At World Travel Catering & Onboard Services Expo (WTCE), we love hearing about the positive experiences that our airline visitors have had while attending our event. This week, we spoke to Simone Walli, Catering Manager Culinary Art and F&B onboard Concepts at Austrian Airlines, about her time at WTCE 2024.
Overview
Giving some background to her role at Austrian Airlines, Simone says that she is “constantly looking for new ideas, suppliers and products to bring on board in terms of culinary innovation.” She explains that, while some menu items become signature products onboard, it’s important to have some products that change regularly.
Like many other airline catering professionals, it’s paramount that Simone is consistently on the lookout for new, innovative and exciting food products to bring onboard. But how did WTCE help her and Austrian Airlines find what they were looking for?
Opportunities at WTCE
For Simone, WTCE offers valuable opportunities to network and meet industry contacts. She says, “WTCE provides a really easy way to network, and it helps me to find novel ideas and products. The setup is always valuable for me, and for other airlines.”
Simone explains that although the event provides the opportunity to meet with some of Austrian Airlines’ existing catering suppliers, being present at WTCE is more important to “reach out to other suppliers and see what’s out there, to find inspiration that will create a new vision for us”.
Talking about the overall set up of the event, Simone says, “It is perfectly organised. From the moment you register, until the last day you are there, it is so organised, really clear and well directed”.
Simone explained that the WTCE Connect platform was an essential tool in helping to set up meetings prior to the show. She says, “I used a website a lot to find the suppliers and fields I was looking for. For me, the WTCE Connect platform was really useful to reach out to contacts.”
The Taste of Travel
At WTCE 2024, Simone was also a speaker at the Taste of Travel Theatre, taking part in the panel session, ‘Why special diets are the way forward for airlines to increase customer loyalty’. She reiterated the importance of discussing the topic of food allergies and special meal provisions in airline catering. WTCE’s Taste of Travel Theatre programme offers visitors the chance to understand the latest trends and preferences in the airline catering industry.
For Simone, WTCE was instrumental in shedding light on some of the most prevalent trends in the industry. Discussing some of the airline’s key priorities for the future, Simone mentioned Sustainability, food waste, and allergy-free menus and meals.
Results and outcomes
When it comes to the best and most notable outcomes from the 2024 show, Simone reiterated that it was a great place for her to network with prospective suppliers. Meeting new contacts at WTCE and finding new and exciting food products resulted in Austrian Airlines signing new deals and forming new industry contacts.
Following WTCE 2024, Austrian Airlines signed with Monty’s Bakehouse. Simone explains that WTCE was instrumental in facilitating this initial meeting. She says, “Before going to WTCE, we found Monty’s because we were looking at supplying hot handheld snacks for second service on short flights. So, I reached out to Monty’s, we set up a meeting at the WTCE, and two weeks later, they were on board!”
Advice for other airlines
Discussing her experiences of the show, Simone shares her advice and learnings for other airlines attending. In 2024 – her first time at WTCE – Simone was unable to attend all three days. However, she recommends that other airline visitors should visit the entire show, taking the time and opportunity to talk to as many people as possible, and just to walk around and make themselves comfortable with the scenery, situation and products.
Simone also discusses the value of attending the show with her colleagues. She mentions the value of face-to-face meetings, and the benefits of being exposed to more ‘big picture’ ideas and conversations. Simone says, “Coming as a team is always good, because everyone has their own meetings and focuses. You get exposed to far more things than just the ones you’re focusing on.”
WTCE will run at the Hamburg Messe from 8-10 April, 2025. For more details and registration, please visit: https://www.worldtravelcateringexpo.com/en-gb.html