SriLankan Catering (Pvt) Limited, the inflight catering arm of the SriLankan Airlines Group, won a prestigious global award in the Food & Beverage category at the Mercury Awards, the aviation industry competition conducted by the International Flight Catering Association.

“The management and staff of SriLankan Catering are delighted at winning this Mercury Award,” said Dilip Nijhawan, CEO of SriLankan Catering. “It was a great team effort. The Savoury Sandwich Gateau was made in Frankfurt (including the baking of the bread) and presented to the Jury for tasting immediately thereafter.”

The competition was held in Frankfurt, Germany, and the award was presented at the IFCA’s conference in Copenhagen, Denmark. The annual Mercury Awards have inflight caterers, airlines, and all types of airline catering suppliers competing in five categories – Onboard Service; Food & Beverage; Equipment; Skills Development; and Systems & Process Development.

SriLankan Catering’s winning entry was a unique “Savoury Sandwich Gateau,” a delicious, appetizing, wholesome and nutritious sandwich that is designed to be a meal in itself. The sandwich is in the shape of a cake, and at first glance looks like one, hence its unusual name.

“The Savoury Sandwich Gateau was tested on several sectors of SriLankan Airlines before being entered in the competition,” said Sudhish Pande, Production Manager at SriLankan Catering. “Lack of serving time on short sector flights led to the development of this product. It is a meal in itself which can be served at any time of day or night, and can be served as a snack by reducing its size. It has become a talking point onboard flights as passengers are pleasantly surprised by the novelty of the presentation.”

The Savoury Sandwich Gateau contains two layers of meat fillings – smoked salmon and smoked turkey – together with pickled cucumbers, onions, chopped boiled eggs, peppers, and a sauce of mayonnaise and curd, between three layers of different types of breads, with a garnish of lime and tomato wedges. Petit fours and pralines are used as accompaniments. It is precut to facilitate easy service onboard flights.

SriLankan Catering is an ISO 9001:2000 company that handles inflight catering for airlines that fly through Colombo, including SriLankan Airlines, and also operates the restaurants at Bandaranaike International Airport. With the rapid growth of airline traffic through Colombo in recent years, SriLankan Catering’s flight kitchen has continuously expanded its activities and presently produces an average of 10,500 meals per day. The company is completing construction on a new flight kitchen that would triple its production capacity at the end of this year.

Media Relations Section
Corporate Communications Division
SriLankan Airlines

July 7th, 2005