QF Catering sold

[codash1099]

Qantas to sell catering unit to Dnata

 

[Comoman]

No more Neil Perry?

"Qantas will work with dnata in menu design and development and will continue its premium menus for first and business class passengers that showcase Australian produce."

Qantas vows no job losses in catering sale to Emirates

 

[davidj]

No more Neil Perry?

Perhaps meals will become better?

Would be great to see business meals taste as good as economy meals going forward.

 

[Hvr]

Qantas has sold its catering arms to its global alliance partner Emirates, in a move it says will help it to focus investment in its core airline operations.

The airline said on Wednesday it would offload subsidiaries Q Catering Limited and Snap Fresh to Emirate's dnata catering, cargo and ground handling group.

.......



Under the sale, which requires Australian Competition and Consumer Commission approval, dnata will take over Q Catering's facilities in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth and will supply food and drinks on Qantas flights under a 10-year deal.

Qantas will continue to set its own menus and work with produce suppliers, the airline said.

An interesting sale and I wonder how it will affect Qantas menus and the celebrity chef's meals?

 

[juddles]

Interesting. Although the transaction may be relatively small (1200 staff? and "Qantas did not reveal the sale price but said it was not material."), this appears to support my view that the QF / EK marriage is in for the long term.

 

[Comoman]

Already being discussed

Edit - threads now merged (QF WP)

 

[grussellt]

Does that mean no more bacon on QF?

 

[QF WP]

Hmmm, might be a good time for me to organise a tour just in case...

 

[RichardMEL]

I don't see why it would change the Neil Perry thing just because QF Catering has been sold. I mean whoever owns the unit is probably irrelevant as the airline customer still specifies their requirements for food, drink etc to the supplier n matter who it is (After all, your Neil Perry cough out of LAX, LHR etc isn't coming from QF Catering nits specifically but outsourced).

Now the quote above suggests QF could remove the Perry thing, but that would be an airline decision I would think.

I mean we can hope they might change it up, but remember... usually with QF a change is probably a devaluation so the food quality could get worse (or likely.. cheaper)

Aside: Saw an interesting doco a few weeks ago about catering a SQ A380 at ZRH through Gate Gourmet or whoever the local mob was with the contract and they went through very specifically how the whole process worked from SQ menu designs in SIN through to how it's all put together for each flight.

Still not as good as a QF WP organised tour, but fascinating all the same

 

[BD1959]

They already cater for 30 airlines in Australia alone - won't Qantas just be another customer?

Regards,

BD

 

[moa999]

They'd already won much of the work that QF used to do.

I suspect it doesn't mean much changes .
Airline (plus celebrity chef) design meal and budget and standards, then negotiate with catering company.

Probably just enables dnata to consolidate facilities in some Oz ports

 

[RooFlyer]

'Celebrity chef' ????

It's just a brand name they pay for isn't it?

 

[GoldCanyon340]

In today's world when I hear 'celebrity chef' it could well be just any former reality TV star who can make beans on toast.

 

[Spongbob]

Perhaps meals will become better?

Would be great to see business meals taste as good as economy meals going forward.

Ummm, what exactly do you mean? You would rather have Y meals than J meals?

 

[Basalt]

In today's world when I hear 'celebrity chef' it could well be just any former reality TV star who can make beans on toast.

I thought the yard stick was smashed avo...

Edit: soz, somewhat o/t

 

[davidj]

Ummm, what exactly do you mean? You would rather have Y meals than J meals?

Pretty much. The food at the back is heaps better (except for presentation).

I feel like I'm declining more business food than accepting it nowadays (or just eating in the airport). Last month I toyed about asking for an econ meal.

 

[AustraliaPoochie]

Pity.
Though with AJ at the helm and him probably deeming it a non essential service, so out it goes.
Same as the staff in the lounge.
Sad to see the QF insignia go from the food delivery lorries to the QF planes.

 

[oz_mark]

They'd already won much of the work that QF used to do.

I suspect it doesn't mean much changes .
Airline (plus celebrity chef) design meal and budget and standards, then negotiate with catering company.

More like Airline determines budget. Celebrity chef designs meals to fit within budget,

 

[RooFlyer]

More like Airline determines budget. Celebrity chef designs meals to fit within budget,

Maybe they do, but personally I doubt it (and considering some of the stuff that gets served up, you'd hope not).

I wouldn't believe that [insert celebrity name here] has any input to the clothes/fashion/sports gear/perfume that they put their name to. Just take a royalty from the supplier to use the name after some due diligence by their agent. If you actually want the [said celebrity] to appear and speak the brand name, then double or treble the fee!

 

[BD1959]

Despite enjoy my dining experiences (eg actively supporting a few of our local restaurants when they do evenings well out side of the standard) I have no inclination of deliberately choosing Rockpool. The less-than-stellar offerings most of the time in QF J have certainly discouraged me.

Regards,

BD