Local Food Trends Go Global With Airlines
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APEX Insight: The desire to appeal to local tastes around the world can sometimes result in sky-high culinary mash-ups.
When American Airlines introduced its international route from Los Angeles to Auckland, it proudly crowed about serving items local to New Zealand, such as grass-fed, grain-finished Wakanui beef, as well as ice cream and cheese from Kiwi dairy specialist Kapiti. It’s all part of a plan to unite local and global in order to create a destination-specific experience for international passengers. According to the airline, “Every premium international route is researched to bring cultural tastes of the region to our customers and locally sourced produce from the US origin.” This hyper-local-global ethos is taking hold on carriers all over the world.
Some airlines have been stretching their local roots even further, but sometimes the efforts get lost in translation.
There may be no better example of this internationally local spirit than on Hawaiian Airlines, where not only are the menus created by beloved Hawaiian chefs, they’re created with staple Hawaiian ingredients as well. Last December, the airline announced that Top Chef contestant Lee Anne Wong (of Oahu’s Koko Head Cafe) would be its newest featured chef, and her onboard menu would include items like guava shoyu kalbi short ribs with mashed truffle kalo (aka taro, a root vegetable), and a mahi mahi poke omelet with spicy masago aioli and hash brown potatoes. By offering the unique flavors of Hawaiian cuisine, passengers are able to truly experience their destination before they even land.
Some airlines have been stretching their local roots even further, but sometimes the efforts get lost in translation. Take Korean Air, for example, which offered poutine, the ultimate Quebecois cold-weather comfort food, on flights last winter in conjunction with the Super Bowl. Nobody will complain when a dish of fries, gravy and cheese curds shows up on their tray tables, but a Korean airline serving a French-Canadian specialty in honor of American football takes the word “globalization” to a whole new level.
As airlines strive to find the right point of intersection between local and global, one thing remains clear: Whether it’s special beef from New Zealand or guava-tinged Hawaiian short ribs, passengers will always appreciate the effort – as long as it’s delicious.
“Local Flavors” was originally published in the October/November issue of APEX Experience magazine.