“The partnership is a perfect way to help our customers improve their net promoter score (NPS) and customer satisfaction by serving what their passengers desire,” says Sven Pawelka, Head of Partnership Management at the LSG Group, pointing at The Vegetarian Butcher’s connection to Unilever Food Solutions, dedicated supplier for the food service industry. “Global networks and brands renowned for sublime quality and innovation power are coming together to support each other in an international business. This is a perfect match.”

The LSG Group plans to offer its customers the ability to cater to passengers on a vegetarian diet, as well as flexitarians and meat lovers – thanks to The Vegetarian Butcher’s broad range of plant-based products that allow people to continue to enjoy their favorite meat dishes without giving up the taste or texture. Paired with the knowledge and understanding of the LSG Group’s Culinary Excellence Team in making complex food flyable, creations that have never hit the skies before now become possibilities.

“Together, we will be exploring how the future might look like and where to realize first joint projects with customers,” says Pia Fernekes, Manager Partnership Management at the LSG Group. A first taste of the partnership will be delivered at the WTCE, hall 1A, stand 1E20, where The Vegetarian Butcher is set to support the company’s booth party with plant-based bites from different international cuisines, joining in LSG Sky Chefs’ culinary guiding theme, “Flavors of the World.”

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Looking to reassert its standing in the industry, the theme will be a reaffirmation of its mission: “We connect food and people. Everywhere.” By focusing on its legacy mission, the company is doubling down on its goal of being recognized as the leading global inflight catering provider, with clear strategic goals in place and a determination to deliver innovation, operational efficiency and value creation across the industries it serves.

“Our debut as a standalone company at this year’s WTCE represents a pivotal moment for our expert brands LSG Sky Chefs and Retail inMotion, as we reaffirm our commitment to shaping the future of aviation catering and onboard retail,” said Alexandra Appel, Head of Communications and Marketing at the LSG Group. “With a refreshed and sustainable booth design and a team of experts presenting our product range, we aim to strike a balance between continuity and innovation, showcasing our longstanding industry leadership and relationships with customers.”

That aim is reflected in a booth environment that will seamlessly blend its innovative spirit with its long legacy. From holograms that showcase cutting-edge technology to private lounges designed to be idea-generating spaces, visitors will be invited to immerse themselves in a unique sensory experience infused with an enticing culinary theme that will spotlight the company’s vast capabilities and reach in this core area: “Flavors of the World.” The theme is a celebration of the diversity of the company’s network of chefs.  From fine-dining menus to casual bar snacks, attendees will be able to indulge in a fusion of global flavors curated by the company’s culinary experts on site.

As further evidence of the company’s commitment to its sustainability goals, each dish’s carbon footprint will be calculated as a baseline for fueling substantive discussions related to menu development. LSG Sky Chefs will also be showcasing its vision of the “Airline Catering of the Future,” a holistic and data-driven concept that blends products and services with advances in technology across the entire travel value chain. 

The company intends to expand visitor’s experience beyond the booth with panel discussions like the Passenger Experience Conference on “Cycle Proofing the Cabin” and the Taste of Travel on “Fighting Fraud in the Cabin.” An exclusive by-invitation-only evening customer event is additionally planned to honor and celebrate existing relationships. Building on what has become a tradition at the WTCE, partners Barilla, Kaelis and Cuisine Solutions will also be contributing to the company’s presence this year with a combined dining experience marrying culinary expertise with innovating ware design. The launch of a new and exciting partnership in the area of plant-based products is also in the works. 

“We are proud to once again bring our presence to the WTCE in 2024, which is our industry’s premiere event,” said Philipp Hees, Head of Sales EMEA Region. “This being our first full year as a standalone organization, it marks a new chapter for the company as we continue to aim at exceeding expectations at every level, drive industry standards and deliver superb value and quality to our customers worldwide.”  

“Our teams from around the world will be present, and they are eager to welcome and host our valued customers and discuss the novelties and trends of our industry,” said Laura Roesges, CCO at Retail inMotion. “The WTCE is the perfect forum to meet face-to-face and engage in in-depth conversations about how we can best meet their needs and take their onboard-retail offering to the next level.”  

The WTCE takes place at the Hamburg Messe in Germany, May 28-30. The LSG Group stand will be located in hall A1 (1E20).

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In the first half of 2023, the LSG Group reported a consolidated revenue of EUR 1,107 million, compared to EUR 857 during the same period in 2022, which translates into a 29 percent increase. This is thanks to continuing positive trends across all geographical regions of the company, particularly North America and Asia-Pacific.  

