People who decide to bring lunch from home to work face the same problem after a week. They don't know what to put in the lunch box. Sandwiches and dumplings are tired, and there is no desire to eat up yesterday's pasta. Lifehacker decided to diversify the contents of your lunch boxes and made this collection.

Amanda Quintana Bowles/Flickr.com

Onigiri are Japanese stuffed rice balls or triangles wrapped in nori. They are very popular in the Land of the Rising Sun. There are many variations and there are even specialty shops that sell only onigiri.

pros: satisfying; a wide variety of toppings.
Minuses: subtleties in the selection and preparation of rice; cheap ingredients.
Average cooking time: 30 to 60 minutes.

Ingredients

• 1 cup sushi rice;
• 2-3 sheets of nori;
• 200 g lightly salted salmon;
• 100 g cream cheese.

Cooking

It is better to take round-grain rice - it is more sticky. It must be thoroughly rinsed until the water runs clear. Washed rice should be put into boiling water and simmer until tender. Leave the cooked rice for a while under a closed lid.

Prepare the filling: cut the fish into small cubes (make sure there are no bones) and mix with cream cheese.

When the rice has cooled down to a temperature that allows you to hold it in your hands, you can start sculpting. Put a layer of rice on your palm, put a small piece of filling on it and squeeze your palm.

The word "onigiri" comes from the verb "nigiru", which translates as "to squeeze". To make the ball more even, roll it between your palms. Triangular onigiri can be made with a wide knife.

Wrap the resulting bun with a strip of nori seaweed and put it in a lunch box. If you cook in the evening, it is better to wrap the nori in the morning so that the dish does not get soggy. Store onigiri in the refrigerator.

Melissa Cuppett/Flickr.com

pros: healthy; satisfying.
Minuses: Almond flour and flaxseed flour are not found in any store.
Average cooking time: 30 to 60 minutes.

From the following amount of products you will get four servings.

Ingredients

• 900 g chicken breast;
• 100 g almond flour;
• 2 eggs;
• 1 tablespoon of flaxseed flour;
• 1 teaspoon paprika;
• ½ teaspoon garlic powder;
• ½ teaspoon salt;
• ½ teaspoon dry parsley;
• ¼ teaspoon black pepper.

Cooking

If you don't care about carbohydrates, then feel free to take breadcrumbs. But remember that the calorie content of the dish will increase. Those who follow the figure, mix all the dry ingredients in a deep bowl.

Whisk the eggs in a separate bowl. Dip the sliced ​​chicken fillet first into the egg mixture and then into the flour mixture. Place the chicken on a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake in a preheated oven at 220 degrees for 20 minutes.

As a side dish, you can use green peas or beans.

Shinya Suzuki/Flickr.com

Ramen is a wheat noodle dish that is very popular in Asian countries. Serious competition reigns between restaurants specializing in ramen. But besides fresh ramen, there is also instant ramen. He is what we need.

pros: cheap and cheerful; satisfying.
Minuses: calorie; long cooking if there are no ready cutlets.
Average cooking time: 60 to 120 minutes.

Ingredients

• 1 pack of instant noodles;
• cutlet for a burger;
• 2 eggs;
• a slice of cheddar;
• 1 tablespoon sweet and spicy chili sauce
• green onions and lettuce;
• olive oil.

Cooking

Boil the noodles according to the instructions, dry and cool slightly in a colander. Transfer to a bowl and top with beaten egg. Stir. Line two bowls with a flat bottom about eight centimeters in diameter with cling film and grease with vegetable oil. Put the noodles in them, wrap the film and, pressing down with any heavy object, send it to the refrigerator for an hour.

Place the fried bacon in a pita (it is convenient to divide it in half) along with lettuce and chopped cherry tomatoes.

Rachelle @ Mommy? I'm Hungry!/Flickr.com

If you treat them to colleagues, you risk being left without lunch yourself.

pros: satisfying; delicious even when cold.
Minuses: rather time-consuming preparation; a large number of ingredients.
Average cooking time: 40 to 80 minutes.

