Cooking & EatingTransavia will soon serve fries on all flights. The airline thinks it will please many passengers with this everyone’s friend.
Fans of the crispy potato sticks won’t have to miss out on their favorite snack even when traveling. Fries will be available on all Transavia flights from Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Eindhoven and Brussels from 10 March.
“I am very curious what the passengers will think about it,” says Laura Heijmann, who is responsible for the range on board at Transavia. “I believe in it and I think it’s good for who we transport.” Heijmann states that Transavia had been looking for a friend for everyone for some time and thinks it has found it in the fries. “It is a snack that is attractive to a large target group.”
The fries are an invention of writer Leon de Winter, who is an avid fries lover. He has developed a low-carbohydrate version for Albert Heijn, among other things. The idea for fries in the air came to Foodcase International, which develops meals and snacks for about thirty airlines worldwide. “Transavia is one of our customers and they were immediately enthusiastic,” says director Wilbert de Louw. “Also because the question was already raised at Transavia: why don’t we serve fries on board?”
Serving fries on board is not easy
Serving fries in the air is no easy feat. It’s a hassle: staff can’t keep an eye on the oven all the time. And the taste is different in the air than on Earth. That is why an extensive process preceded the introduction. “Every product comes with a development plan,” explains De Louw. ,,In the test phase, we went to see what kind of potato variety we could use. You do a preliminary investigation. It’s testing, testing, testing.” This is done first on the ground with ovens that cabin crew normally use in aircraft, then in the air. “At the end of last year, the fries were given to twenty crews to try out on flights,” says Heijmann. “Every plane has different ovens, so it was a matter of trying.”
The trial was only intended for staff. “The colleagues in the cockpit, who are very critical, also participated.” The outcome was good. “We were pleasantly surprised.” There is a special coating around the fries that provides the salty taste. This also takes into account the difference in taste on board. You have about 20 percent less taste in the air than on the ground.
Transavia is not the first Dutch company to serve fries on board. Corendon started it in 2016, but stopped a year later. Audrey Denkelaar of Corendon reports that the company ‘because of waste management‘ doesn’t want to offer too many hot snacks. “Because then we can stick with it. We made a choice based on the taste of our customers, and the croquette sandwich turned out to be by far the favorite snack. So we still offer them. Wonderfully traditional Dutch.”
Transavia also tried the fries that Corendon served. ,,But we didn’t get it crispy. This new one does.” It remains to be seen whether the fries with (you get a tube of luxurious mayo) for Transavia will be here to stay. The range of products that passengers can buy on board changes four times a year.
It is not possible to order in advance, according to Heijmann. Transavia estimates how many fries are needed on the basis of the sales figures for other snacks, such as toasted sandwiches and sausage rolls. The price is 4.50 euros, including mayonnaise.
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