dnata Catering & Retail exhibits a live microfarm installation at the World Travel Catering & Onboard Services Expo (WTCE), offering visitors a tangible demonstration of how freshness, sustainability and culinary creativity are shaping the next phase of onboard dining.
Inspired by dnata’s catering facility in Melbourne, the microfarm enables culinary teams to cultivate selected herbs onsite for use in menu development. Since its introduction in 2025, the initiative has supported more than a dozen menu presentations and contributed to improved freshness, reduced waste, sustainability and enhanced menu creativity.
Herbs are harvested daily and incorporated into dishes served across 26 airline customers in Melbourne, highlighting how hyper‑local cultivation can deliver meaningful impact within large‑scale airline catering environments. Building on its success, dnata is set to expand the microfarm concept to additional catering facilities in 2026, including Brisbane, Sydney and Perth.
At WTCE, the live installation will feature a 96‑punnet microfarm cabinet, demonstrating how chefs integrate freshly harvested ingredients into menu design, with approximately 60 dishes already influenced by the initiative.
Robin Padgett, CEO of dnata Catering & Retail, said: “As passenger expectations continue to evolve, airlines are placing greater emphasis on freshness, creativity and inclusivity in onboard dining.
“Our presence at WTCE highlights how dnata is responding through initiatives such as our microfarm and the continued evolution of special meals, working closely with our partners to enhance both the quality and relevance of the onboard experience.”
Elevating special meals and passenger experience
Alongside the microgarden showcase, dnata will highlight its refined approach to special meals, reflecting growing airline focus on catering to diverse dietary, cultural and lifestyle requirements.
Special meals play an important role in shaping passenger perceptions of onboard dining and offer a valuable opportunity to enhance overall satisfaction. dnata currently supports 20 special meal categories.
At WTCE, visitors will experience a curated selection of dishes demonstrating culinary creativity, precision and the operational expertise required to deliver special meals consistently at global scale. Some dishes include:
Slow cooked vegetable tagine, freekeh pilaf, preserved lemon and date chutney (VGML, VLML, MOML, HNML, NLML)*
Crab ravioli with whipped ricotta, fennel salad and kombu beurre blanc (SFML, MOML)*
Lemon Garlic and sumac chicken with green beans, braised puy lentils, macadamia dukkah and cherry tomato confit (HNML, MOML, DBML)*
Sweetcorn panna cotta with charred corn, miso butterscotch and croute (VLMV, GFML, MOML)*
Integrated catering and retail solutions
dnata will also present elements of its onboard retail offering, highlighting how integrated catering and retail solutions can support airline differentiation and unlock ancillary revenue opportunities.
The company currently supports five major airline retail programmes globally, offering end-to-end programme management underpinned by market-leading data and analytics. dnata manages over US$200 million in retail stock through its strategic supply chain teams and powers more than 40 million transactions annually across its retail programmes.
Industry collaboration and engagement
Through its participation at WTCE, dnata aims to engage airline customers, suppliers and industry stakeholders in conversations around culinary innovation, personalisation and sustainability, while strengthening relationships across its global network.
WTCE: a leading global industry event
WTCE is the leading global event for the travel catering, onboard retail, and passenger comfort industries. In 2026, the event is taking place between 14-16 April in Hamburg, Germany.