Ingredients

• 500 g puff pastry;
• 700 g ground beef;
• 200 g of semi-hard cheese;
• 1 egg;
• 1 tomato;
• 1 onion;
• 1 green bell pepper;
• 1 clove of garlic;
• ½ cup ketchup;
• ½ tablespoon of water;
• 1 teaspoon of cumin;
• 1 teaspoon oregano;
• 1 teaspoon chili powder;
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon;
• olive oil for frying;
• fresh cilantro and parsley.

Cooking

Cooking at home is quite difficult. It's best to keep it ready in the freezer just in case.

Fry minced meat with chopped onion and pepper in olive oil. When the onion is golden and the meat is soft, add the minced garlic and fry for about a minute, stirring constantly. Drain the fat from the pan and add the tomato, ketchup, chopped herbs and spices. Reduce heat to low and simmer for about 10 minutes. Then remove from heat and cool.

Roll out the dough and cut out round cakes from it. Put 1-2 tablespoons of the filling in the center of each of them. Roll up. In order to keep the edges better, grease them with an egg mixture (the egg must be beaten with water).

Bake for 15-20 minutes in an oven preheated to 190 degrees. Don't forget to line a baking sheet with baking paper or oil, and be sure to pour ketchup or other sauce of your choice into the lunch box.

foodtolove.com.au

This is an original alternative to sandwiches. With such an unusual presentation, colleagues will definitely ask you for a couple of pieces for a sample. So do more.

Tea, coffee, water? Would you like to eat? We hear this phrase every time a few tens of minutes after the plane takes off into the sky during the next trip, business trip or just a flight on our personal business. On one flight you will be offered a sandwich with coffee, on the other - a full meal, including a hot main course, fruit and a dessert for coffee (alexcheban wrote about this in detail in his post recently). Each airline approaches the issue of food for passengers during the flight in its own way. Some prepare in-flight meals themselves, while others order catering directly at the airport. It is interesting that in Russia only two airlines prepare food for their passengers - UTair and Aeroflot. The rest "buy" ready-made food. Today we will visit one of the UTair's in-flight catering factories, which is located at the airport in Surgut. and we will see with our own eyes what path lunch boxes and casseroles with lunch, which is served to us by smiling flight attendants at an altitude of 10 thousand meters, go through.

Uteit Airlines has three in-flight catering factories - at the airports of Surgut, Tyumen and Khanty-Mansiysk. Food is prepared here for all UTair flights, as well as for other airlines departing from these cities. Contrary to the idea that food should be prepared here for all flights of your airline, no matter where and where they fly from, in fact this is not happening. Why? Because the life of cooked food is very limited. However, more on that below.

The in-flight catering factory in Surgut consists of several workshops, each of which is an intermediate link in the entire chain of the product path from delivery to sealing the food container before loading onto the aircraft. One of the main workshops is meat and fish. Here is the cutting of meat or fish and their preparation for subsequent heat treatment. Some of them go directly to the hot shop, some - to freezing for processing at another time.

A vegetable shop is located next to the meat and fish shop. Here is the preparation and cleaning of vegetables (potatoes, carrots, onions, etc.) for subsequent transfer to the hot shop, as well as the final preparation of some vegetables (fresh cucumber, tomato, bell pepper, etc.), as well as fruits for packaging in lunch boxes. More than 100 kilograms of potatoes alone pass through this shop per shift.

Bread on board the aircraft is replaced by buns. Together with muffins and other flour products, they are baked in the confectionery shop. More than 1000 buns are baked here per day, each of which spends exactly 18 minutes in the oven

All flour confectionery products - muffins and various types of shortbread cookies - are made by hand and baked in the ovens adjacent to the buns

And in the next room there is a packing shop for snacks. Operators arrange pickled vegetables, herbs, olives, cold meats, etc. into lunchboxes. depending on the menu currently being prepared.

Lunch boxes are packed in a special sealed package that prevents air from getting inside

There are also special temperature cabinets for temporary storage and finishing of certain products or ready-made sets to a chilled state.

