jasdou

CZAMFlyer

An interesting display of absolute statements. Air Canada does have measures of quality control in all facets of their operation, and I suspect a less-than-perfect berry has slipped though the cracks and been boarded onto the Asian carriers listed above. Who among us can forget Cathay's split grape crisis of 1997?

What we have in this - and every other - thread, is a collection of anecdotal experiences. None of us have reliable data on the amount of frozen and/or soft fruit served at AC or other carriers, and none should be making emphatic comparisons as if we do. Given the sheer size of the AC catering operation in Canada and abroad, there is bound to be a percentage of substandard food served. This will be true at all airlines. Note that I'm not offering an explanation or excuse for this. If we took time to walk through the produce sections of any supermarket from corner store to Whole Foods, we'll be able to find less-than-perfect items on display. The expectations of some of the (especially higher fare-paying) public are often mismatched with the realities of food preservation.

Berries and melons by their nature are highly perishable and do not travel well. If passengers continue to demand them, they will continue to be served, and there will continue to be a percentage of deteriorated product plopped down onto your tray table. Fortunately, the solutions are easy: decline to order fruit, take your business elsewhere, or simply roll with it.

ACYYZ/SD

The simple cause is over dry-icing of trolleys by caterers required in accordance with food health and safety standards and by not strictly following established specs.

Some items such as berries, kiwis and lettuce do not fare well with excessive dry-icing compounded by improper loading and the catering team is advised of such scenarios.

The fruit items described are not pre-frozen and defrosted.

24left

Perhaps you missed the point then. We are not in "that part" of the world. This is FlyerTalk. These INCONSISTENT displays of food from AC are not where you visited and are not relevant to the issue here.


I don't care and I'm not amused that you feel it necessary to defend, rationalize and argue with every criticism or experience we have.

You fly UA. You work at the airport. You are a pilot. You have different flight experiences on different routes and of course you know what we don't.

And we are not in Whole Foods.

There is a vast universe of people who complain on the UA forum about poor quality food and service. Are you also posting there and suggesting they take their business elsewhere?


I started this thread because the frozen and poor quality fruit has been going on for years and I previously communicated with AC about it. They continue to serve it. I continue to post photos.

It's up to me and everyone else here if we will still give AC out business but it does not matter if we wish to discuss it on this forum.

Just so we are clear about this.

KenHamer

The more a specific flyer receives a substandard product the less anecdotal the claim.

nexusCFX

If I could be guaranteed the fruit plate pictured in this post I would seriously consider ordering it in lieu of the omelette. Looks pretty good. The pictures the OP has shown look disgusting though. Such a shame that the consistency isn't maintained.

CZAMFlyer

The intent of my comment was about perspective. The pictures you posted do not appear as disgusting as is made out to be. At least not to me, and I'm sure not to many others, who would be grateful to receive such a plate. That was why I mentioned this

My post was not intended to amuse. Far from defending AC (I am not in the apologist camp), I merely disagree with some of yours and others' posts. And that's OK. It's clear that many people frequently disagree with my opinion, which is their right. I wouldn't go so far to claim I argue with "every" experience you have; that would imply that I read them all, which is far from the case.

I credit to UA. I fly many airlines, including AC. Working as a pilot - or any other profession - is not relevant. When I work at an airport, it is not within the food catering operations.
I think my point flew overhead at FL410. Whole Foods is regarded as a retailer that specializes in high-quality, fresh and expertly-presented food, including fruit. Nevertheless, it is possible to occasionally find a small portion of the product that has some flaws, as in some of your photos. Given the extra handling involved with getting fruit onto your tray table, and the inherent challenges of airline catering, it shouldn't be a surprise to anybody that some percentage of food will have lost its just-picked appearance.
I was posting here, on this forum.

If this fruit scandal has been going on for years, and nothing has changed, except people continuing to pour money into AC's coffers, how/why do you expect them to change? I agree that where we choose to spend our money is our individual business (literally), and if people wish to discuss/complain about a poor product here or elsewhere, that's totally fine. You have received feedback above - some harsh, and some merely contrary - that indicates that some people disagree with your stance, or don't consider it as important as you do. We can certainly respect their opinions, and neither they, nor you, are wrong.

We understand that food & beverages in lounges and aboard airplanes is very important to you. To some, it's an ancillary part of the journey; to others, it's a raison d'être for flying in premium cabins. As long as we understand that product quality differs between airlines, and often within the same airline from day to day or flight to flight. I think it's impractical to believe that other airlines don't suffer from inconsistency in products and service. I'm sure your correspondence to Air Canada hasn't gone unnoticed. It may be that the realities of serving perishable food following the conditions through which they need to pass before landing on your plate are difficult to eliminate entirely.

xo, CZAM.

