Exploring Nutritious Foods for Onboard

With her second article as WTCE Ambassador for Travel Nutrition exploring why it is important for industry to consider nutrition within onboard offerings, she now shares some of her top exhibitor picks to explore at WTCE 2025.

WTCE 2025 is fast approaching and as the ambassador for travel nutrition one of my favourite parts of the expo is talking to exhibitors and exploring their products. As a dietitian and nutritionist there is nothing better than tasting and trying new foods, especially those tailored for travel. When I step onto the expo floor at WTCE 2025 in Hamburg, here are some products and exhibitors I am particularly excited to explore in regard to nutrition innovation for travel.  

(Similar to the note in my 2024 exhibitor picks article, I wanted to highlight that while special meals for dietary requirements do fall under my scope of practice as a travel dietitian I have not featured exhibitors specifically in regards to special diets/meals. This is because Julianne Ponan is the WTCE ambassador for special diets and she has highlighted the exhibitors she is looking forward to visiting.

I am delighted to see Deli Lites (stand 1D91) returning as an exhibitor this year and I am looking forward to exploring their ranges of salads. What caught my eye was their emphasis on vegetables and protein within their salads, not just relying on foods such as rice, noodles or pasta to bulk out the meal. Salads made from a balance of grains, vegetables and protein are important for travel wellbeing and yet many salads served onboard across the globe are not well balanced. So this year I will be stopping by the Deli Lites team to check out what’s new and get the low down on the nutrition of their products.  

Yummy Karma (stand 1C109) piqued my interest for the descriptions of their range of fresh meals to go, pots to go, and veggie bites. Their range of meals are described as having no additives or preservatives. I am looking forward to learning more about the nutrition and ingredients of their meal concepts.

That’s why I can’t wait to dive into the offerings in this area to learn more about the composition of the meals and how they taste. I can just remember my husband years ago talking about his experience with ambient meals in the military and how they weren’t great–that’s why I can’t wait to see how far the technology has come and learn more about the quality of these meals.

With nutrition research highlighting AGE’s (which stands for advanced glycation end products) potential role in negatively affecting our health, I am very interested in visiting the Cuisine Solutions stand (1E51) and learning about their use of the sous vide cooking method. Preparing meals using the sous vide method has the potential to reduce AGE in foods (which develop through high heat cooking such as frying or grilling). I am excited to chat with the team and learn more about the cooking methods and the potential for use in the travel industry because if this method of cooking provides both benefits for the travel industry along with the added boost of being good for us then this is a great win!

Bread is almost synonymous with flying, accompanying main meals as a side, being a main ingredient in sandwiches and rolls served on board, and sometimes even appearing on a cheese plate. With the quality of breads on flights varying due to factors such as ingredients and how they are made, I am always on the lookout for great bread.

High fibre breads made from wholegrains and using traditional baking methods certainly top my list of breads I love to eat. I look forward to stopping by En Route International (stand 1F30) to explore their comprehensive range of breads.

You will certainly find me wandering the expo floor chatting with caterers, suppliers and the airlines/railways to learn more about the nutrition aspects of products. Please don’t hesitate to come up and chat with me! I am always up to talk about my favourite topic of food and how we can use food and nutrition to elevate the passenger experience.

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