After laying in the temperature cabinet, a special registration card is fixed on it, which contains all the necessary data

One of the main workshops is the realm of ladles and the patrimony of the chef. This is a hot shop.

The chef personally controls all the dishes that are prepared here. The fact is that in addition to in-flight meals, they also prepare dishes for cafes at Surgut Airport, as well as hotels at the airport

Stewed vegetables for the lenten menu of one of the next flights from Surgut

The largest workshop - in which the final packaging of grocery sets takes place. Cooked food from the hot shop, flour and confectionery products, lunch boxes with snacks, fruits and vegetables flock here. Here, all this will be laid out in plastic containers in accordance with the required set of products for certain flights, marked with markings, packed in air carts and sealed for transfer to the aircraft.

There is a special map on the wall of the workshop, according to which food containers are marked. In fact, nothing is cooked here from the children and the crew) This is just a special label that is placed on containers intended for children and the crew of the aircraft.

Cassettes (special sealed containers for hot food) with markings are being prepared for stacking in an aviation trolley.

Trolleys and all other reusable packaging containers are washed in a special workshop. The carts themselves come in different formats, standardized for certain types of aircraft. Pictured are the Boeing 737 trolleys, which in a few minutes will be packed with lunch for the next flight

Packaged and labeled food is placed in metal containers that have been washed and dried.

Then they are filled

And they put down the marking - flight number, destination, date and time of departure, as well as cooking time. At this point, I would like to point out a number of interesting features. All food prepared in this factory has a shelf life of three hours. If more time has passed since the packaging, it is destroyed. That is, if the departure of flight No. 296 is delayed by more than 30 minutes, this container will be opened, the food will be destroyed, and casseroles and lunch boxes packed later will be loaded onto the aircraft. But, in principle, everything is done so quickly that the food is not idle. Usually, if a plane's departure is delayed for a long time, this is known in advance, so meals are collected by the actual departure time. It is also worth noting that for every 50 passengers, 1 extra set of food is loaded on board. Those. if 150 tickets are sold for a flight, 153 meals will be loaded onto the plane. At the same time, several types of menus for economy class passengers are loaded on board in equal proportions - for example, fish with rice, beef with buckwheat and sausage with pasta. During the flight, the flight attendant will ask what kind of menu you want.

In addition to ready-made food packages, reusable dishes for business class passengers are also prepared for loading on board the aircraft. Its amount depends on the number of tickets sold in this class for a particular flight.

The final chord of our acquaintance with the UTair in-flight catering factory in Surgut was the tasting of all the dishes that are on the menu for different categories of passengers - first, business, economy, as well as on the crew menu.

Our company produces cardboard packaging for air catering.

Cardboard snack boxes and cassettes differ from their plastic or aluminum counterparts in their attractive appearance, higher strength and convenience in the process of packaging and use on board an aircraft.

In addition, cardboard boxes are more convenient for consumers, because do not get hot like aluminum.

They are more environmentally friendly and easy to recycle.

Snack boxes and casseroles can be printed with the airline logo

Are you interested in such a question as where to buy food containers in Moscow? Please contact Packform. Our products are in great demand among all segments of the population. The most common commodity is polypropylene food containers. But there are many other products as well. The choice depends only on the purpose for which you will use these products. For example - children's food containers, which are very much in demand among many parents who are worried about the healthy nutrition of their children.

We can rely on the fact that disposable food containers with compartments will ensure, at a minimum, tightness, convenient transportation and safety of your products.

Buy food containers in Moscow

Where to buy food containers for school? Our premium products exceed all expectations. In our Pakform online store, you can order food containers for storing food, which are endowed with advanced features for the longest possible storage. These can be options that have many compartments for meat, sauces, garnish and drinks, for example. There are also special sectional food delivery containers that are used only once. Multifunctional samples with a thermos are ideal for transporting hot drinks and food. In the assortment of our store there are also options that can keep cold - it all depends on the initial temperature of the products.