I'll express-post a large Kit-Kat if it makes you feel better, and I promise it won't be soft, frozen, partially melted or otherwise subpar. At least not when I put it in the post box.

Perhaps the word 'anecdotal' is defined differently in your dictionary.

Transpacificflyer

This is 2019, not 1997, and my issues with rotted and spoiled fruit became quite noticeable in 2018. My experience has been a sharp deterioration in quality over the past year with much of my fruit resembling dumpster salvage. I don't care about the food quality in countries you have visited as it is irrelevant here. The fact is that I paid $5,878 to Air Canada for a premium class seat that was sold as having "restaurant quality" catering.

What are these facets of quality in respect to the catering? Are you claiming that Air Canada's methods are as good as Lufthansa's enhanced supervision? Lufthansa which is priced lower on my itineraries than AC, yet has a comparatively higher labour cost. Are you saying that AC verifies as attentively as JAL, ANA, SQ, BR, because these airlines all have quality control procedures in place to verify the catering before it is sent out and that includes spot checks of the orders. There is no way that an FA on any of the aforementioned airlines would serve rotten fruit to a passenger. How is it that on my AF/KLM flights I have never ever been served rotten fruit?

I think I know what happened; The catering contractor has sourced fruit from the cheapest supplier and it is often of low quality. Let's take strawberries as an illustration. We all know that they are a seasonal fruit. In the winter, when they become available, there are the tasteless varieties that come in from Mexico, and then Florida. They look nice but have no taste. There are hothouse varieties available in Canada. For example, I recently purchased a pint of amazing sweet berries for 5.99. I believe that instead of the higher quality Canadian products, the caterer with Air Canada's blessing, uses low quality less expensive fruit. Because it most likely comes from Mexico or elsewhere, it had to be picked while unripe and most likely sat around for a week or more before it arrived at the catering center. Why is my plate graced with the unnatural blueberry from Mexico in the month of December? Of course it will be tasteless. The fact is that the airline wants a standard formula, an unchanging, unimaginative, environmentally irresponsible menu that will almost always result in rotten or tasteless fruit during parts of the year. All it takes is someone to say, hey, lets change the fruit menu to use fruits and vegetables that are in season or native to the source region so that they will taste as they should. we don't always have to be served a slice of strawberry. It can be dragonfruit, or apple or plum or pear. Even figs and dates would be better.

And as for your comment about using alternative airlines, I do. I expect crap catering on Shanghai/Eastern Airlines as I pay a fraction of the airfare that I do with premium carriers. AC charges a premium airfare, so it should deliver a premium experience. All we are doing is holding the airline accountable for its promises and claims in its promotional material.

Bohemian1

This says it quite well for a variety of topics on the AC forum:

CZAMFlyer

Whoosh...
Dumpster salvage. Really?
And in many restaurants kitchens, you'll find a share of substandard fruit at any time of season. The better establishments simply remove them prior to being served, as food is their core business. An airline's core business isn't serving food, thus by necessity, isn't devoting the same energy to food preparation.
Neither. I'm merely disputing your statement "if AC had some measure of quality control". They do; it is not zero.
This is an absolute statement that can't possibly be supported.
Luck? How often have you flown these airlines compared to AC?
The source of fruit has little bearing on taste and quality. You'll find bland, industrial fruit farms in warmer climes and especially in Canadian hothouses. You'll also find top-quality organic produce grown in Mexico, Florida and Canada if you want it.
Do you know this to be true? I certainly don't, because I have no knowledge of AC's catering procurement information. You must have some inside corporate info, so may I ask, "less expensive" than what?
I'm challenging none of this. My point is that the same seasonal challenges occur with restaurants worldwide and all other airlines, whether low-cost or five-star. I feel many people demand perfection, which is generally unattainable (save for my debate logic). By the way, love the irony of concern for "environmentally irresponsible" on this of all forums.
By complaining on an internet forum? I know some more effective ways of getting your message through.

Bartolo

CZAMFlyer

This seems to render much of the thread moot.

cooleddie

Frozen salad
I had a frozen salad today.

FlyerTalker70

Perhaps this is all part of AC's seasonal menu providing passengers with frozen food in celebration of the winter months! This month they're celebrating Toronto with temperature chilled to -15. Next month it's the Québec City super chill with food set to -20 degrees! I can't wait to see what food they come up with for the Spring and Summer months (i.e. piping hot salad Hamilton salad anyone?)

-James

songsc