A vital element of many airports’ F&B offers, food to go concepts present an opportunity for innovation, experience and outstanding design – but with speed of service also essential.

This category focuses on businesses providing innovative, high-quality, value for money ingredients and products. The food will include the obvious and ubiquitous as well as the niche and surprising; breakfast, lunch and dinner offers, picnic boxes, sandwiches, baguettes, wraps and other bread-based snacks; patisserie, cakes, muffins, waffles, sushi, sashimi, bento, seafood, satay, soups, salads, fresh fruit, samosas, spring rolls, regional specialties, sausages – any food that is sold as ‘food to go’ at an airport.

A memorable bar or pub should have top-class atmosphere and hospitality, and of course, a superb array of beverages including alcohol and beer. The category should not be confused with casual dining restaurants whose prime business is to sell food but have a bar within the restaurant.

Many of us can no doubt recall with a smile a memorable bar or pub discovered while on holiday, travelling for work while alone or with a colleague, or perhaps just out with friends or family. It’s that magical atmosphere in a bar when everything is just right: the people – both customers and staff, a chance to chat, the ‘craic’, the calm, the hospitality, the welcome, the choice and presentation of drinks, the design, the heritage, the comfort, the space, the authenticity, the noise of conversation, the lighting, the food, the entertainment, the refuge, the oasis – just the perfect place to relax and have fun or chill with people you are happy to be with!

One of our most hotly contested category over the years, this award is intended for restaurants where food must account for more than 60% of sales and not to be confused with the Airport Bar or Pub of the Year category.

Not all passengers are in a hurry. Some have simply arrived early or are in transit with time between flights. Whatever the reasons for extended dwell time, they simply want to enjoy a range of quality food in a comfortable, full-service casual dining restaurant.

Does your restaurant have the menu offer, environment and service to attract and delight passengers?

Your restaurant might be part of a regional, national or international branded chain or a local, independently owned restaurant. Whatever the ownership, it’s the quality of food, excellence in service and commercial success that matters.

Airport Chef of the Year has many responsibilities on his/ her shoulders. Besides being outstanding in designing and curating menus, the chef is also talented in cooking and presenting a creatively delightful, delicious, and nutritious dish for the customer. In an important nod to sustainability, the Airport Chef will also use fresh, locally sourced ingredients where possible.

The airport setting also renders the need to be cognizant of diverse travellers’ needs, ranging from dietary requirements, food allergies, cultural or religious considerations, etc. The airport setting also calls for food to be conveniently served in a timely fashion, using sustainable or recyclable tableware, containers, etc.

The Airport Chef of the Year should also demonstrate exceptional passion and leadership, guiding his or her team to ensure a safe, hygienic, efficient, and well-organised kitchen setting.

Coffee and tea shops are pivotal to every airport’s F&B offer. Whether it’s a big international brand, a small local coffee shop chain or a unique individual outlet, each has their part to play.

In a coffee-conscious world, customers are increasingly knowledgeable and discerning. They expect quality coffee that is expertly made; a range of tasty and interesting foods which may include sandwiches, panini, pastries, cakes, etc.; friendly, efficient service and somewhere comfortable to relax.

But it’s not just about coffee. There is an abundance of traditional, new and innovative hot beverages available for passengers to enjoy during the journey. In recent years we have witnessed surging demand for blends of tea along with herbal, flavoured infusions or high-quality chocolate drinks.

This award seeks to recognise food-related initiatives that enhance the traveller experience through airport. We want to hear about hospitality initiatives – delivered through physical and/or digital touchpoints – that made the customer smile, remember their airport journey and that boosted traveller satisfaction levels for the airport/concessionaire.

What outstanding initiatives from your company and teams will you nominate?

Airports are often rightly criticised by passengers for their sameness and blandness; homogenous glass and steel constructions with similar shops, F&B and services offering look-alike merchandise, menus and brands.

This lack of identity with the culture, cuisine and heritage of the country or local community (whether real or perceived) can be addressed by providing a true ‘Sense of Place’ at the airport. What better way to address this than through the food & beverage offered to passengers – an offer and environment reflecting the tastes, traditions, history and culture of a city, region or country, all provided with a unique style of service and welcoming hospitality.

If your airport F&B offer truly reflects local tastes, traditions, culture and community values, we want to hear about it. The F&B offer should also capture the soul and personality of its city, region or country. Transporting a renowned local eatery to the airport or offering local food favourites won’t be enough.

The winning outlet must cry out ‘Sense of Place’, and indeed ‘Taste of Place’, across its concept, design and offer, evoking the essence of the location to local and foreign travellers alike.

Food halls are very much the mainstay of many airports’ F&B passenger offers. When executed well, they are among the most vibrant centres of activity and dining excellence. Good food halls provide a wide variety of food for all ages, tastes and budgets, fast and with fair value. Key elements include freshness, diversity of offer through the day and evening, efficiency conducive to the travel environment and exceptional food and service.

The food hall provides a range of F&B offers – sometimes branded, from fast food, hand-held snacks to full meals and hot & cold beverages. In recent years, the trend has been towards a ‘Market style’ formula, comprising a variety of food choices, some cooked to order in front of the customer.