Disposable food containers: wholesale

The production of disposable food containers is in high demand. Along with a convenient form and universal purpose, special attention should be paid to the materials used. It's no secret that many people use food trays with a lid not only for storage, but also for heating food. For this reason, such lunch boxes must be made of special high-tech plastic, which not only retains the original taste and freshness of the food, but also does not emit harmful substances, even when used in the microwave. In order to maintain temperature and freshness, some products are equipped with a special design and devices for the most hermetic closing. You can safely take hot drinks and food with you without fear of leakage.

Own production of food containers

Our Pakform company has its own production facilities, which can also produce especially large sizes of food containers. Among our assortment, you can find very attractive products that also have exceptional functionality and are very versatile. Most of the goods are sold only in bulk.

Some products, such as food lunch boxes for children, have a very bright and colorful coloring, which will surely delight your child.

Our prices for all types of goods are quite competitive and much lower than in most of our competitors' stores in this market.

Homemade food is not only tastier, but also healthier than fast food or lunch at a nearby cafe. It’s good that in our time “food to go” has become a fashion trend for everyone who is passionate about a healthy lifestyle and takes care of their family members. Light snacks can be carried with you in convenient and beautiful lunch boxes, and soups are kept hot in special thermoses. Such devices make life easier, it remains only to choose among the variety what is right for you. Let's take a look at a few options that are available in DesignBoom.

Compact snacks

In full screen

If you're looking for a container that's small but roomy enough for your child to carry their school lunch in, the Emerald GoEat™ Lunch Box from British brand Joseph Joseph is the way to go. It consists of two departments. In the lower, divided by a partition, you can store dry food - salad ingredients, nuts, fruits, cereals or pasta. The top container is ideal for snacks and liquid meals. Its lid is equipped with a special locking ring that prevents leakage. There is a chance to bring lunch without staining the contents of the bag or briefcase, while the food will retain its taste and aroma. Food can be reheated in the microwave after removing the lid.

Double Decker Lunch

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In some containers it is convenient to take two meals with you at once. This is suitable for those who do not have time to have breakfast or work in shifts. In this case, pay attention to multi-level lunch boxes with several sections. Agree, it’s better to customize the containers for yourself than trying to “get along” with a smaller lunch box and fight your appetite. Model MB Original jungle from the French manufacturer Monbento meets the requirements listed above. Two 500 ml containers are placed one above the other and secured with a special strap. The kit includes a gravy boat, which also serves as a convenient container divider into separate sections. The container has an elegant design, is made of food-safe plastic and is suitable for heating in the microwave. However, it is not recommended to carry liquid foods in it.

Food is like a holiday

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Italian lunch box O EAT burgundy from Guzzini resembles a designer and is made as a designer accessory. With this device, you can create a varied and balanced diet, enjoying delicious food, without looking up from work. Such nutrition has an immediate effect on performance and productivity.

The design consists of two containers, the halves of which can be combined with each other. Dividing partitions and silicone tape are used for reliable fixation in the boxes.

The material of which this bright and cheerful lunch box is made does not contain toxic components and can be heated up to 100 ° C. Looking at this accessory, the mood and appetite rise. Still, the Italians know how to turn every meal into a holiday!

A bowl of soup in a handbag

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English manufacturers have pleased with another novelty - an orange Food Flask thermos from Black + Blum made of stainless steel. Now you can carry soups and other hot dishes with you, regardless of whether you have a microwave in the office or not.

Thanks to the vacuum flask and double walls, the food stays hot for up to six hours. The thermos can be carried even in a horizontal position. A sealed lid with a silicone seal will prevent liquid from leaking out of the container. All parts of the device are made of environmentally friendly materials.

A standard serving of 400 ml of food is placed in the container - this is a deep enough plate, so you will not be left hungry. The spoon is designed so ergonomically that it is convenient to scoop food from the bottom with it. It is attached to the thermos with a soft faux leather strap, so it will never get lost in a bag or backpack.

For example, sandwiches made from two halves of whole grain bread, between which you can put lettuce leaves, boiled chicken or a slice of beef, hard cheese, cucumber circles and bell pepper rings, are very tasty, healthy and convenient. Sandwiches should be closed, without sauces and soiled foods, so that the child can comfortably snack. The container has enough space for vegetables, hard fruits and nuts.

