InFlight catering for vegetarians
 

does anyone in the know, understand how the veggie option by inflight catering works?

Today the offering on a short haul was ham and cheese croissant. Asked for the veggie option expecting a cheese croissant. I got given some rock hard chocolate pastry and different 'bits'. Thinking it might be vegan, and they cover both diets, I checked and it was full of butter, milk and eggs.

So what's the benefit of airline caterers doing this? Would it not cost more to actually provide 2 different options, rather than the same option filled with and with out ham? If I'm cooking, I'll do say a veggie chilli and a meat one.. Same dish, same base sauce...it's easier than preparing and cooking 2 totally different dishes.

I see this with the sandwiches they provide... It's meat sandwich or a salad for the veggies.

Just wondering if there was a proper logical, cost reason they do this??

Was the meal you were given shelf stable? If so, that explains it--a shelf stable option would let them keep a stack somewhere without needing to worry about catering x vegetarian meals.

InFlight catering for vegetarians
 

I would guess that since vegetarian foods are not commonly asked for they pick items that are prepackaged and have a longer shelf life (ie your pastry and "bits") as it will last on dozens of flights, if not asked for and used. Whereas if they make X amount of special vegan croissants options per flight, they have to be thrown out if not eaten.

Yeah that would explain it :( kinda sucks as veggie food is eaten by meat eaters and veggies so a cheese only croissant for example would get eaten by meat eaters if they ran out of ham ones. Guess that's a risk they don't want to take cost wise.

Thanks guys :)

The vegan bread rolls you get on flights are different which I have never quite understood. I suspect their special meals cover off more than one 'special meal request' so the salad instead of sandwich might also be suitable for gluten free, vegan, low salt, low fat, etc.

They may actually come from a completely different catering facility (e.g. if the pastry was also Kosher, it would have to have been made somewhere different from where the main inflight meals are made).

Having a completely different item also means they probably won't make a mistake (e.g. if they had a cheese croissant and a ham and cheese, and the ham was folded up, they might misidentify it).

They also load food pretty tightly (they tend not to have 'leftovers' unless people decline a meal, so if they load 150 croissants for 150 passengers, no need for back ups).

There are also times when the snack offering is veggie (but not vegan, salt free, etc etc) like pizza slices, I read the box and even the cheese was veggie, so I asked if I could have one if there was a spare rather than my sad grilled veggie wrap with no flavor!

Just a side note: most cheeses served by US carriers (based on a survey that's now a bit dated) aren't vegetarian. Not a criticism of the airlines. Lots of non-vegetarian cheese out there and the airlines just happened to be choosing those brands/varieties.

Well the odd pastry offering was veggie - but with the eggs, flour and milk in the ingredients list - it was defo not a vegan or GF option...might email BA and ask why... But the salad offered today versus the bacon sandwhich, would have catered for vegans and GF so understand that...(and 5 of the 11 people seated around me asked for the veggie option, so that's actually a high rate...

I hate it when I order a lacto veggie meal and I get a flavourless vegan rice dish when the airline offers something like fish, beef and a veggie pasta option choices for the 'meat eaters'.

I'm going long haul in two weeks, so will see what the BA pre ordering menu comes up with... :)

I opt for Asian vegetarian on transatlantic routes in an attempt to avoid the blandness - normally get a half decent lentil or chickpea curry. However on my routing last month to Tokyo it yielded a quinoa salad with, wait for it, a quinoa main. All tasted exactly the same, just one was hotter than the other! Shockingly poor planning on their part IMO.

Well it really depends on how strict you are... most cheese is made with rennet, which is an animal-derived enzyme, sheep stomach I believe. Some vegetarians care, others don't.

That depends on your location - in the UK, like the OP, the vast majority of cheese is made with fungi / bacterial alternatives to rennet - over 90% of cheese is vegetarian friendly, including most cheeses used in the catering industry (Parmesan and a couple of other exceptions apply). There are widely available alternatives to those cheese which for their own reasons do use rennet (e.g. you can buy a veggie parmesan-type cheese, as true Parmesan is DOC and made to strict regulations)

Alot of airlines have simply done away with a proper veg. Meal. many just give you pasta.

I now use ME , CX and SQ for better service and very good meals.

Totally agree the non western airlines provide much superior food :)

Even on Jet Airways in a 1 hour flight Bombay to Goa we got served a beautiful meal of roti, a lentil dhal, a veg currry and rice. I think it's spoilt me since...!

do jet airways also offer a meaty menu? in particular, beef steaks, or hamburgers?

UA does a similar thing with its GF meal TATL. The second meal is a wrap filled with chunks of curried potato, accompanied by potato crisps!

No beef, but you can order a non vegetarian meal when you fly with them.