How Singapore Airlines Makes 50,000 In-Flight Meals A Day | Big Business | Insider Business

Summary

The Singapore Airlines catering facility, in partnership with SATS, produces up to 7,000 omelets and 168,000 lobster tails monthly for nearly 20 million passengers annually. Antony, in charge of the operation, manages a $500 million food budget. The process involves meticulous preparation, cooking meals 24-36 hours in advance, and assembling them into foil containers. The facility also addresses in-flight taste alterations by adjusting recipes and using ingredients like turmeric and ginger. Meals are assembled and transported to flights within a 72-hour window to ensure freshness and safety.

Takeaways

• 🍳 Singapore Airlines' economy class omelets are cooked on a rotating table, with 6,000 to 7,000 produced daily.
• 👨‍🍳 Antony oversees the entire catering operation with a budget of $500 million a year, producing 168,000 lobster tails monthly and over 1 million pounds of rice annually.
• 🍱 Chefs prepare main dishes for nearly 20 million passengers annually at the SATS catering facility, operating 24/7.
• ✈️ Different menus are developed for 77 departure cities, with options tailored to the departure location and cabin class.
• 🥗 In-flight food taste can be affected by altitude, pressure, dryness, and engine noise, making flavors less intense.
• 🍝 Meals are partially cooked (30-60%) to prevent overcooking in the air, with flight attendants finishing the cooking.
• 🍲 Food safety and quality are ensured through strict procedures, including air showers for chefs and blast chillers to halt cooking.
• 🧑‍🍳 SATS employs over 1,000 chefs who handle up to 1,000 menus daily, using a restaurant-style station system for meal preparation.
• 🛒 Meals are assembled quickly, with tracking labels for traceability, and delivered to flights within 72 hours to meet food safety standards.
• 🍷 New aircraft designs with improved pressurization and humidity levels enhance the dining experience, reducing the need for added salt.

Q & A

How many omelets does Singapore Airlines produce daily for their economy class?

Singapore Airlines produces a minimum of 6,000 to 7,000 omelets per day for their economy class passengers.

What is the annual passenger count that the catering facility caters to?

The catering facility prepares main dishes for nearly 20 million passengers a year.

What is Antony's role in the catering operation?

Antony is in charge of the entire catering operation and has a food shopping budget of $500 million a year.

How often does Singapore Airlines develop new menus?

Singapore Airlines works with SATS to develop hundreds of new menus every year.

What is the time frame for creating a single dish on the menu?

Creating a single dish can take nine to 12 months.

How many different departure cities does the airline run menus from?

The airline runs menus from 77 different departure cities.

What is the process for the chefs to start cooking meals before a scheduled flight?

Chefs usually start cooking meals 24 to 36 hours before a scheduled flight.

Why do chefs not fully cook the meat in the premium kitchen?

Chefs cook the meat to about 30% to 40% to avoid it being overcooked by the time it is served on the plane, relying on flight attendants to finish cooking it in the air.

What is the purpose of the blast chiller in the food preparation process?

The blast chiller stops the cooking process in its tracks to ensure food safety and maintain the quality of the dishes.

How does the pressurization in older planes affect the taste of food?

In older planes, cabin pressurization to about 8,000 feet can make taste buds about 30% less sensitive to sweet and salty foods due to the pressure, dryness, and engine sound.

What is the maximum time frame within which all the food processing must be completed?

All the food processing, from cooking to assembly and in-flight consumption, must be completed within 72 hours to meet food safety requirements.

Outlines

00:00

🍳 High-Volume Airline Catering Operations

The first paragraph introduces the massive scale of Singapore Airlines' catering operation, which produces thousands of omelets daily using a rotating cooking table. Antony, in charge of the operation, has a yearly food budget of $500 million and is responsible for preparing meals for nearly 20 million passengers annually. The challenges include maintaining flavor under altered in-flight conditions, which have been addressed over decades by aircraft manufacturers and airlines. The catering facility, run by SATS, develops hundreds of new menus yearly, with each dish taking up to a year to perfect. The process involves cooking meals in large batches for different classes, with premium options for first-class passengers and simpler choices for economy due to batch-cooking requirements. The chefs' tasks include not only cooking but also ensuring food safety and quality, with tracking labels for each tray to monitor potential issues.

