High Cuisine

Next time you’re flying and you’re surprised to discover you’ve been served a fresh crispy baguette, a juicy steak with fresh vegetables, or a fresh sole straight from the grill – it could well be the work of caterers Turkish Do&Co.

For the company decided a long time ago that passengers deserve only fresh ingredients and top quality food.

“We deliver everything from first class gourmet meals at restaurant standards to quality sandwiches and baguettes, from buy-on-board products to complete lounge concepts,” said company chairman Attila Doğudan. “Whatever we serve, it is always of the highest quality and standard.

“For our chefs and production staff, life in the kitchen starts from scratch every day. Nothing is from the day before. Our secret ingredient is freshness, with everything being washed, peeled and cut every morning.”

Do&Co was founded in Vienna, Austria, 29 years ago. Back then it was a small company but today it employs 5,000 people.

“Do&Co is an international company focusing on premium quality in terms of hospitality and catering,” explained Doğudan. “We have three divisions – restaurant, hotel and lounges; event catering (we do all the Formula 1 events as well as the European Football Championships, Americas Cup, golf, and tennis); and airline catering in partnership with Turkish Airlines.”

Since 2007, Turkish Do&Co has operated in nine gourmet kitchens all over Turkey – Istanbul (Atatürk and Sabiha Gökcen), Ankara, Antalya, Izmir, Bodrum, Trabzon, Dalaman and Adana. More than 60 national and international airlines are catered for from these locations.

It is also located at London Heathrow Airport, New York’s JFK, Frankfurt, Munich and other European airports.

“The Istanbul kitchen produces 100,000 fresh meals a day, making it the largest fresh production kitchen in Europe,” said Doğudan. “It produces 1.5tonnes of hummus every day. That’s a lot of hummus b ut, believe me, it’s the best,” he laughed .

“There’s nothing frozen in our kitchens. Even the red peppers are roasted fresh one by one. If you process fresh produce intelligently, it won’t die. But if you start with ingredients that are past their prime, it doesn’t matter what you do. Not a single ingredient is processed. All we do is add a little olive oil, a little salt and pepper, a little seasoning, then cook it without killing it.

“We have our own chilling vans that transport the freshly cooked dishes to the aircraft within six hours, so it remains fresh. Passengers receive the best food in the world.”

The company also provides crew training in its mock-up cabins and lounges. “It’s not just the food that is important but also how it is served,” explained Doğudan.

“Hygiene is paramount, so all staff are properly trained and we also have doctors based at the locations as well as hygiene departments.”

At the SkyTrax awards in 2010, Turkish Airlines was named the “Best Airline in Southern Europe” and the best quality in economy class with the in-flight service, which is being served by Turkish Do&Co.

Doğudan is also the brains behind the ‘chefs on board’ concept.

“Turkish Airlines started this programme two years ago and, by the end of 2011, we will have more than 200 chefs on board, which will make it the biggest flying chef fleet in the world,” said Doğudan.

Airlines that use Turkish Do&Co include British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Emirates, Oman Air, Royal Air Maroc and Royal Jordanian.

“An increasing number of airlines are relying on the world’s only gourmet brand product for the airline industry to provide their customers with an incomparable on-board experience,” said Doğudan. “We will expand wherever the clients ask us to go. A focus is the Middle East though. Airlines such as Emirates and Etihad really focus on quality and add quality to the client, which is exactly what we do.

“Of course, we have competitors and we don’t underestimate the market. Customer satisfaction on Turkish Airlines was 49 per cent when we first partnered with them but it is now up to 98 per cent. We discovered through surveys that 98 out of every 100 passengers are happy with the food and the service we offer.  It’s time now to satisfy those remaining two.”