What’s driving the record demand for airline special meals

Health, religion and a desire to be served first are driving demand for special meals on international flights to unprecedented levels.

Inside dnata catering, which is churning out hundreds of special meals a week in response to growing demand.

Health, religion, diet and a desire to be served first are driving up demand for special meals on international flights to unprecedented levels.

Emirates revealed it had seen a 40 per cent year-on-year increase in demand for plant-based options in 2023, while Singapore Airlines served up a record four million special meals, including 500,000 on Australian routes.

Dnata catering, which supplies meals for 45 airlines out of its Australian facilities, said special meals now accounted for 10 to 30 per cent of its output, up from 5 to 20 per cent pre-Covid.

“In some cases we’ve doubled the range of special meals on board for certain routes,” dnata catering chief executive Hiranjan Aloysius said.

“Singapore would be one of the routes where we’ve seen the biggest growth, primarily because they’re carrying a lot of passengers across to the subcontinent and there’s a lot of vegan and vegetarian meals.”

Along with plant-based meals, gluten free and children’s meals accounted for about 75 per cent of special meals produced by dnata catering.

Other options included low sodium, diabetic, non-lactose, kosher, Hindu, Muslim, low calorie and bland meals as well as fruit platters.

With the dnata catering workforce still recovering from the crippling Covid pandemic, Mr Aloysius said it was a logistical challenge to keep up with the increasing demand.

“We have a shortage of chefs in particular and that exacerbates the problem because the complexities of preparing special meals means that you simply can’t get the economies of scale,” he said.

“One of the advantages we have at dnata is we have our frozen food manufacturing plant Snapfresh at Crestmead and that allows us to produce our most popular special meals in bulk.”

An Emirates’ vegan polenta cake served in first class.

The fastest-growing special meal was Asian vegetarian, which Mr Aloysius attributed to the demographic change in travellers since the pandemic.

He said Indian people were flying a lot more, and filling the gap left by the still recovering Chinese market.

“So you’re seeing a lot more vegetarian and Hindu meals going out the door from our facilities throughout the country,” he added.

Another factor driving the embrace of special meals was the appeal in being served first, especially in economy cabins where meal choices were limited.

Frequent flyer Adele Eliseo of The Champagne Mile said pre-ordering a special meal provided a more “bespoke service level akin to premium class offerings”.

“Selecting special meals not only caters to dietary preferences but also grants economy passengers a sense of priority, ensuring they receive their meal choices promptly and without missing out,” Ms Eliseo said.

“Many economy travellers now see a ‘special meal’ request as an opportunity to enjoy the same level of service customisation found in business and first class cabins.”

A desire for healthier options was another growth area in airline catering, with certain carriers now offering premium passengers “superfood salads”, poke bowls and even egg white omelettes on demand.

“In first class, you might get a beautiful grilled artichoke and fennel salad with burnt onion emulsion and Sichuan style tofu,” Mr Aloysius said.

“There’s a lot of effort being put in by the airline culinary teams and from our vast culinary team in Australia to design these meals, and I would certainly agree that the flavours are right up there with any other meal we produce.”