05:01

🛫 In-Flight Food Preparation and Assembly

The second paragraph delves into the specifics of food preparation and assembly for in-flight meals. It highlights the process of cooking omelets on a rotating table and the assembly of meals in a dedicated room. The assembly line includes packing food into foil containers, with strict time limits to ensure freshness and adherence to food safety standards. Antony provides photos to maintain consistency in meal presentation, both for the chefs and flight attendants. The challenges of food tasting different at high altitudes are discussed, including reduced sensitivity to sweet and salty flavors due to cabin pressure and dryness. Newer aircraft models address these issues by pressurizing cabins to simulate lower altitudes and increasing humidity, which helps maintain the integrity of taste. The paragraph also touches on the use of ingredients like turmeric and ginger to enhance comfort and avoid bloating during flights. Lastly, it discusses the importance of avoiding certain cooking methods and ingredients that do not travel well, such as deep-fried foods and thin fish, to ensure a pleasant in-flight dining experience.

10:02

⏱ The Timeliness of Airline Meal Services

The final paragraph emphasizes the critical importance of timing in airline meal services. It outlines the process of assembling meal carts with the necessary tableware, glassware, and meal components, which are then transported to the aircraft shortly before departure. The entire operation must be completed within 72 hours from cooking to serving to comply with food safety regulations. Any delay beyond this window renders the meals unsuitable for service. The narrative illustrates the fast-paced nature of the process, with each team working swiftly to ensure meals are prepared, assembled, and delivered to flights on time. The paragraph concludes with the acknowledgment that the entire system is designed to avoid missing the flight, underscoring the precision and coordination required in airline catering.

Keywords

💡Omelet

An omelet is a dish made from beaten eggs cooked with a small amount of butter in a frying pan. In the context of the video, it is a staple food item produced in large quantities for Singapore Airlines' economy class, with Antony mentioning the production of 6,000 to 7,000 omelets per day, showcasing the scale of airline catering operations.

💡Catering Facility

A catering facility is a commercial kitchen where food is prepared and cooked for events or mass distribution. The video describes Singapore Airlines' catering facility as a place where main dishes are prepared for nearly 20 million passengers annually, emphasizing the high-volume nature of airline food production.

💡Food Budget

A food budget refers to the allocated financial resources for purchasing ingredients and producing meals. Antony, in charge of the catering operation, has a food shopping budget of $500 million a year, indicating the vast scale of investment required to feed millions of passengers.

💡Lobster Tails

Lobster tails are a delicacy often served in high-end dining and represent a luxury food item. The video mentions the production of 168,000 lobster tails per month, highlighting the variety and quality of food items prepared for Singapore Airlines' passengers.

💡Catering Partner

A catering partner is a company that collaborates with another to provide food services. SATS is Singapore Airlines' catering partner, and the video explains how they work together to develop new menus and produce food for a multitude of airlines, with Singapore Airlines being the largest customer.

💡Menu Development

Menu development is the process of creating and refining a list of dishes to be offered. Antony works with SATS to develop hundreds of new menus every year, which can take nine to 12 months, showing the meticulous planning and innovation involved in airline cuisine.

💡Cabin Crew

Cabin crew are the staff on a flight responsible for passenger comfort and safety. The video mentions around 6,500 to 7,000 cabin crew who are trained to plate the meals consistently, underlining the importance of presentation and service in the in-flight dining experience.

💡Pressurized Cabin

A pressurized cabin is an aircraft's interior environment that is artificially pressurized to maintain a comfortable air pressure for passengers. The video discusses how the pressurized conditions can affect taste perception, with new aircraft models pressurized to 6,000 feet to improve the dining experience.

💡Blast Chiller

A blast chiller is a piece of kitchen equipment used to rapidly cool food to a safe temperature. In the video, the blast chiller is used to stop the cooking process for dishes like pasta, ensuring food safety and quality before it is packed for flights.

💡Food Safety

Food safety refers to the handling, preparation, and storage of food to prevent foodborne illness. The video mentions that all food must be cooked, assembled, and consumed within 72 hours to comply with food safety requirements, demonstrating the strict time constraints of airline catering.