A major benefit of this type of F&B offer is individuals, families and other large groups can all enjoy the style of food they want to eat at the price they want to pay.

Moreover, the customer is fully in control of the amount of time spent eating and drinking, as service speed is normally fast and efficient.

Healthy eating and wellbeing are no longer just trends – they are mainstays of any good F&B offer and of vital importance to travellers.

Making healthy food choices allows customers to enjoy the airport dining experience, free from concern about the food preparation or in the knowledge that their diet is not affecting animal welfare.

Foodies on the move are voting with their wallets, mind and spirit, when it comes to seeking a healthy alternative to fast or fried food, to the degree that the right foods are not only good for their physical state but also their mental health.

Considerations such as sustainability, veganism and plant-based diets have become increasingly sought after, and airports are responding to this demand with healthy food concessions within the F&B mix.

Another newly introduced category as part of the hospitality considerations, this award category seeks to recognise and celebrate the hotel property identifying as the “airport hotel”.

To be considered for this award, your hotel property must also be easily and conveniently accessible by passengers from the airport terminal(s), either by foot or frequent complimentary shuttle services.

Your hotel should offer clean, comfortable accommodation for the weary traveler who has obviously opted to stay on your property instead of venturing further out.

Your guests may be both business or leisure travelers and therefore, availability of the range of amenities, dining or other service offerings will also be considered crucial requirements for this top class Airport Hotel of the Year award.

Passengers who frequent airport lounges often prefer the exclusivity, quieter ambience and comforts of the lounge while waiting for their flights.

As such, they also have high expectations for the food & beverage offerings at the lounge. In a post-pandemic world, passengers may also be more conscientious about hygiene and convenience as part of the dining experience in the lounge.

In addition, variety of food and beverages served, catering to preferences, tastes, dietary needs, freshness, convenience, quality and perhaps even evoking a sense of place, are all considerations for this new award for Airport Lounge F&B Offer of the Year.

For many travellers, the lounge is a central feature of the airport experience.

Whether your airport lounge is operated exclusively for an airline’s business and first class passengers, or other brand loyalty programme, passengers, you are eligible for this newly introduced award category.

Does your lounge offer convenient and efficient services (including food & beverage offerings) for passengers with shorter stays? Or do you offer additional, value-add, unique, exclusive amenities and services for passengers having a longer layover before their next flight?

Tell us why your airport lounge stands out amid a crowded, high-quality field?

This award, first introduced in 2018, recognises the critical role design plays in creating ambience and customer experience.

Does your restaurant have a new and exciting design concept that has wowed customers? Does it capture the allure of travel, pay homage to the magic of flight or neatly reflect the city or country at a particular airport through its design execution?

If your outlet’s design tells a great story about the concept through design innovation, while still accommodating the functionality and safety needs of a restaurant at the airport, we want to hear about it.

This award is for the food & beverage or hospitality operators dedicated to creating an inclusive and diverse workplace for its employees through successful policy, HR practices, and programs.

Workplace diversity covers a vast range including race, age, nationality, ethnicity, culture, gender identity, physical and mental ability. Embracing diversity, particularly in senior leadership, encourages innovation, improves decision-making, reduces corporate misconduct, and improves financial returns.

The winning awardee will have demonstrated successful outcomes of its initiatives as well as evidence on the sustainability of its DE&I policies.

Generating footfall, increasing sales and profits, improving average transaction values, building customer loyalty and communicating the attributes and provenance of your products and services are just some of the aims of successful, imaginative and truly effective marketing and promotional campaigns.

Clear objectives with measurable targets and detailed evaluation are fundamental to determining the success. Your campaign might have been in operation at one airport for a short period or a long-term national or international campaign. It might have been a joint campaign between operator and airport or operator and supplier – or perhaps all three.

This award recognises the marketing campaign which has proven successful not just in its creativity or use of technology in delivering the message, but also in meeting the objectives and targets set out.

This award champions those food & beverage or hospitality operators who are forward-thinking and prioritise the health and wellbeing of their employees by incorporating relevant policies, practices and facilities in the workplace to foster this culture in the company.

This award recognises the most exceptional new opening over the last year, one that delights customers while driving commercial success. It is intended to celebrate newness and fresh thinking – the lifeblood of any industry or business.

F&B is the most exciting and creative form of retailing in the world and the pace of new concept launches is relentless. Airports need to reflect and anticipate the pace of change occurring in local markets and the demands and needs of the traveler.

This award recognises the new concept which will truly strike the judges as innovative, different and daring.

Travellers are increasingly seeking to only spend their money on companies whose business strategies include prioritising sustainability and environmental considerations as part of their goods and service offerings.

This award category seeks to recognise the company or operator who is incorporating sustainability elements and proactively practicing environmental stewardship in their food & beverage and/ or hospitality offers and initiatives.

Relevant practices may include but not be limited to factors such as sourcing, waste reduction, adoption of circular economies, awareness campaigns, etc.

This award category seeks to recognise the food & beverage or hospitality employer’s initiatives and programmes which aim to support, develop, and retain female talent.

Initiatives and programmes may include but not be limited to confidence-building, leadership development, professional growth, networking, coaching, mentoring, personal and professional enrichment, etc., as well as creating greater sense of work-life balance.