Dubai’s Emirates Flight Catering is right into a hiring spree – and it want cooks too
3 min read
Dubai: Fancy your prospects as a chef? Or make your expertise rely in pitching F&B ideas to potential purchasers?
Then, likelihood is that Emirates Flight Catering has a job opening for you. The Emirates Group entity is on a mission to broaden its attain past airline purchasers and tackle big-scale catering alternatives as they arrive.
Irish Eden R. belleza & Ahmed Ramzan/Gulf Information
The division is on a large hiring spree throughout all verticals, together with meals and beverage and devoted gross sales and advertising groups. “Now we have diversified closely into non-airline associated companies,” mentioned Mohammed Al Falasi, Assistant Vice-President of Emirates Flight Catering.
“We’re additionally recruiting Emirati cooks for our Emirati Kitchen idea since we’ve requests for Emirati delicacies in-flight and the occasions we’re catering to.”
Making an enormous splash at occasions
The catering facet of the Emirates’ enterprise is already a considerable one by all accounts. The Dubai headquartered airline’s 2021-22 annual report exhibits non-transport revenues – comprising shopper items, resort operations, catering, gross sales at F&B retailers and tour operator providers – contributed 6.3 per cent of revenues, and amounting to Dh3.7 billion (in comparison with the Dh1.9 billion in 2020-21). The rise signifies the depth of the corporate’s efforts to broaden its enterprise past air journey, air-side and ticketing and capitalize on the potential of associated industries.
Picture Credit score: Ahmed Ramzan/Gulf Information
EKFC is the official F&B accomplice of Dubai’s Coca-Cola Area and is intently aligned with occasions such because the Dubai Rugby 7s, Dubai Airshow, and Jazzfest. “Now, we need to seize extra big-scale sporting, company and authorities occasions,” mentioned Al Falasi.
“Occasions are deliberate and determined not less than 9 months earlier than, particularly with world occasions. The catering enterprise must be continuously lively, and we’re working six- to 9 months earlier than any occasion.”
“We’re actively discussing catering to a complete season of sporting occasions, together with the upcoming Golf tournaments. We even have COP28 occurring later this yr and look ahead to offering our providers to this vital occasion.”
Catering to customised preferences
Al Falasi mentioned prospects are more and more searching for personalised menus, together with, in fact, vegan and different dietary necessities. “We lately hosted an occasion the place 80 per cent of the company required plant-based meals. There’s additionally elevated demand for native/Arabic delicacies.”
Furthermore, shoppers additionally demand locally-sourced produce, which Al Falasi mentioned Emirates Flight Catering can present by ventures such because the Bustanica (one of many world’s largest vertical farms) in Dubai and specializing in native suppliers the place attainable.
“From a provider’s perspective, we assist native producers, considerably decreasing meals waste and the stress on our landfills,” mentioned Al Falasi. “We additionally provide our natural waste to UAE farms freed from value, which is repurposed. We’re additionally speaking with some corporations to repurpose meals waste into animal feed.”
E-commerce and retail
EKFC has over 15 retailers throughout Dubai, together with homegrown operations reminiscent of Grains and Greens, La Patisserie, Deli2Go, and The Galley. Its e-commerce meals supply service – Foodcraft – has additionally witnessed vital development post-pandemic.
“We relaunched Foodcraft – a web-based meals supply platform initiated throughout the COVID-19 lockdown,” mentioned Al Falasi. It partnered with midday to offer the supply. Al Falasi confirmed the corporate will announce extra partnerships with different last-mile aggregators and ‘darkish retailer’ suppliers.
“We’re immediately participating with our shoppers on product high quality, portion measurement, and different preferences,” Al Falasi added. “We provide a cooked meal that prospects can personalise primarily based on their dietary restrictions. All they should do is pop the meal into an oven, which is able to eat in 5 minutes.
“We additionally present bakery gadgets, frozen meats, and chilled merchandise by Foodcraft.”
EKFC is but to offer branded merchandise to retailers. “It’s one thing we might be doing very quickly. Nevertheless, we offer our white-label merchandise to main shops within the UAE. We’re additionally working with retailers to develop distinctive merchandise.”
