Serving best halal food to the world's top airlines

Sweet treats: A staff preparing dessert for passengers aboard 32 airlines that fly around the world everyday from airports here.

SEPANG: More than 1,400 chefs, cooks and kitchen staff work round the clock every day at Brahim’s SATS Food Services’ (BSFS) flight kitchens to ensure 50,000 hungry airline passengers are well-fed and happy.

To achieve this mammoth task, Brahim’s sprawling catering hub is the size of almost four football fields with 59,000sq m of kitchen space. Its grocery list can run into tonnes.

Media personnel were invited to tour the catering hub in conjunction with Brahim’s brand name 30th anniversary and 15th anniversary of BSFS airline catering services.

Donning protective hygiene gear, they were given a tour by top chefs – executive chef Graeme Laws Pullen and assistant executive chef Zainuddin Md Isa.

During the tour, Zainuddin emphasised that there was no compromise when it comes to quality and hygiene of Brahim’s products.

“The food processing and temperature are closely monitored and tracked.

“This will allow us to determine who is responsible for food preparation along the line,” he said, adding that maintaining the right storage temperature is crucial in ensuring the meals stay fresh.

Brahim’s BSFS hub comprises 11 chefs, 164 cooks and 1,300 kitchen support staff, making it the largest 100% halal catering operation in the country.

The hub churns out thousands of tailored-made in-flight meals for a list of reputable clientele which includes Malaysia Airlines, AirAsia X, Qatar Airways, ANA All Nippon Airways, Emirates and Cathay Pacific.

What is mind boggling is that the hub runs non-stop for the entire year to produce some of the best ready-to-eat gourmet meals and desserts.

For example, Zainuddin said 40,000 loaves and buns, including 6,000 straight cut and crescent croissants, are freshly baked each day.

“We use about four tonnes of fresh fruits a day which are hand cut by our kitchen staff.

“They are faster with the knives than machines,” he quipped when asking a kitchen staff to demonstrate his cutting skills.

Zainuddin said satay remains a hot favourite among passengers after it was introduced more than two decades ago as a national delicacy.

“We use 15,000 chicken legs, including 5,000kg of imported sirloin beef and 3,000kg of imported lamb, each month for our satay,” he said.

As for baking the variety of bread and confectioneries, Zainuddin said about 34 tonnes of flour are used each month.

Flying in the right direction: Ibrahim (centre) together with Pullen (fourth left) and Zainuddin (left) at the cake cutting ceremony to mark Brahim’s SATS Food Services Sdn Bhd’s 15th anniversary and 30th year anniversary of its brand name at its catering hub in Sepang.

To emphasise strict food processing code, Zainuddin, 53, a pioneer in the airline catering industry, said all meals prepared by Brahim’s are certified halal by the Malaysian Islamic Development Department (Jakim).

“For example, a flight coming in from abroad may have served non-halal food.

“To ensure our food remains halal, all crockery and utensils from the aircraft undergoes the samak process (ritual cleansing),” he said.

He said the ritual cleansing process even uses imported clay to ensure it is syariah compliant as prescribed by Jakim.

Zainuddin, who carries a pair of steel chopsticks, a small spoon and fork in his sleeve pocket, says it is part of his duty to check on food prepared by the chefs.

“I will randomly taste a batch of cakes or dish to determine if it is acceptable or needs to be redone,” he said.

He said a menu order must be finalised by an airline 16 hours before the flight.

“The prepared meals are loaded onto the aircraft two hours before take-off.

“This carefully timed schedule is important to ensure the meals remain as fresh as possible when served,” he added.

Pullen said that BSFS prepares an average of between 45,000 and 55,000 meals a day for about 270 flights leaving KLIA, KLIA2 and major airports.

“The number of complete meals prepared varies as this depends if it is a peak holiday period.

“A good example was the end of December where we provided almost 60,000 meals a day at the end of the month,” he said.

He said an airline will choose a particular menu which includes local flavours.

“For example, an airline may chose a menu that requires chefs to use between 2,000 and 2,700 recipes to prepare what they want,” he said, adding it was a tedious and challenging job to ensure that everything ran smoothly in the kitchen.

After the tour, Pullen showed off a variety of Brahim’s gourmet flight meals while explaining the key in keeping the flavours fresh.

Pullen pointed out that it is crucial for a plane’s in-flight crew to know the proper way of “rejuvenating” food for passengers.

Among the items displayed included a variety of medium to well done juicy steaks, gravy dripping pasta and an assortment of seafood platters.

There were also local delights such as satay, nasi lemak, briyani and excellently prepared rendang and a myriad of colourful desserts.

Brahim’s Holding Bhd executive chairman Datuk Seri Ibrahim Ahmad Badawi, when inviting the media to savour lunch, boasted that they were served the same food as those prepared for flights.

“This is the same food on our clients’ menus and what is served to passengers,” he said.

Ibrahim said the company will continue improving on its ready-to-eat meal segments which include supplying military ready-to-eat meals (MREs) and meal packs for hikers and outdoor enthusiasts.