The LSG Group’s result turned positive in the first half of 2023. The adjusted EBIT (earning before interests and taxes) improved by EUR 23 million to EUR 10 million after a loss of minus EUR 13 million in the previous year. As a reflection of the overall business recovery, the number of FTEs as of the end of June was 20,918, a 21 percent increase over last year. “We are on track with our business performance and pleased with this positive result in the first half of the year, despite suffering a negative impact from currency developments,” said LSG Group CFO Holger Fleige. “Overall, we are looking optimistically forward to the coming months and especially expect the Asian market to continue to recover.”

Business wins and extensions  

In the span of the quarter, LSG Sky Chefs won new business and extended classic catering contracts across all regions. Among the business wins are contracts with Delta Air Lines in Auckland (AKL), New Zealand, and Air Tahiti in Seattle (SEA), Washington, USA. There were also extensions secured with Cathay Cargo in the U.S., in Anchorage (ANC), Alaska, Miami (MIA), Florida and Pittsburgh (PIT), Pennsylvania. Emirates also extended its contract in Beijing (PEK), China. In the area of food commerce, there was a new deal signed with food services company Samsung Welstory (canteen/cafeteria catering) in South Korea and a contract extended with Home Chef (meal kits) in Raleigh-Durham (RDU), North Carolina, USA. 

Innovation and Digitalization  

The latest LSG Group innovation is called AICA, a consumption analytics tool that offers airline customers the ability to adjust their onboard service to better satisfy the tastes of their passengers and minimize waste. “Next,” the company’s own innovation program continues to make progress with the training of the first slate of facilitators. They are now prepared to conduct and guide innovation workshops, both internally and with customers, to drive new ideas forward faster from conception to implementation. Virtual reality is also making its way into the company’s operations with the latest virtual truck driver training, and virtual tours of its facilities that can save customers travel time and resources. 

WTCE 2023 

At this year’s World Travel Catering and Onboard Services Expo (WTCE) in Hamburg, Germany, the industry’s largest trade show, the emphasis was on the value of partnerships for the future of the LSG Group. At the center of the company’s booth was the culinary stand where chefs prepared a slew of enticing dishes alongside strategic partners like pasta giant Barilla and sous-vide specialist Cuisine Solutions, all served on equipment courtesy of partner Kaelis. In addition, the company invited its joint venture partners from around the world to learn more and lend their support to the execution of the three-pillar strategy mentioned above. 

Awards 

LSG Sky Chefs North America was recognized at the WTCE as Airline Caterer of the Year 2023 by PAX International, a leading industry publication. Meanwhile, at the Onboard Hospitality Awards, the consumption analytics tool AICA was named Catering Innovation of the Year . For its part, RiM took two Onboard Hospitality Awards in the Best Onboard Beverage category for their Deux Frères dry gin, and Best Onboard Innovation for their Currywurst & Fries in the Sky that is served on Eurowings. 

Sustainability and People 

The LSG Group recently set a number of sustainability targets and corresponding key performance indicators (KPIs) under the People, Planet and Prosperity umbrellas. Those targets will now be broken down further. The goal is to allow the organization to take ownership of these targets at their most granular level, so that achieving them becomes an accumulation of wins across the company’s network. As it seeks to also achieve its sustainability targets under the People umbrella, the LSG Group’s own internal LGBTQ support network, Rainbow Sky, continues to carve out its place within the company’s corporate culture. The network aims at further promoting diversity, equity and inclusion within the Group.

“All of these developments point in one direction,” said Erdmann Rauer, LSG Group CEO. “Our company is well on track, both financially and strategically, to becoming a stand-alone organization, with the full support of our future owner. That is why we are continuing to pursue our three-pillar strategy with renewed motivation, as we further develop our business and master our challenges while creating value for our customers. At this inflection point in our history, we remain a strong and innovative organization with a clear vision to assert leadership in the market.”

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The Group bagged the award for Catering Innovation of the Year: AICA, the LSG Group’s consumption analytics tool, powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI). The sophisticated AI-powered tool scans food trays post-flight to offer detailed insights into passengers’ consumption habits.

The Group’s expert brand, Retail inMotion, specialists in onboard retail solutions, were awarded Best Onboard Beverage for their innovative color-changing dry gin when tonic water is added, Deux Frères. In addition, the team also received a “Highly commended” for Catering Innovation of the Year for their Currywurst & Fries in the Skies entry.

CEO, Erdmann Rauer commented, “This recognition is testament to the hard work of our amazing colleagues, who have worked tirelessly to pioneer the latest innovations and raise the bar for our customers. The award recognizes the immense effort and dedication of our teams and celebrates their pioneering spirit.”

