The LSG Group is set for the WTCE with a guiding strategy and a focus on partnerships
Neu-Isenburg, Germany – The LSG Group is proud to announce its presence at this year’s the World Travel Catering & Onboard Services Expo (WTCE), the leading global inflight catering event, with clear strategic goals in place and a determination to deliver transformation, value and growth across the industries it serves.
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.