How Emirates airline serves 149 meals per minute 40,000 feet up in the air

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Did you know Emirates serves as much as 149 meals every minute? That is about 215,000 meals served every day at 40,000 feet for its 490 daily flights at different time zones across the world.

Offering an insight into its global operations, the Dubai-based carrier said it serves more than 77 million customers a year and it takes about 1,400 chefs, excluding kitchen help, to make the meals at the Emirates Flight Catering Facility in Dubai and across partner caterers in other destinations.

In a year, Emirates prepares 6 million kg of chicken; 3.1 million kg of freshly baked breads and pastries, 2.2 million kg of whole potatoes, 1.7 million kg of pasteurised eggs, 350,000 kg of beef, 266,000 kg of Atlantic salmon fillets and thousands of vegan and vegetarian meals.

Emirates’ chefs and cooks use more than 938,000 kg of fresh cream, 32,000 kg of Masala cashew nuts, 98,000 kg of fresh strawberries and 42,000 kg of green salads from Emirates-owned Bustanica – touted as the world’s largest vertical farm.

Flavour and flair

Yearly, first and business class customers dine on 1.2 million beef tenderloin steaks, consume 3.5 million single-serve bottles of olive oil and balsamic vinegar imported from Italy and 14,000 kg of Australian Yarra Valley feta cheese. First class flyers also enjoy unlimited caviar amounting to a about 10,350 kg every year.

Emirates also serves regional specialities such as truffle, foie gras, black cod, Canadian lobster, corn-fed chicken breast, Japanese nori seaweed, Emirates handmade pasta, sushi and glacier 51 fish.

There are also gourmet garnishes like Bzar spices from the Gulf, Beurre D’Isigny butter, gold and silver leaf - served on more than 300 Emirates desserts, Himalayan pink salt, saffron and edible flowers for delicate and fragrant presentation.

Special treats

On several European routes, Emirates noted they are treating economy passengers to individual pots of creamy organic ice cream.

For snacks, Emirates serves two million packages of mixed nuts in various sizes, 250,000 dates, 22,000 kg of Kalamata olives and more than 40 million pieces of gourmet chocolate.

Emirates also serves 1.2 million litres of orange juice and prepares 2.3 million teabags and 70,300 kg of ground coffee – aside from offering bubbles and spirits.