the highest quality products to serve its customers.
Reflecting on the legacy of his father, Yildirim highlights the importance of transferring knowledge and experience to the next generation, continuing the tradition of having the right mentality to get things done. This includes taking inspiration from leaders he respects as well, from both within and outside of aviation.
But what of his own legacy? What does the next 25 years look like for GIC?
Yildirim reveals that the company will introduce strict financial and environmental controls, with a proposal to build a new sustainably operated facility, which will improve its recycling activities and be powered by its own site's renewable energy. The site could also have robots and implement AI–GIC recently announced a partnership with Countifi, a provider of AI-powered inventory management solutions to offer its airline customers detailed, data-driven insights into what’s really being consumed onboard. There are also plans to expand internationally, with a unit in Beijing to support the marketing efforts for the German market, as well as further airline contracts.
As Dutch motivational speaker Alexander Den Heijer has said, when a flower does not bloom, you fix the environment in which it grows, not the flower. It is an analogy embraced by Yildirim, who says that whatever happens, any development and growth will be managed and controlled. He emphasizes the importance of collective performance and cultivating the right environment, likening it to having a flower in your home. “If the flower turns a little bit to the left and not straight, you cannot pull it immediately back. You do like a strip, or you pull it one by one, and then it will come back to that side.”
With the help of its employees and under the guidance of a second-generation Yildirim, GIC looks set to continue to bloom and grow for another 25 years at least.
See more photos from the event below:
