Gold Coast Airport reveals healthier and gluten free menus for more inclusivity
Gluten-free and healthy feeds — the Gold Coast Airport is charting towards a more inclusive dining experience for its passengers, writes Amber Macpherson
Food
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You’re famished after a flight, looking to have a feed before jumping on a budget airline or simply want to toast to a long-awaited holiday, but convenience is often substituted for quality at transit centres.
Weary travellers, fear not — the Gold Coast Airport is now catering to all.
After taking on feedback from its passengers, the terminal is now offering a huge range of gluten-free options as well as healthier dishes to keep up with the demands of its customers.
“In the past, airport food wasn’t particularly healthy,” Gold Coast Airport chief operating officer Marion Charlton says.
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“We get a lot of feedback, and the word was what our customers are expecting is more choice and options in terms of dietary requirements, better quality, and more healthy options.
“They want to be able to enjoy a nice meal at the airport. Eating and drinking before going on a plane is part of the fun.”
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Leading the way towards a more inclusive menu is restaurant NRG, now offering mostly gluten-free food and keto-friendly meals.
There’s English muffins, croissants, vegan wraps, burgers, keto pods and a range of slices, cakes and muffins all sans gluten,” Marion says.
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“NRG, our juice restaurant, they’ve really come to the forefront, catering for our vegans and keto diets, making sure they can cater for everyone.
“In the last 12 to 18 months retailers have really risen to the challenge.”
Blackstone Cafe is where you can personalise your meal to your requirements, and even indulge in a gluten-free nip of vodka.
“They will cook you anything you want,” Marion says. “They have the gluten-free calamari which is just lovely, and you can have a gluten-free vodka there.”
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If you think the new options won’t fly, the staff have crunched the numbers. In the last year at the Gold Coast airport the eateries went through 82,000 serves of alternative milks.
“That’s milk that’s not derived from a cow — coconut, soy, almond, lactose free,” Marion says.
“Health is a really big trend at the moment and people that are lactose intolerant, or choose not to drink milk, can now get all sorts.
“Sometimes people are surprised that an airport can offer them that kind of range.”
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Ahead of the Gold Coast Airport’s terminal expansion, the facility will be taking on more feedback to deliver a quality dining experience visitors and locals have come to expect from the city’s restaurants and cafes.
“Particularly now we’re about to do a terminal redevelopment, we’re doing a whole heap of research asking what are the customers looking for?” Marion says.
“We’re finding, which is quite cool on the Gold Coast, how people want to eat is more of a collective style of eating with bigger tables.
“We’ve particularly gone forward in that we’re not using the term food court, it’s more like a food market style.
“We were voted four times over the best regional airport in the world.
“If they have a good meal and can cater for your individual needs, people are more inclined to nominate us for those awards.
“Those awards mean a lot to us. Definitely value, choice and options, good food and beverage is really important to passengers.”