For more than five decades, the LSG Group has been creating and delivering products and services that meet the needs of its customers, while maintaining a commitment to quality and customer satisfaction. This commitment was recognized by the Onboard Hospitality Award judges, who commended the LSG Group for its commitment to innovation and customer service.

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The Vegan Menu: An indulgence from root to leaf

The secret to excellent vegan cuisine: It’s not just the vegetable, it’s what you make of it. Each dish revolves around just one vegetable, prepared in surprisingly many ways and combined with a fruit or nut. The idea behind this display of sheer versatility was to show that vegan ingredients can make for a complete dish.

When sustainability is key, ingenuity is too. Our principle: to use all edible components of a plant-based ingredient. The result: endless possibilities to prepare and enjoy vegan meals. Indulge in the extraordinary versatility in look, consistency and – of course – taste.

The Partnership Menu: Partnerships for excellence

The quality of the ingredients determines the quality of the dish. This is why we choose our partners carefully. Their extraordinary products, combined with our culinary excellence are the best pre-conditions to fulfilling our vision of outstanding creations and to leave memorable impressions.

With partnerships in focus at this year’s WTCE, we invited NotCo, Cuisine Solutions, Barilla and Kaelis to talk about our collaboration. Sebastian Schäfer and his Culinary Excellence team reveal what will be on the menu in Hamburg. 

This menu highlights three of our partners: Barilla is the manufacturer of finest Italian pasta, including the new Al Bronzo series with durum wheat and high-quality proteins. Cuisine Solutions are specialists in perfectly cooked proteins, sauces and vegetables. NotCo delivers the taste of animal products without using animal products. Sustainable and delicious.

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These material topics were identified in a materiality assessment considering the perspectives of relevant stakeholders, and are thus central to the strategy of this leading provider of catering services. For each material topic, experts from the responsible function(s) defined a strategic target for 2030 that they have now translated into short-, mid- and long-term goals. This prioritization of topics provides the structure and foundation for the employees working on it to define concrete steps that will increase the impact of existing sustainability initiatives and pave the way for integrating new sustainability topics. 

To evaluate the company´s sustainability performance, Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) serve as the framework. It is also used as a measuring tool to document and maintain accountability. Based on ESG, the LSG Group introduced People, Planet, and Prosperity as the three dimensions and core of the company´s sustainability strategy. The targets allow the LSG Group to strategically create shared value for its relevant stakeholders and make a positive impact in terms of People, Planet and Prosperity.

With the aim of embedding sustainability in every aspect of the business, leading experts and practitioners from the respective business areas have set the following targets that address the most relevant sustainability challenges and opportunities for the company.

People

• Occupational Health & Safety: 100% of the company’s Customer Service Centers (CSCs) will become safer places to work by meeting their global standard safety criteria by 2030.
• Diversity & Equal Opportunities: The LSG Group aims to achieve equal opportunities for all genders in leadership positions. The Group will double the number of women in senior leadership positions globally, aiming for 40% by 2030.
• Working Conditions & Employer Attractiveness: 80% of the employees will consider the LSG Group a “good place to work” by 2030.

Planet

• Emissions with Climate Effect: 50% reduction of their CO2 emissions by 2030.
• Waste Management: 50% reduction of waste disposal to landfill by 2030.

Prosperity

• Supplier Sustainability:
  • Suppliers representing 80% of their spend will meet the minimum supplier sustainability criteria by 2030.
  • 100% of their contracted suppliers will comply with their Code of Conduct and CSR compliance obligation by 2030.

“At the LSG Group, we are working toward making sustainability a part of our DNA,” said Simon Frischemeier, Head of Sustainability Management and Chief of Staff. “While this is an ongoing process, we are committed to this journey and will continue to take steps toward a more sustainable future, along with other strategic priorities like innovation and digitalization.”

“With our sustainability strategy, and the change in culture that comes with it, we are accelerating our transformation, making the company more future-proof and further orienting our portfolio toward sustainability,” added CEO Erdmann Rauer. “I would like to thank every employee who has contributed to developing our strategy and who, despite the challenging times, continue to prioritize sustainability. We still have a long way to go, but can already see the opportunities that come with focusing on sustainability and the positive impact it has across our business, as well as in collaboration with our partners.”

For more information about the LSG Group´s sustainability strategy visit the sustainability page.

