Passengers with special dietary needs will be happy to hear that ANA All Nippon Airways is going to add new vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free meals on international flights starting from November 1st.
Ordering special meals has become increasingly popular and the number of passengers who follow a special diet has increased as well so the airline is reacting in offering more choices.
Starting on November 1, 2022 ANA will offer more choices of vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free meals for passengers to enjoy on international routes.
ANA says that this measure will aim to provide “delightful, kind-hearted & comfortable skies for everyone” by expanding the range of meal choices for all passengers to enjoy!
The new menus are part of a special collaboration with THE CONNOISSEURS member Chef Hideki Takayama and ANA Chefs, available to all passengers. ANA will continue to offer meals that meet the dietary preferences of each individual passenger, aiming to provide “delightful, kind-hearted & comfortable skies for everybody.”
You can find more info on their announcement page (access here).
All Nippon Airways (ANA), Japan’s largest and 5-Star airline for nine consecutive years, will begin to offer new vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free meals* starting November 1, which are becoming increasingly popular internationally. As with the previous healthy in-flight dining options that ANA started to serve onboard, these new menus are a collaboration of THE CONNOISSEURS Chef, Hideki Takayama and the ANA chefs.
“Providing inclusive meal options is essential to ensuring our customers with the best in-flight experience,” said Tomoji Ishii, Executive Vice President, Customer Experience Management & Planning of ANA. “We look forward to delivering these high-quality menu items and supplying a range of food options for all of our customers.”
The additions are part of ANA’s continued efforts to provide passengers with a wide variety of choices to suit their tastes and preferences. For example, in October 2021, ANA introduced the renewal of four healthy in-flight meals; diabetic, low fat, low-calorie and low-salt meals, and these menus have been chosen by many customers and are becoming established as an option for all customers. In addition, this past March, ANA began offering a healthy rice bowl topped with a plant-based cutlet for business class passengers on select routes.
“We had a particularly difficult time developing a vegan meal, as ANA strictly follows the guidelines set by Quality & Safety Alliance Inflight Services*,” said Hideki Takayama. “Many ingredients such as dairy products, eggs, fish and meat could not be used, and we also developed the menu without root vegetables to accommodate the eating habits of more customers. With these many restrictions, it was difficult to achieve the same level of results as the gastronomic menu, and at the same time, this was the point we focused on.
As part of ANA’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to promote good health and well-being, offering alternative meal options by universalizing food service, all passengers can enjoy meals that meet their individual food preferences and daily eating habits. By expanding the range of meal choices that all passengers can enjoy, ANA aims to provide a “delightful, kind-hearted & comfortable skies for everybody”. …
ANA always had great inflight catering no matter what class of service you’re traveling in. Even their Economy Class dishes blew me away sometimes.
Here are some sample items for the new menu:
I always like the way Japanese airlines present their meals on a flight. As I mentioned, even in Economy Class the meals look elegant and appetizing contrary to what I’ve often seen even in premium cabins of European and North American carriers.
Details of the collaboration menu and how to order:
Meals
Vegan Meal (VGML), Vegetarian Meal (VLML), Gluten-free Meal (GFML)
Applicable Routes / Service Classes
From November 1, 2022
All international routes from Japan, all classes of service on ANA-operated flights.
Reservations must be made at least 24 hours prior to the scheduled departure time of your flight via ANA website or by telephone.
This is the main website for the special meals!
Here are some of the Business Class options:
As far as quality for inflight catering is concerned, I’d say that Japanese airlines are pretty much setting the benchmark of how it should be prepared and presented. Other carriers should take note but then again, this takes pride in doing what they do and the willingness to spend some money for quality.
Conclusion
If you have special dietary needs and fly with ANA All Nippon Airways from November 1, 2022 you can now choose between new options for special meals.
All of these are available on international routes and have to be ordered at least 24 hours prior to departure in order to be catered for the passengers who wish to obtain them.
ANA has once again proven that they can delivery a high grade catering option for their customers, something that many airlines have neglected to do for many years now. Cost cutting has unfortunately confronted us with some rather disgusting inflight meals on many airlines, so it’s good to see that at least ANA is still keeping their standards.
