How does the food get on the plane and who prepares the fruity Birchermüesli, the fine spaetzli with mushroom cream sauce and the many other dishes with which our cabin crew spoils our guests during the flight? A look behind the scenes of the Swiss caterer at Zurich Airport provides impressive insights and answers to this question. From planning to preparation to delivery, Gate Gourmet's employees excel in precision and care. The company even has access to the SWISS booking system to plan meals as precisely as possible and avoid food waste.

SWISS recipes created with guest chefs

After a brief introduction and donning protective clothing to meet the high hygiene standards, the tour begins with a visit to the test kitchen. Here, the trained Gate Gourmet chefs perfect their dishes, develop recipes and test new menus for taste, appearance and quantity. At SWISS, guest chefs also regularly play an important role and accompany the Gate Gourmet chefs in the development of the menus.

For example, the vegetarian menus on SWISS long-haul flights are sample cooked and tested every six months by the chefs of the Swiss restaurant Hiltl. Every three months a star chef from a Swiss canton comes to the test kitchen to test and further develop recipes for SWISS Premium Economy, Business and First Class as part of the popular SWISS Taste of Switzerland. The Sprüngli chefs create recipes for SWISS Saveurs, ranging from sandwiches to Poke Bowls.

The guest chefs are always accompanied by the Gate Gourmet chefs, because the recipes must meet the standards of inflight catering and be varied. For example, the dishes must not be more than 4 cm high so that they fit into the trolleys. And the taste sensation is also different in the air than on the ground. That is also the reason why many people order tomato juice on the plane.

In the production department, each gram counts

The next stop on the tour is the production kitchen, which is divided into a hot and a cold kitchen. In the central recipe and portioning unit, the Gate Gourmet employees first prepare the ingredients. Then the cook receives the precisely weighed ingredients to ensure that the meals are prepared accurately and evenly. Each meal is then carefully packaged and dated to guarantee freshness. From the preparation to the serving of the meals on board, the 24-hour rule applies.

The journey continues to the pastry shop, where fine sponge cakes, creams and fruit slices are made. The freshly prepared meals and desserts are then packed and loaded into the trolleys for transport to the aircraft.

Textiles such as blankets and pillowcases are also prepared for the flight. These are washed by an external company after each flight and prepared for reuse by Gate Gourmet.

 

The trolleys that were on the plane are first taken to recycling, our next stop on the tour. Here, the packaging materials are separated according to type and plastic bottles and cups as well as aluminium cans, among other things, are recycled. Afterwards, the used dishes are systematically washed in an impressively large scullery and transported back to the production kitchen. There, the cutlery is sorted and loaded into the correct containers by around 80 employees of a work integration project from Bülach.

 

Loaded with fresh food, the trolleys go onto the plane

At the end of the tour, we go to the loading ramp. From here, the transport of all goods to the plane is coordinated and prepared. Once all the trolleys are ready and filled with drinks, food and other items such as toys for the children, they are taken to the ramp where they are loaded onto the trucks and then onto the plane about two hours before departure. The loading is done under strict security measures and in close cooperation with the airlines and the airport operators. The trolleys are pushed into the aircraft on special lifting platforms.

All precautions are taken to ensure that the food reaches the aircraft unharmed and is soon ready to be served to our guests.