Onboard Hospitality Podcast

If you have a food allergy, stepping onto a plane can still feel like stepping into the unknown. For millions of passengers, food isn’t just part of the journey – it’s a huge source of anxiety, and a genuine risk to their health.With that in mind, in this latest edition of the Onboard Hospitality Podcast, we’re joined by two people who’ve been working hard to make inflight food and beverage safer for those with special dietary needs: Julianne Ponan MBE, founder and CEO of Creative Nature, and Mel Berry, Chief Customer Officer, Vueling.

If you are an airline buyer attending WTCE this year, you won’t want to miss this episode. Joining Onboard Hospitality’s Managing Editor, April Waterston are Simone Walli, Catering Manager, Culinary Art & F&B Onboard Concepts at Austrian Airlines, Tobias Ogren, Head of Inflight Product & Catering at Sunclass Airlines. They’ve both been working as part of what WTCE is calling ‘The Journey Circle’ – a brand-new advisory group of experienced onboard hospitality buyers who have been sharing insights, ideas, and challenges shaping the future of inflight service and passenger experience, to help make the show as useful as possible for buyers like them. Listen on to find out how!

We chat with Shona Thomson, Event Manager for the World Travel Catering and Onboard Services Expo (WTCE), to find out what’s new for 2026, key industry trends, top tips for first time visitors and lots more. 

We check in with Kelly Stevenson, founder and Director JetVine and WTCE Ambassador for Beverages, about why she attends the exhibition, key drinks trends and why she's particularly excited about heading to Hamburg in 2026.

We chat with Melissa Adamski, WTCE Ambassador for Travel Nutrition, about what exhibitors and visitors can expect at the Hamburg show, what's new for 2026, key onboard nutrition trends and more

Nicole Strachan, En Route Head of Category, Bakery, and Georgina Mogridge, Head of Category, Dairy, chat to Editor Bev Fearis about En Route's new US cheese programme being launched at IFSA Global EXPO 2025.

As the industry heads to Hamburg for WTCE 2025, Bev Fearis, Acting Editor of Onboard Hospitality, chats with nutrition expert Melissa Adamski about why she flies from Australia to Germany for the show each year, the importance of considering nutrition in inflight catering, her role as a WTCE Ambassador and what she'll be looking out for at this year's show.

Bev Fearis chats with Shona Thomson, Event Manager for the World Travel Catering and Onboard Services Expo, to find out what's new, top tips for first time exhibitors and what she thinks will be the big talking points at this year's show. 

Harry Turpin is the founder of The Savourists, a snack producer based in London, England. “We have a mega-range of Crunchits and we're flipping the snacking script. No more snooze-worthy nibbles here...Thai Chilli, Sticky Teriyaki and Sour Cream and Chive,” explains Harry, whose products can be found on easyJet and Eurostar and are stocked by the likes of Ocado and WHSmith. Harry started his career in food and drink more than 10 years ago in sales at Cawston Press. He took on a broad variety of roles within the business and was there when the sugar tax was introduced. “It was a fascinating time watching the industry demand more on health from the soft drinks category. I had a deep gut feeling that this would be echoed in other categories,” he explains. “I left Cawston and started The Savourists with the mission to bring the JIGGLE back to snacking!” he adds.  In this version of the Onboard Hospitality Podcast Harry talks about the snacks, the travel industry, lessons learnt by attending WTCE in Hamburg and the experience of being present at TickEat in Milton Keynes…as well as lots more. thesavourists.com           

Jeremy Clark is the CEO of APOT, which stands for Asia Pacific Onboard Travel, an organisation founded to foster connections between people working in the onboard hospitality industry in the Asia-Pacific region. In this edition of the Onboard Hospitality Podcast, Jeremy talks about what attendees can look forward to when they attend the 2023 APOT Networking Event at the Furama Resort in Danang, Vietnam, from November 25-28. Read more in news stories about the APOT Networking Event on the Onboard Hospitality website. Visit the APOT website to register for the 2023 APOT Networking Event. apot.asia  

Kelly Stevenson, Director at JetVine, specialises in supporting wine producers and airlines to offer the world’s best wines. In this podcast Kelly discusses some of the considerations behind choosing wine for inflight consumption and hints at whet she’ll be covering in her next column for Onboard Hospitality magazine.To find out more about Kelly and her services, head to the Jetvine website.jetvine.co.uk 

Scott Muncaster became the Managing Director of three rocks in 2023, following the merger of his former company Adactus Ltd and Six Sevens Solutions Ltd, a leading data solutions firm. three rocks has over 50 years of collective experience in designing bespoke technology solutions driven by data collection and analysis, which enhance consumer, employee, and user experiences.  A people-first tech company, three rocks combines experience within hospitality, data services, and software development and implementation to bring a more effective way of delivering technology to the hospitality industry and wider business sector.  Offering a totally modular experience management system, businesses can create a complete end-to-end CX solution that connects the customer and user journey and transforms their business. Solutions include digital booking systems, self-service kiosks, restaurant order management solutions, and CRM and data analysis processes.  Prior to becoming the Managing Director of three rocks, Scott developed customer ordering and fulfilment solutions at Marks & Spencer, before switching to the restaurant sector with Pizza Hut. There, he led development of the brand’s first online ordering service – which now accounts for more than 70% of sales. He then served as a consultant to several national restaurant groups. Scott, alongside his two business partners at three rocks (Matthew Rawlins, CTO and Andrew Kaplan Chief Data Officer), founded three rocks having previously worked together at national restaurant chain, Pizza Hut. The three heads realised that a merger would be the most impactful way to bring the skills of both Adactus Ltd and Six Sevens Solutions together to turbo-charge the skills, knowledge and experience of both brands, and enable three rocks to create a brand new, joined-up customer experience offering to its customers.   Scott’s LinkedIn can be viewed here. More information on three rocks can be found here. 

James George is a senior strategist and consultant in circular economy and systems change for business. He is an accomplished and experienced professional with a deep passion for sustainability and circularity.With many years on the world stage, James is a seasoned expert in developing and implementing circular economy strategies for businesses and organizations of all sizes, specifically working with organisations to help them leverage their internal talent, create a unifying narrative and activate value chain support to operationalise strategy into action.His knowledge of the circular economy was fostered over years of work for the Ellen Macarthur Foundation and then also with Pyxera Global, focusing on the social and environmental justice aspects of this conversation. His experience spans across a wide range of industries and geographies. These include but are not limited to manufacturing, transportation and retail as well as agriculture, technology and logistics. James is well-versed in the core principles of the circular economy as well as commercialising ambition to make economic sense.  A proven thought leader, adept at building strong relationships with stakeholders and working collaboratively to achieve shared goals, he is a skilled communicator, able to convey complex circular economy concepts in an understandable and relatable manner and has a track record of effectively engaging and motivating teams.

Melissa Adamski is an Accredited Practising Dietitian, nutritionist and frequent flyer who runs a nutrition private practice and consultancy business with a special interest in travel food and nutrition. nuttedoutnutrition.com.au

Ryan Ghee, COO of FTE and Craig McQuinn, Exhibition Director of Onboard Hospitality discuss the FTE Asia apex expo and Onboard Hospitality forum Asia

Heerum Fleary, CEO of TickEat, discusses TickEat Buyer Event and Travel Conference in Milton Keynes on 26 October 2023

Onboard Hospitality Podcast: Joe Leader, CEO of APEX, FTE and IFSA discusses the APEX IFSA Global EXPO and more