💡In-Flight Experience

The in-flight experience encompasses all aspects of a passenger's journey on an aircraft, including food service. The video discusses how chefs avoid certain cooking methods and ingredients to ensure the food remains enjoyable after reheating in the limited ovens available on board.

Highlights

Singapore Airlines' economy class omelets are cooked on a rotating table with a daily production of 6,000 to 7,000 omelets.

The catering facility produces main dishes for nearly 20 million passengers a year, operating 24/7.

Antony, in charge of the catering operation, has a food shopping budget of $500 million a year.

The kitchen produces 168,000 lobster tails monthly and over 1 million pounds of rice annually.

Flavor perception in flight can be affected by conditions inside the plane, an issue the industry has been addressing for decades.

Catering facilities face the logistical challenge of producing 50,000 meals daily under time constraints.

Singapore Airlines' catering is managed by SATS, which also serves 45 other carriers but considers SIA its biggest customer.

SATS and Antony develop hundreds of new menus yearly, with each dish taking 9 to 12 months to create.

Singapore Airlines offers menus from 77 different departure cities, tailoring food options based on the departure location.

In-flight meals are designed to include a protein, vegetable, starch, and sauce to ensure balanced nutrition.

Chefs suit up with thorough handwashing and air showers to maintain hygiene and prevent contamination.

Meals are cooked 24 to 36 hours before the flight in various sections such as salad, dessert, and hot kitchen.

Premium kitchen operations include grilling meat like filet mignon, cooked to 30-40% to prevent overcooking during the flight.

Food safety is ensured through tracking labels on each tray, allowing traceability in case of foodborne illnesses.

The cooking process is halted using a blast chiller to maintain food quality before final assembly.

Economy meals are assembled in a process similar to a supermarket pick-and-mix system for efficiency.

Desserts like floating islands are prepared in a separate room, showcasing the airline's commitment to variety.

Food tastes can differ in-flight due to cabin pressure and humidity, impacting how dishes are seasoned and prepared.

Newer aircraft models like the A350 and 787 improve cabin conditions, making it easier for passengers to taste food as intended.

Antony uses a simulated pressurized cabin to test how food will taste at high altitudes, adjusting recipes accordingly.

Reheating food on board is a challenge, leading chefs to avoid deep-fried dishes and choose thicker fish for better in-flight experience.

Food assembly includes a detailed process of placing tableware, cutlery, and food onto carts for efficient in-flight service.

All food must be cooked, assembled, and consumed within 72 hours to meet food safety requirements, emphasizing the need for speed.

Transcripts

Narrator: Every omelet served on board

Singapore Airlines' economy class is cooked

on this rotating table.

Antony: We're producing here 6,000,

7,000 omelets per day minimum.

Narrator: In catering facilities like this one,

chefs prepare all the main dishes

for nearly 20 million passengers a year.

24-7, 365 days a year.

It's nonstop all the time.

Narrator: That's Antony.

He's in charge of the entire catering operation,

and his food shopping budget is $500 million a year.

Antony: So it's quite substantial amount of product.

Narrator: His kitchen cranks out 168,000

lobster tails every month

and over 1 million pounds of rice a year.

But even the most expensive meals

don't always taste the same in the sky.

Historically, flavors could change depending

on the conditions inside a plane,

a phenomenon aircraft manufacturers

and airlines have spent decades trying to fix.

Antony: Just do one last taste.

Narrator: So catering facilities like this one

are left with a logistical nightmare:

how to make 50,000 yummy meals a day

in a massive time crunch.

With literally clockwork.

Narrator: Because just like us,

these meals can't miss their flight.

Antony: The plane is ready, you need to be ready.

Narrator: So how does Singapore Airlines

serve up so much food in time for takeoff?

This is Singapore Airlines' biggest catering facility,

located within Changi Airport.

It's run by the airlines catering partner, SATS.

And while SATS does make food for 45 other carriers,

Singapore Airlines is by far its biggest customer.

SIA, to be frank, is a very demanding customer.

Narrator: Antony works with SATS to develop hundreds

of new menus every year.

And creating one dish can take nine to 12 months.

Antony: There's different menus flying in different directions.

