Sri Lankan catering :

Designed to meet growth in tourism

by Chanuka Mannapperuma

The state-of-the-art Sri Lankan Airlines flight kitchen, a fully owned subsidiary of Sri Lankan Catering (Pvt) Ltd at Katunayake which was constructed last year investing US$ 25 million is confident to cater to the future gourmet demand in the skies with the anticipated growth in tourism.

The one who gives a good leadership to his staff, Dilip Nighawan, CEO of Sri Lankan Catering explaining said, this sophisticated flight kitchen is on par with the finest airline catering facilities anywhere in the world.

The facility is 143,000 square feet (within 5 acres land), with the latest artistic machinery and equipment in the global flight catering industry, with four level housing stores, Engineering, Operation, Production and Administration. He added that this building was built in a certain structure which can have further expansion.

"At the moment we have 575 works in this building and also the building has a design production capacity of 13,500 meals per day and currently produce more than 60 different menus with an option of doubling its capacity in two phases," he noted adding that during the season have to double the production.

The Executive Chef of Sri Lankan Catering is Australian Alan W. J. Orreal who has over 22 years of experience in the hospitality industry, as well as some other top class chefs.

Currently Sri Lankan Catering line of business is catering to nearly 20 various airlines that touch down at the Cartionic Airport and it is the sole Airline catering in Sri Lanka. It also manages and operates restaurant and fast food snack bar cum lounge.

The CEO said, there was a world of difference between a hotel kitchen and a flight kitchen. In a hotel kitchen the food is prepared at a short notice and immediately served to the guests.

But in a flight kitchen food is prepared in advance following the cold chain methods which itself is an intricate process where controlled temperature have to be maintained till the food is served on board. "So that is why we have the Hygiene and Quality Assurance department headed by a fully qualified microbiologists.

Sri Lankan Catering is an active member of International Flight Catering Association and (IFCA) and International in-flight food Service Association (IFSA) and has won ISO 9001 and 2000 Awards and other accolades for excellence in the industry over the past years.