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As it prepares to become a stand-alone organization with its future owner, the AURELIUS Group, the company is concentrated on the aggressive development of its leading areas of business. With classic airline catering remaining at its core through LSG Sky Chefs, the company wants to continue cementing its footprint in onboard retail as its growth engine through subsidiary Retail inMotion, and food commerce as the enabler of further expansion. 

At the WTCE, and under the theme “Destination Now – Time to join forces,” the emphasis will be on a hybrid-flight concept that brings together a number of products and services that have gained a substantial level of maturity over the past year, and the wider reach of its portfolio through partnerships. Examples include their in-flight management suite, forecasting tools for onboard retail and AICA, a new product brand under which it is offering a consumption analytics tool that is powered by artificial intelligence. With AICA, a finalist at the Onboard Hospitality Awards, customers will be able to optimize their catering loads and potentially save fuel, reduce waste and enhance the overall passenger experience based on the gathered data. 

“The key to enhancing both the analog and digital customer experience lies in following the trajectory of the entire journey and analyzing the inflection points at which the needs of travelers change,” said Erdmann Rauer, CEO of the LSG Group. “By enriching our portfolio with products like the AI-based AICA and collaborating with strategic partners, we are strengthening our ability to seamlessly customize the entire experience and offer customers and their guests the choices they really want.” 

This all requires a high level of operational efficiency and digitalization that the LSG Group continues to improve on with innovations such as the “intelligent truck,” a catering vehicle with a driver-assistant safety system, an automated canned-beverage sorting machine dubbed the “soda robot,” virtual kitchen tours, virtual personnel training capabilities and the Operations Capability Landscape interface that offers and automatic status view of each LSG Sky Chefs operation around the world, allowing them to flexibly design a customer’s service with the appropriate model and capacities.

When it comes to portfolio-enhancing partnerships, attendees at the show will notice the presence of the likes of onboard-solutions provider Kaelis, sous-vide food producer Cuisine Solutions, plant-based foods powerhouse NotCo and leading pasta manufacturer Barilla. They are all intimately involved in the development of the innovative mixed culinary concepts visitors will get to see and experience at the show. Besides a menu reflecting the extent of their partnerships, there will be a range of vegan choices and a snack bar featuring items from their 360˚onboard retail catalog.

“It is important to keep in mind that these are executable concepts,” said Sebastian Schäfer, Manager Culinary Excellence at the LSG Group. “These are concepts that are ready to fly if a customer chooses to apply them in their onboard service. They have matured in their development to a point where they are deployable and value-adding. We are also embracing our partnerships as a way of letting our present and potential new clients know that we are ready with solutions that work to their benefit and the absolute satisfaction of their passengers.”   

The WTCE takes place June 6-8 at the Hamburg Messe in Germany. The LSG Group stand will be located in Hall 1A, Booth 1E20. 

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“This strategic partnership means a powerful synergy,” says Erdmann Rauer, CEO of the LSG Group. “Together, we will be able to deliver an even more comprehensive offer to the aviation sector and allow airlines to increase their Net Promoter Score (NPS), measuring customer satisfaction. We want to deliver a package that covers exactly what the consumers want and includes more sustainable solutions.”

The LSG Group and Kaelis are planning to expand and diversify their portfolios, offering a range of high-quality and innovative inflight products from classic catering, onboard retail and hybrid offers to amenities, tableware and textiles. The collaboration will facilitate the co-creation of cutting-edge and passenger-centric solutions, tailored to the evolving demands of the travel industry.

The LSG Group and Kaelis will optimize their supply chain networks, leveraging their global footprints to enhance efficiency, reduce costs and enable airlines to enjoy seamless operations and responsive support. With a shared commitment to sustainability, the LSG Group and Kaelis will work together to develop eco-friendly solutions that minimize the environmental impact of inflight operations. Innovation in sustainable materials, packaging and waste management will contribute to a greener travel industry.

“We believe that this strategic partnership between the LSG Group and Kaelis will bring significant value to the onboard industry, positioning us as the preferred choice for airlines seeking top-notch inflight products and services,” says Federico Heitz, CEO of Kaelis. “Together, we are dedicated to creating unforgettable experiences for passengers, driving operational efficiency for airlines, and shaping the future of inflight services.”

Kaelis is the world’s leading independent provider of onboard products, services and solutions, serving 1.5 billion passengers from more than 100 airlines and railway companies in more than 55 countries, with an experience of more than 25 years contributing to customers’ success.

The WTCE takes place June 6-8 at the Hamburg Messe in Germany. The LSG Group stand will be located in Hall 1A, Booth 1E20 and Kaelis’ booth at Hall 1A, Booth 1E10.

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