Air New Zealand is about to get new wine in its premium cabin. Photo / Supplied
Air New Zealand is about to get new wine in its premium cabin. Photo / Supplied
Air New Zealand is promising “a treasure trove of flavours and ingredients” in its new menus and drinks list. But you’ll have to be sitting in its Business Premier seats to sample them.
The new offering will use a bigger range of New Zealand suppliers and ingredients than ever before.
The airline is upgrading its food and beverage selection as it faces growing competition for premium passengers from rival carriers returning. It is waiting for new planes with improved cabins to enter its fleet from September or October next year as its “hard product” in business class lags some competitors.
Today at a function for media it launched its “Taste of Aotearoa”, the next evolution of its “Aotearoa on a Plate” dining concept. The new menu brings together indigenous flavours and contemporary cuisine.
The new menu is onboard Business Premier cabins, and different parts of it are available on all long-haul flights out of New Zealand.
Air New Zealand chief customer and sales officer Leanne Geraghty says the new food and beverages were inspired by manaakitanga – the Māori tradition of hospitality.
She said the economy menu was constantly evolving as well and it wasn’t a case of prioritising premium travellers over others. Menus were changed up to three times a year on long-haul routes.
‘‘We do evolve our economy menu, but we are working through our premium cabin with this menu cycle and taking our dining experience that we put together through the future aircraft experience program to the next level. Economy is equally important and we do continue to develop new food and beverage offerings for that cabin.’'
The new meals, made in New Zealand by caterers LSG, wouldn’t mean increases in already elevated fares.
‘‘No, it doesn’t mean the fares will increase,’' said Geraghty.
Seared hapuka with smoked mussels, garlic, salt crushed potatoes, steamed spinach and chives will be served in Air NZ's business premier. Photo / Dean Purcell
‘‘It’s just a part of our continual improvement for our customers. So the fares will stay as the fares are.’'
She said it was a ‘‘privilege’' to showcase the best New Zealand had to offer and share that with the world.
New food and drinks will be available in some lounges also.
“Our country’s unique flora and produce are a treasure trove of flavours and ingredients that have inspired us to create a dining experience that celebrates the special flavours of Aotearoa,” Geraghty said.
Food on “select” premium menus departing from New Zealand includes:
Superfood salad with horopito-dusted New Zealand salmon
Creamy kawakawa mushrooms on rye toast, sautéed spinach and grilled tomatoes
Ahia smoked moki on kawakawa blini
Grass-fed New Zealand lamb rump with horopito rub.
The Ahia smoked moki comes from Tairāwhiti, Ōra King salmon is from Marlborough, New Zealand hāpuka [and] smoked mussels are from the Coromandel, cheeses are from Oamaru and Hawke’s Bay extra virgin olive oil. The lamb comes from Coastal Lamb, a family company that is supplied farmers around the North Island.
The “Taste of Aotearoa” dishes will be identified by a distinctive icon.
The airline is also offering a new cocktail in partnership with renowned New Zealand drinks firm East Imperial. The new drink offering will feature in Business Premier cabins on Air New Zealand’s New York and Chicago routes from late August through to October.
The airline is in the process of revamping wine for premium customers. It has invited 125 New Zealand wineries to bring their best wine for consideration onboard the airline’s Business Premier cabins and in its Tier One Lounges.
Next month, some of New Zealand’s most respected and discerning wine connoisseurs will come together to choose their much-awaited list of the country’s finest wines for 2024.
Geraghty says more than 500 wines will go through a rigorous blind taste testing.
“The challenge will be to whittle down the more than 500 wines to a small selection.”
For the current 2023 offering, the selection panel chose 56 wines, spanning eight varietals, that demonstrate exceptional quality, consistency and distinctiveness, as well as capturing the essence of New Zealand’s diverse wine regions.
In its flights and lounges, Air New Zealand serves up roughly 62,000 litres of sauvignon blanc, 53,000 litres of chardonnay and 59,000 litres of pinot noir wine each year – all of which come from this country.
Grant Bradley has been working at the Herald since 1993. He is the Business Herald’s deputy editor and covers aviation and tourism.