In the DesignBoom online store you can buy a food container for every taste and color. For users of the site "Eat at Home" until January 30, 2019, there is an exclusive 20% discount on all lunch boxes. To take advantage of this unique opportunity, enter the promo code edimdoma20 in a special line at checkout. Enjoy delicious and healthy snacks from the perfect lunch boxes!

Catering for passengers on board an aircraft is an extremely important and rather complicated process, in which a number of factors must be taken into account, including the duration of the flight, time of day, type of aircraft, passenger service class and much more. As a rule, on short and night flights, passengers are offered a compact lunch box with sandwiches, nuts, mineral water and other drinks. On long flights, hot meals are provided every four hours. The ration depends on the class of service, but always includes at least three or four dishes (meat, fish, poultry), as well as tea, coffee, juices. Meals for first and business class passengers are distinguished by a wider range of delicacies. Grocery sets are formed not in stock, but in batches as the order arrives. Dishes are prepared, served and packaged in accordance with strict sanitary standards, because the poisoning of passengers during the flight is fraught with serious complications. At the end of serving, the dish is closed with cellophane or a lid, and then stored at a certain temperature until serving in carts already on board. Ready-made cold dishes are packaged on plates, half-trays and placed in special containers before serving to passengers; products in vacuum packaging - in thermal containers or cooler bags; some components of the diet are stored in individual packaging (the so-called snack boxes, lunch boxes, diner boxes). All packaged products are labeled - information about the content, manufacturer, release date and expiration date, as well as the flight number, date, and time of departure. The menu for flight attendants in most cases is the same as for passengers. But much more stringent requirements are imposed on the quality of food for the flight crew. Meals for pilots are prepared separately; at all stages of preparation, packaging, transportation, the kits undergo numerous checks and are marked with special markings. Passenger service varies depending on the class of service. In the first one, it is similar to a restaurant one: first - an appetizer, then - hot and then dessert. In other classes, all dishes are brought immediately. The table setting is also different. In economy and business classes, food is usually served in a disposable container, and disposable or reusable plastic utensils are also used. Hot dishes are packaged in special aluminum containers (cassettes) or plastic ones made of crystallized polyethylene terephthalate, which are able to withstand temperatures above +150 °C without deformation. In first-class lounges, meals are served in porcelain or even crystal dishes (unlike ordinary aviation dishes, they are thinner and stronger), with cutlery made of stainless steel or cupronickel. Disposable in-flight catering packaging is most often made from polymers and aluminium. It must meet a number of criteria such as safety for human health, inertness to food ingredients and resistance to the development of microorganisms, as well as be light in weight and compact. Many airlines have limited requirements for package sizes, which is related to the dimensions of on-board equipment (containers, trolleys, etc.). The cost of a power kit can vary significantly depending on the budget of companies. For Russian carriers, it costs an average of 3-4 dollars, for Western carriers - 5-6 dollars, sometimes even more. In most cases, the cost of the food package is automatically included in the ticket and is up to 5% of the total ticket price. Air catering experts emphasize that catering simply cannot be cheap due to the cost of security and difficult logistics. However, in recent years, a segment of low-cost airlines has formed on the international market, where food is not at all an obligatory part of the flight: this gives the passenger the opportunity to save money. If desired, he can order products from the menu for some money. Sky Express is the only Russian carrier operating in the low-cost segment. According to data for 2007, on average, each of its passengers purchases food in the amount of 50 rubles during the flight, and the main sales here are not provided by ready-made packaged sets of products, but by separate items - sandwiches, chocolate bars, etc.

