Gate Gourmet opens next-generation airline catering facility in Madrid

gategroup

gategroup has moved its Gate Gourmet Madrid catering operation to a newly-fitted, modern facility at Coslada, just south of Adolfo Suarez Madrid Barajas Airport.

The investment in the 9,600 sq. meter facility features a cutting-edge kitchen which allows our Michelin star Gate Gourmet chefs to showcase their culinary expertise and deliver innovative and inspired meals to all classes of airline passengers.

The brand-new production kitchen has been furnished with the latest culinary equipment including digitalized devices which link the kitchen to a centralized recipe library via hand held devices and through enhanced control, achieve even better execution of the exceptional menus that our chefs create. This new hot kitchen is also linked to a state-of-the-art meal assembly area, also featuring digitalized equipment and will serve more than 12 international airlines and produce 18,000 passenger meals per day. The facility will additionally feature a new culinary experience center where our chefs can develop new techniques, dishes and menus, a place where customers will experience hospitality through the lens of the passenger through dedicated menu presentations.

With sustainability in mind, the Madrid catering facility was built under LEED (Leadership, Energy and Environment Design) principles featuring solar panels to generate hot water for showers and sinks. Its dishwashers have heat recovery as standard and can raise the temperature of the incoming wash water and therefore reduce the energy normally required to reach operating temperature. Further the dishwashers feature intelligent sensors to automatically control the use of water and all of which deliver savings in water, chemicals, energy and thus lower the environmental footprint of the facility.

The Madrid building features 16 door docks for trucks on the exterior for maximum access and will be able to allocate up to 2,500 pallets in its warehouse for dry goods and an additional 260 pallet spaces for frozen goods. This pallet storage capacity will also enable Gate Gourmet Madrid to become the regulatory warehouse for all the company’s retail activity in Spain.

The Gate Gourmet team in Spain has worked to LEAN principles (the collaborative team effort to improve performance by systematically removing waste and reducing variation throughout the process) during the implementation process to ensure a zero-defect start-up for its customers.

“This is a truly exciting development and our long-term investment in the facility at Coslada demonstrates our commitment to the Spanish market and our employees,” said gategroup’s President Americas, Europe and Middle East, Herman Anbeek. “The building has been designed following sustainable, innovative working processes to provide our customers with the highest degree of operational excellence, efficiency and culinary expertise,” adds Anbeek. “I am certain that our team in Madrid will utilize their outstanding operational and culinary expertise to deliver beyond the expectations of our customers.”

The facility is located a short, eight-minute drive from the airport access and close to the motorway network for easy deliveries from all suppliers. The dedicated site is surrounded by a secure perimeter fence and has two entrances providing alternative ways to access the airport. Fitting out has been fully completed already and the Grand Opening Ceremony took place on 12 November 2019, one week ahead of the official commencement of operations which took place today.

Media inquiries

Nancy Jewell
njewell@gategroup.com

About gategroup

gategroup is the global leader in airline catering, retail-on-board and hospitality products and services. gategroup provides passengers with superior culinary and retail experiences, leveraging innovation and advanced technology solutions. Headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland, gategroup delivers operational excellence through the most extensive catering network in the aviation industry, serving passengers from over 200 operating units in over 60 countries/territories across all continents. For further information, please visit www.gategroup.com.

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