Virgin targets zero inflight food miles

inflight herb and veggie farms set up for onboard self sufficiency to beat EU rules

Fresh herbs and vegetables will be grown onboard Virgin Atlantic flights for Upper Class passengers from April 1st 2011.

Apparently Virgin are concerned about the effective doubling of food miles (those to the kitchen plus those in the air) and the possibility of new EU food mile labelling legislation threat.

From the 1st April 2011, Virgin Atlantic will begin a trial period where the airline will provide fresh herbs and vegetables from a specifically designed ‘vegetable patch’ in the galley of all aircraft for Upper Class passengers. However, the idea will be to roll the campaign out to all passengers if the trial is successful.

The idea behind this initiative came from Virgin Atlantic’s continued pursuit to provide its customers with the finest and freshest food and drink offering in the sky. Simon Soni, Head of In-flight Services commented: “it’s a logical next step for five star air travel. With it being such a simple concept, the sky’s the limit!”

In Upper Class, fresh herbs will be used to complement drinks and cocktails from the bar area including thyme for Bloody Mary’s and fresh mint for Mojitos, Pimms and tea. The vegetable offering will complement the in-flight meal with availability of vegetable depending on your destination. Carrots, baby new potatoes and spinach will be available on flights returning to the UK. Miniature pumpkins and sweet potatoes will be grown on transatlantic flights to the USA, while Tokyo routes will have the choice of okura (okra) or shiitake mushrooms.

Following the success of this initiative, Virgin Atlantic plan to roll the idea out to all routes including the Caribbean, Africa, India, Australia and Dubai.

To guarantee the success of this initiative, all Upper Class cabin crew will attend a one day horticultural lesson at the Royal Horticultural Society. Dan Wolfe,spokesperson for the RHS, said; “This is a great way to get the very best out of the Upper Class attendants who need help with their green fingers, so our day long starter GYO course at 30,000 feet will be just the ticket for them.  For those who grow food at lower altitudes try our RHS GYO pages

www.rhs.org.uk/GROWYOUROWN .”

Virgin will initially offer this service to Upper Class passengers; however long term, the aim is for all flights to be self sufficient for herbs and vegetables, for all passengers.

Valere Tjolle
Valere Tjolle is editor of the Sustainable Tourism Report Suite. Get FREE contents guide to Sustainable Destination Report CLICK HERE: Special Offer on Sustainable Tourism Marketing Guide CLICK HERE Special Offer on Sustainable Tourism Ministers Briefing CLICK HERE