And different cuisine types: Japanese, Chinese,

Singaporean, and obviously Western meals.

Narrator: The airline runs menus

from 77 different departure cities.

So if you're leaving Singapore,

you'll be offered chicken and rice or a hawker soup.

If you're leaving New York City,

you'll get a smoked trout salad.

And of course, the food changes based

on where you're sitting on the plane.

In first-class suites, passengers have the most options,

from caviar and lobster thermidor to beef tenderloin.

In economy, flyers have just a couple choices,

like the spicy fish with blue rice,

because the airline cooks it in bigger batches.

No matter the cabin, chefs try

to include a protein, vegetable, starch,

and a sauce in each dish.

Before anyone can get to cooking, they need to suit up.

They wash their hands thoroughly

and step into this air shower ...

Antony: To remove hair, dust,

and anything which may provide

opportunity inside the facility for contamination.

Narrator: SATS has a team of over 1,000 chefs.

And they handle a lot of food.

Go: Easily, one day, we can have about 800 to 1,000 menus running.

Narrator: They usually start cooking meals 24 to 36 hours

before a scheduled flight,

and it's all broken down into stations.

Antony: It's like a restaurant.

You have a salad section, you have a dessert section,

you have a hot kitchen.

This is just on a much larger scale.

Narrator: In the premium kitchen, they're grilling meat,

like this filet mignon for the first and business class.

Antony: Essentially what we're doing is we are cooking

the meal about 30%, 40%.

Narrator: If they cook the meat all the way through now,

it would be really overcooked

by the time it got onto the plane.

So chefs depend on flight attendants,

who finish cooking it in the air.

Antony: They just apply residual heat of about 150 to 160 degrees

in our aircraft ovens.

Narrator: Over in the hot kitchen, cooks handle, well,

all the hot food for first, economy, and business class.

Antony: Vegetables, pasta noodles, rice noodles,

hot meals, soups, and sauces.

Narrator: This is some heavy-duty batch cooking.

Chefs boil noodles in giant vats.

Tomato sauce gets its own tank

and is dumped into the cooling trays from the bottom.

And as with the meat,

chefs aren't cooking everything all the way.

Antony: So a lot of these are

what we call 50%, 60% finished.

Narrator: Even vegetables.

Antony: It's a little bit like a pasta.

We want it to be al dente.

So you can see there,

it has a little bit of firmness, a little bit of bite.

So if we crack, if we break that, we still get some snap.

So as it cools, the meals will continue,

or the food will continue to cook until it reaches

the core temperature that we need to achieve

for food safety.

Narrator: Every tray along the way gets a tracking label.

That way, if there's any issue

with food sickness on a flight,

the airline can trace it back to the exact batch.

Antony: We also want to maintain the integrity

and the color of the leaf green.

So we cook it in the hottest possible water, 100 degrees.

We cook it for the shortest amount of time as possible.

Narrator: Once the food comes off the heat,

it immediately heads down this conveyor belt

to the blast chiller.

That stops the cooking process in its tracks.

Some things, though, are totally cooked through,

like these omelets on this rotating table.

The eggs come pre-cracked in a liquid mixture.

A pump squirts the perfect amount into each pan.

Chefs stationed around the table cook, flip, fold,

and stack every omelet.

Antony: We're producing here 6,000,

7,000 omelets per day minimum.

So omelets is mostly for the economy kitchen.

Narrator: Once all the elements are cooked

most of the way through, they head to this room.

Antony: So this is what we call casserole assembly

for economy meals and also business class

and some first-class meals.

Narrator: This is where they pack all the food

into the foil containers you might have seen in flight.

Antony: Normally, from the time they take the meal components

from the fridge, within 35, 45 minutes,

they have to have put the meal into the tray.

Narrator: Antony gives chefs photos

to show them how each dish is supposed to look.

Flight attendants get a similar picture

to follow for plating.

Antony: Because we have around 6,500, 7,000 cabin crew,

and there's only one of me, I can't be every day

at the training college training the cabin crew.

So we do this for consistency.

Narrator: One by one, workers pile on starches,

sauces, meats, and vegetables.

Here's that pasta we saw cooking earlier.

They each get a foil topper

and then are carted into a holding fridge.