Kitchen factories

Issues related to the formation of food packages for in-flight meals are the responsibility of air catering companies. Among them there are enterprises with a full production cycle (from the purchase of raw materials, preparation of dishes to their packaging and packaging, as well as bottling of drinks) and those that purchase ready-made semi-finished products, and then form and deliver sets to order. The second option is preferred by many companies in countries where the industry for the production of ready-made meals and semi-finished products is developed, which meets the stringent requirements of air catering. In Russia, full cycle catering still prevails. The larger the airport, the larger its main catering manufacturer, which is often the only one. In Moscow, as well as in the whole country, the Domodedovo Air Service company is in the lead, depending on the season, producing 45-60 thousand meals daily for 250-300 flights. It provides more than 45 Russian (about 80% of the domestic market of air passenger transportation) and 40 airlines from near and far abroad countries. The second largest is AeroMar (20-45 thousand meals) - a joint venture between Aeroflot and LSG Sky Chefs Corporation, the world's No. 1 company in the production of flight meals for air carriers. Then follow "Restaurant at MA Vnukovo" (15-25 thousand sets) and "Aero-Food Catering" - "daughter" of Sheremetyevo International Airport. In St. Petersburg, the in-flight catering service of the STC Rossiya, located at the Pulkovo airport (about 10 thousand), is the leader in the aviation catering market. 6 thousand rations per day). A special niche is occupied by the Moscow company Provider-Service - it serves exclusively VIP passengers. Catering packaging in Russia is produced and sold by no more than four or five companies, including Planet Thermoforming, Misteria, and the SHL group. They offer disposable lunch boxes (PET, polystyrene) for cold and hot dishes, snack boxes, plates, salad bowls, cups, glasses, cutlery of domestic production, as well as reusable plastic dishes from the largest foreign manufacturers De Ster, W.K. Thomas and others. The leading domestic manufacturer of aviation aluminum casseroles for hot dishes is RUSAL-Sayan foil. Representatives of companies that failed to enter the market for disposable flight catering packaging complain about its closeness and tight control by officials. Indeed, the number of players in the air catering segment is very limited, and there are few suppliers of packaging for on-board food packages. It is very difficult for new companies to enter this segment, even despite ongoing tenders. Meanwhile, it should be noted that the catering market is closed not only in Russia, but throughout the world, including for security reasons. Abroad, flight catering is mainly produced by airport holdings or global operators such as LSG Sky Chefs, which operates in more than two hundred airports. There are very few small independent companies in this market. Although it is quite possible to assume that Russian business realities only exacerbate this closeness. Thus, the Provider-Service company was once not allowed into Vnukovo, whose general director Alla Suchinskaya filed an application with the antimonopoly service and won the court. By the way, in her opinion, talk about the impossibility of entering this market is greatly exaggerated. However, this is a very difficult business, so there are very few people who want to invest in the struggle for a place and take risks from scratch.

Market in flight?

Domestic manufacturers of disposable catering packaging consider this market to be very attractive, because the volume of air transportation in Russia is increasing every year. So, according to the Association of Producers of Services for Passengers in Transport, in 2006, domestic airlines carried 38 million passengers, and in 2007 this figure increased by as much as 18%! Accordingly, with the growth of passenger traffic, the demand for food packages increases, and then for packaging for them. At the same time, according to packers, the main share of sales is made up of standard plastic containers. Sometimes, instead of the usual transparent lunch boxes or white plates, airlines order colored ones (to match the corporate color of the airline), sometimes with corporate symbols. The fact is that the primary issue is still the quality of the dishes, but in the packaging you can do without any special frills - the main thing is that it meets sanitary standards. The global catering market is, according to experts, in a state of stagnation. Most foreign carriers seek to save money, and first of all, they “sacrifice” the catering of economy class passengers. This principle is followed by Russian airlines.

