Thai Airways’ catering division launches ‘off-flight’ catering brand

1 July 2010 | ‘Puff & Pie’ is a bakery chain owned by Thai Airways Catering. Until recently, the 81 outlets across Thailand primarily offered a wide range of bakery items and beverages served onboard Thai Airways (THAI) and produced by the airline’s catering facilities. THAI Catering has just announced it will expand the product range at the Puff & Pie bakery chain in an effort to generate additional revenues to its regular airline catering operation. 

Puff & Pie will offer a range of Thai and Chinese take-away meals, seven kinds of ready-made curry sauce and five styles of salad dressing, which are also used in THAI in-flight meals. The products will be sold under the airline caterer’s new ‘Eurng Luang’ brand and will initially be available at its Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Phuket Puff & Pie Bakery shops. THAI says it is aiming for the business traveler who had a good in-flight culinary experience, but has no time to prepare quality Thai food at home.

THAI in September 2009 introduced the Eurng Luang brand internally for a line of ready-made curry sauses in order to standardize the Thai curries across its network. Passengers on inbound flights had been complaining the in-flight food lacked the Thai touch because of different taste standards in catering facilities around the world that supply to THAI. No word, however, on whether the recipes will be altered for sea level, as airline food typically is strongly seasoned because taste senses are diminished in the dry air of an aircraft cabin. 

THAI’s increased focus on ‘off-flight catering’ may also be a response to reduced passenger numbers due to the recent political unrest in the country. The airline’s food production facilities at Suvarnabhumi and Don Mueang airports have been operating below capacity since the troubles began. THAI says that using the Puff & Pie bakeries as an additional distribution chain for its catering has the potential to absorb the catering plants’ full capacities. There is no plan to sell products under the Eurng Luang brand outside the Puff & Pie shops. 

JAL Sky Time and Delta Sky

THAI is not the first airline to bring the in-flight experience into the consumer’s home (a concept known as ‘Insperiences’). Japan Airlines’ signature ‘Sky Time’ citrus-flavored drink is made just for the airline and contains desalinized purified seawater, which is said to help fight stress. JAL Sky Time is also distributed via select vending machines across Japan. 

Delta Air Lines in April 2009 started selling its Sky in-flight magazine on newsstands across the U.S. Prized at USD 3.99, 15,000 copies are distributed every month to newsstands of Barnes & Noble, Borders, B. Dalton. As the Sky in-flight magazine covers lifestyle, travel and business, Delta hopes it is something people will want to access in the months they aren’t traveling. Delta also aims to increase the potential audience for its magazine in order to appeal more to advertisers.

Related articles: Thai Airways shows CO2 footprint of inflight meals on menu card

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