Antony: That's where basically the packing team goes.

It's a little bit like a supermarket, where you pick and mix.

Narrator: Chefs assemble the desserts

in a different room.

Today, they're making floating islands,

a dessert with a meringue suspended creme anglaise.

All these dishes look great on the ground,

but there's one big problem:

Food can taste different in the air.

On some planes,

your taste buds are about 30% less sensitive

to sweet and salty foods.

That's because of the pressure, dryness, and engine sound.

In older 777s and A320s,

the cabin is pressurized to about 8,000 feet.

So it feels like you're eating lunch on Machu Picchu.

And humidity on board can sit as low as 12%,

less than some deserts.

When you have a dry mouth and a worsened sense of smell,

foods can be twice as bland.

So historically, that meant airlines loaded on salt

for you to even taste the food,

sometimes leaving passengers feeling bloated.

But in new planes, manufacturers are making conditions

on board easier on your body.

In the A350s, A380s,

and 787s Singapore Airlines flies,

cabins are pressurized up to 6,000 feet.

So instead of Machu Picchu,

it feels like you're eating dinner in Denver.

And because new planes are made of more carbon fiber,

it's possible to increase humidity to about 24%.

Antony: When you have more moisture in the cabin space,

your sinuses and your body is not dehydrating as quickly,

and your taste and your palate is not as influenced.

Narrator: So fliers can taste a lot more these days,

making it easier on chefs like Antony.

Antony: There's no additional salt, pepper.

No additional salt.

Narrator: Antony can use this room

to simulate a pressurized cabin

and test how food will taste in the sky.

And to address that bloating issue,

Antony uses ingredients like ...

Antony: Turmeric reduces swelling in your body,

inflammation,

so you're feeling a lot more comfortable.

Ginger is also for sleep and rest and relaxation.

Narrator: Which leaves just one more hurdle:

reheating the food.

Flight attendants only have small ovens

to work with on board.

So how do chefs make sure their food still taste good?

Well, cooking halfway and moving quickly helps,

and they avoid dishes that don't travel well.

We try not to do things that are deep-fried, for example.

Chicken wings,

it doesn't stay crispy,

and none of us really like to bite into soft french fries.

Narrator: They also stay away from thin fish,

like sea bass.

A fish which is a bit thicker -- a cod,

a salmon -- they stand up much better to,

you know, in-flight experience.

Narrator: After all the meals are assembled,

the food finally meets up with the carts you see on board.

Antony: So we have here the tray assembly area.

Narrator: Elevators bring cleaning trays, cutlery,

and dishes upstairs.

Producer: The silverware elevator?

Antony: Yeah, it's like

a deluxe ride for your cutlery.

Narrator: Chefs work on an assembly line,

picking and placing ...

Antony: All the napkins, all the porcelain,

the linen-ware, the knives, forks,

everything right through to the salt and pepper shakers

and the butter portions.

Narrator: This is a dinner service for business class.

Antony: And then they'll put the appetizer,

so the appetizer's always preset on a supper service.

They'll put a lid on it,

they'll put the dressing on the side,

and then it will get packed into the carts.

Narrator: It's the same process for economy class,

just the tableware, like the food, isn't quite as fancy.

Antony: That cart is packed with all the meals inside.

It has a label tag, it says what flight number it is,

what destination and what meal service it should be.

Narrator: This helps cabin crew know

what's inside the carts without having to open them.

Antony: If you open it up,

that document there will correspond

with what meal goes inside.

So here we have porcelain.

Here we have the glassware.

And then that will correspond then

with the meal types that come in

from the meal-packing side.

Narrator: Those carts take a ride on another elevator

and will be loaded onto flights usually

within an hour before takeoff.

Every team along the process has to move extremely fast,

because all the food has to be cooked, assembled,

and eaten in-flight within 72 hours.

So we never want to exceed 72 hours

in terms of food processing.

Narrator: If the team goes over

that time limit by just an hour,

they exceed food safety requirements

and can't serve those meals anymore.

Antony: This meal will be on a plane tonight.

Tonight, OK.

So this production probably occurred yesterday.

Narrator: It all moves so fast,

because at the end of the day,

they've got a flight to catch.

You can't miss the plane.