According to experts, over the past ten years, Aeroflot's expenses for passenger meals have almost halved: if earlier the price of a meal in economy class was $5, now it is about $3.8. Of course, in this situation, it does not make sense for carriers to invest heavily in improving the appearance or design of single-use packaging. However, not everyone is so pessimistic. Despite the difficulties, the market for in-flight catering packaging is still developing. Domodedovo Air Service specialists note that the requirements of air carriers for packing and packaging are growing: “If earlier the factory packed grocery sets for Russian airlines mainly in disposable tableware and containers, now more orders are received for serving in reusable dishes.” Domestic catering companies are introducing technology for packaging perishable food products in a gas-modified environment. The Domodedovo Air Service, which introduced this method back in July 2003, became a pioneer in this area not only in aviation, but also in the entire food market. In the process of packing dishes with gas, a special package with high barrier properties is used, which ensures tightness and prevents the penetration of aggressive environments and oxygen. In June 2008, Domodedovo Air Service, together with the engineering center Gastronorm, launched a consulting project, within which a set of works will be carried out to optimize the packaging of in-flight rations. During the experiments, the latest packaging technologies for finished products used at in-flight catering plants in the United Arab Emirates, England and America will be tested. Another trend is the gradual transition to environmentally friendly and easily recyclable packaging. Thus, in September, Aeroflot announced a set of measures aimed at reducing the consumption of fuel and other energy resources and, at the same time, at improving environmental performance. Along with the renewal of the aircraft fleet, the introduction of an electronic ticket and other actions, plastic containers and cups will be replaced with paper ones. Some Russian airlines use single-use packaging as a tool to build passenger loyalty. For example, food for children is packaged in a specially designed colorful lunch box and supplemented with a funny toy. And here is an even more interesting example: at the request of Austrian Airlines, Chef Helmut Osterreicher, who has four crowns (the national equivalent of Michelin stars), came up with dishes for economy class passengers on short flights. Light snacks from the “chef of the decade” are served packed in a special Austrian Snack Box, the lid of which can be torn off and sent as a postcard to anywhere in the world for free. According to the company's specialists, sometimes up to 4,000 such postcards are sent per day. But the majority of Russian catering companies and air carriers are not yet up to postcards: first of all, the issue of the quality of in-flight meals should be resolved. Chief State Sanitary Doctor of the Russian Federation Gennady Onishchenko noted that, according to the data of the departments of Rospotrebnadzor for the subjects of the Russian Federation, in 2005-2006, 490 inspections of in-flight catering shops were carried out. Of the 1,500 laboratory samples taken from finished products on board aircraft, more than 11% did not meet the microbiological standards. In in-flight catering shops, this figure on average in Russia amounted to 5%. Moreover, in a number of regions it significantly exceeded the average Russian one: in the Krasnoyarsk Territory - 50%, in the Samara and Kurgan Regions - 40%, in the Republic of Dagestan - more than 28%. It is not for nothing that in February 2007, the Federal Service for Supervision of Consumer Rights Protection and Human Welfare issued a resolution “On Ensuring the Sanitary and Epidemiological Safety of In-Flight Catering for Air Passengers and Aircraft Crew Members” in connection with the deterioration in the quality of food on Russian airlines. Representatives of airlines complain that today there are no mechanisms that would regulate the market for the provision of catering services in transport. Previously, there was a certification system for the production of catering, but it was in conflict with Russian law, so it was canceled. Although Rospotrebnadzor carries out one-time inspections, it simply does not have mechanisms to influence the situation as a whole. The quality of the packaging is also not controlled by anyone.

