Emirates targets customers with local cuisines

Emirates' focus on local flavour means that it has food available from every region it flies to, with authentic local cuisines giving customers a taste of the destination they are going to.

Emirates serves more than 100 million meals a year, and caters for more than 55 million dine-in guests a year travelling to and from 144 cities across six continents. With a catering investment of $1 billion per year, Emirates runs a round-the-clock kitchen with 1,200 chefs based in Dubai whipping up 12,450 recipes. The finely-tuned operation caters 590 flights a day. The airline also works closely with 25 catering partners around the world to provide the same quality of food for its Dubai-bound flights.

To keep up with regional and seasonal food trends, Emirates changes its onboard menus monthly and continually reviews its recipes. Flights to Japan for example, offer authentic Kaiseki cuisine and Bento boxes served with Japanese crockery, cutlery and tea sets to ensure an unrivalled food experience on board. The airline recently launched a new menu for its Australian routes inspired by the breadth of the country's multicultural flavours and cuisines, after a 14-month process working in consultation with local chefs. The new menu features a broad range of traditional local favourites such as minted lamb sausages.

The varied menus on each route are also reflected in the bread baskets served on board. Flavoured breads or breads produced with a sourdough base are popular on European routes while parathas, pooris, and naan bread are served on all nine Emirates routes to India. On its Middle Eastern routes, customers get to enjoy Arabic bread - Markook - a very thin unleavened bread common in the region, and Manakesh which is either topped with Zaatar or Cheese.

Coffee and tea are the two most widely consumed beverages on board. Emirates has been serving Dilmah tea across all its cabins for the last 25 years. Over 9.6 million tea bags are used each year with more than 10 tea varieties on offer, including an exclusive blend created for the airline served in First Class called the Emirates Signature Tea. Illy and Nespresso coffee can be found in premium cabins, where espressos and cappuccinos are the most popular requests.

Emirates also offers child-friendly meals for its youngest customers and dedicated menus for medical or religious meal requirements which are designed with a team of nutritionists and chefs. The airline also develops seasonal menus where possible, such as a Christmas menu in December and specially created boxes for those fasting during the holy month of Ramadan.

Source: Khaleej Times