dnata Catering & Retail will showcase a dwell microfarm set up on the World Journey Catering & Onboard Companies Expo (WTCE), providing guests a tangible demonstration of how freshness, sustainability and culinary creativity are shaping the subsequent part of onboard eating.
Impressed by dnata’s catering facility in Melbourne, the microfarm permits culinary groups to develop choose herbs on-site to be used in menu growth. Since its launch in 2025, the initiative has supported greater than a dozen menu displays and contributed to improved freshness, decreased waste, sustainability and enhanced menu creativity.
Herbs are harvested day by day and integrated into dishes served to 26 airline prospects in Melbourne, highlighting how hyper-local cultivation can have a significant influence inside large-scale airline catering environments. Constructing on its success, dnata plans to increase the microfarm idea to extra catering services together with Brisbane, Sydney and Perth by 2026.
At WTCE, the dwell set up will include a 96-bowl micro-farm cupboard, showcasing how cooks combine freshly harvested components into menu design, with round 60 dishes already influenced by the initiative.
Robin Padgett, CEO of dnata Catering & Retail, mentioned: “As passenger expectations proceed to evolve, airways are putting growing emphasis on freshness, creativity and inclusivity in inflight eating.
“Our presence at WTCE highlights how dnata is responding by means of initiatives equivalent to our micro farm and the continued evolution of specialty meals, working carefully with our companions to enhance each the standard and relevance of the onboard expertise.”
Enhancing particular meals and passenger expertise
Along with the microgarden showcase, dnata will spotlight its refined method to specialty meals, reflecting airways’ rising concentrate on assembly various dietary, cultural and way of life necessities.
Particular meals play an necessary position in shaping passengers’ perceptions of inflight eating and supply a useful alternative to extend general satisfaction. dnata presently helps 20 specialty meal classes.
At WTCE, guests will expertise a curated collection of dishes that exhibit culinary creativity, precision and the operational experience required to persistently ship specialty meals on a world scale. Some dishes embody:
Slowly cooked vegetable tagine, freekeh pilaf, candied lemon and date chutney (VGML, VLML, MOML, HNML, NLML)*
Krabravioli with whipped ricotta, fennel salad and kombu beurre blanc (SFML, MOML)*
Lemon garlic and sumac rooster with inexperienced beans, stewed puy lentils, macadamia dukkah and candied cherry tomatoes (HNML, MOML, DBML)*
Candy corn panna cotta with charred corn, miso butterscotch en croute (VLMV, GFML, MOML)*
Built-in catering and retail options
dnata may even showcase components of its inflight retail providing, highlighting how built-in catering and retail options can assist airline differentiation and unlock extra income alternatives.
The corporate presently helps 5 main airline retail applications globally, offering end-to-end program administration, supported by market-leading knowledge and analytics. dnata manages greater than $200 million of retail stock by means of its strategic provide chain groups and serves greater than 40 million transactions yearly by means of its retail applications.
Collaboration and involvement inside the sector
Via its participation in WTCE, dnata goals to have interaction airline prospects, suppliers and trade stakeholders in conversations round culinary innovation, personalization and sustainability, whereas strengthening relationships throughout its world community.
WTCE: a number one world trade occasion
WTCE is the main world occasion for the journey catering, inflight retail and passenger consolation industries. In 2026, the occasion will happen from April 14 to 16 in Hamburg, Germany.