Soaring high with sustainable in-flight catering
Rex Airlines lays claim to being the first Australian airline to offer Business Class passengers recyclable food and beverage packaging, including a cardboard meal tray! All snacks, meals and wines are locally sourced and menus redesigned weekly.
When flying Rex, Economy Class passengers receive a complimentary (locally sourced) snack and water, tea/coffee. Soft drinks are available for purchase and alcohol is available from 11am. Business Class enjoy a full dining service including a specially crafted meal, with an accompanying selection of soft drink, juice, beer, red and white wine and a delicious Yarra Valley Rose’ from Oakridge.
Rex Airlines’ Food and Beverage Manager Stephen Rennie said when the airline first introduced its sustainability offering for onboard catering they were looking to do ‘something different’.
“Everything you see on the meal and the tray itself in Business Class is either recyclable or compostable. From the coffee cups to the tray, packaging and cutlery - everything is designed to be completely friendly for the planet,” Stephen said.
“Our cutlery is made of bamboo, which means there’s no sharp splinters that get stuck in your mouth like they do with certain timber utensils.
“All of our food is produced in three places using locally sourced ingredients. It’s all fresh product, that’s produced in small batches, packed in-house and served onboard while it’s fresh and delicious.”
Unlike other airlines, even Rex’s bakery goods are fresh out of the oven - served hot and kept warm in recyclable bags.
The airline has partnered with Do-Good-Labs to source the savoury snacks served in the main cabin. Do-Good-Labs is a Brisbane based organisation that produces a range of tasty snacks and donates 50% of its profits to charities working to help communities and people in need.
Stephen handpicks the selection of onboard wines to pair with meals and is about to launch a range of cocktails in Economy Class from Tasmanian Tonic company.