Under the sound of wheels

Catering on trains is another seemingly attractive market for food industry players, if not for one “but”. The fact is that in our country JSC "Russian Railways" is a monopoly carrier and does not want to give away a single tidbit of "its" business. This is understandable, because the catering service, for example, brings in 5% of the income from passenger transportation, although the profit could be more. Unlike aviation, where on-board meals became standard immediately with the advent of regular flights, food packages in lunch boxes appeared on the Russian railway only in the early 1990s and have not become particularly widespread during this time. Now they can be obtained in luxury carriages, which, according to Russian Railways, are used by only 6% of passengers, or about 6.2 million people. Tickets with guaranteed meals are purchased by 5.5% of the total number of long-distance passengers. The average price for a standard set of products is 200-300 rubles plus 20% service charge. An average of 15–35 people per train eat in dining cars. RZD leases about half of the restaurant cars to private catering operators who not only serve visitors, but also deliver lunch boxes to luxury cars (business class and economy class). And the main manufacturer of food packages for railways is Domodedovo Air Service. The company delivers 2-3 thousand rations per day to 37 trains leaving the capital's railway stations. But, of course, it cannot fully meet the needs of the market, so today demand exceeds supply. According to the requirements, the ration of guaranteed hot meals on the train must consist of a cold appetizer, a hot dish of your choice, fruits, confectionery, mineral water, tea, coffee, sugar. A "cold" set may include yoghurts, croissants, butter, melted cheese or caviar in small packages, fresh cheese or sausage in individual packaging, as well as drinks, juices. But in practice, everything is much more prosaic. “Have you seen the lunch boxes that are usually given on trains these days? - angry one of the interlocutors PG. - This is such a plastic thing, where greasy sausage is cut, yogurt and a roll are put, which can kill. For this, 300 rubles are taken. RZD regularly reveals passengers' preferences regarding meals on the way through surveys. Lyubov Polkovnikova, Deputy Head of the Catering and Passenger Service Department of the Federal Passenger Directorate of Russian Railways, says: “Most passengers prefer hot meals. In addition, many want to see fresh fruits and vegetables on the menu. But this often makes it difficult to comply with sanitary standards: such products quickly deteriorate, although the latest technologies using a modified gas environment make it possible to meet such desires. Guaranteed food sets, the so-called lunchboxes, are criticized the most. Passengers are already tired of such rations, we will gradually move away from this. Moreover, we plan to completely change the concept of catering on the railway - from food standards and cooking systems to dishes and packaging. Now, for example, different utensils and packaging are used depending on the class of the car. For business class passengers, meals are served on porcelain dishes, cutlery is made of stainless steel, plastic containers and disposable cutlery are used for service in economy class carriages. In some directions, foam boxes are used, adopted in the fast food system, in others - cassettes, as in airplanes. Obviously, it is necessary to switch to a single standard of diets and their serving.” In the future, Russian Railways specialists intend to achieve the same high-tech food as on board an aircraft. “In the West, they don’t cook in dining cars, but only warm up and serve dishes. Of course, there are no such long routes in Europe, the journey takes 2–4 hours, and in Russia we will not be able to completely abandon cooking in dining cars, but we strive to minimize this,” says Lyubov Polkovnikova. The lag behind foreign countries is also due to the fact that the rolling stock of Russian Railways is outdated. About 200 out of 880 restaurant cars are suitable for work on new technologies (using ready-made frozen meals). But cardinal changes have already begun to occur in the catering system in railway transport. In the fall of 2008, the Arpikom company, which manages several restaurant chains, announced that it was entering the in-flight catering segment for train passengers by creating a joint venture with Russian Railways, Unified Food Network. The joint venture is already building the first high-tech factory-kitchen for the production of ready-made food. Mikhail Zelman, the founder of Arpikom and Unified Nutrition Network, said in an interview with Food Servise: “I am convinced that the hospitality industry in our country has reached a turning point, after which it should develop differently. Now it is necessary to offer solutions in the field of mass catering, and not to develop local restaurants. Russian Railways constantly holds tenders to provide passengers with meals on trains. But why don't we participate in them today? We do not want to collect boxes of dubious products on the knees of low-skilled personnel. Our cooperation with Russian Railways is different: we have created a joint venture "United Power Supply Network". This is a company that invests in the construction of factories that will produce a fundamentally new product. There are only a few such productions all over the world, and in Russia there is not a single one at all. If we compare our factory with the existing production of Domodedovo Air Service, then this is like cars produced in 1905 and 2005. Both will take you to the place, but the efficiency of work cannot even be compared. In our production, the human factor is practically leveled. On the contrary, we are trying to simplify the technology. It is not possible to prepare full-cycle meals on board. There is no guarantee that you will not be poisoned, as technological failures can occur. Only the heating and serving operations can be left on board. Our task is to choose dishes that will not lose quality when heated. I am convinced that technology today makes it possible to achieve better quality food in large-scale production than when cooking at home. And talk about "grandma's food" is all marketing. There should be professional food standards and a single menu on board.” The total investment in the project is about $100 million.