Top flight cuisine

Egon Ronay enters Heathrow's Terminal 1. The Tannoy blares flight details. Passengers look tired, lost, excited or bored. Backlit yellow signs point the direction to toilets, gates and restaurants.

Upstairs on the land side, Harry Ramsden's proudly displays its newly awarded three chef's hats. In Ronay's eyes this top award indicates the fish-and-chips equivalent of London's Langan's Brasserie. "If Harry Ramsden's was closer to London, it would be worth coming here for the fish and chips," he commented during a recent visit.

The 55 million passengers who pass through Heathrow have Ronay and his inspectors to thank for the improved standards in airport food and drink at BAA-controlled facilities.

Now divorced from Egon Ronay Guides (he sold his shares 10 years ago to the AA), the septuagenarian Ronay ("I stopped counting at 69") heads Egon Ronay Associates.

Following his strong criticism of airport food, and the threat of a court battle when one of the monopoly traders alleged libel, BAAtook control.

BAA's chief executive, Sir John Egan, brought Ronay in to critique the food at Heathrow Airport in 1991. The brief then was to be as brutally honest and thorough as necessary.

London's Gatwick airport was included a year later, followed by the remaining five airports under BAA control - Stansted in London, Aberdeen, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Southampton.

Now Egon Ronay Associates publishes quarterly reports on the quality of food, service, style and ale at all 130 eating and drinking establishments. The reports are available from a stand at each airport terminal. Every outlet is paid at least one surprise visit by two inspectors each month.

A two-page report is then faxed to BAA's group catering manager, Trevor Pereira, who in turn passes it to the line managers at the establishments.

Ronay's victories, as he regards them, are the virtual eradication of UHT milk served in coffee throughout BAA's establishments and the nearly universal improvement of the coffee, particularly that served at McDonald's.

"McDonald's has hundreds of restaurants but after three years of bombarding it with reports, it changed its coffee. Because we insisted that it was not good enough for the three or four airport outlets, the whole country has improved coffee," says Ronay with a smile.

Lyons Tetley even agreed to set up a coffee course for airport employees after liasing with Ronay.

In most cases, he says, very little needs to be done to improve the quality to a standard that would earn a "chef's hat" (see panel), and Ronay has already seen an improved standard of food at airports.

With BAA on the case of the line managers, and with the power to refuse to renew licences, there is a strong incentive for outlets to take note of Ronay's criticisms. Trevor Pereira, group catering manager for BAA, says there have been cases where lack of attention to Ronay, as well as the financial situation and BAA's own quality controls, have pointed caterers out the airport doors.

Five years after Ronay started, outlets have become used to his comments, but there were a few disgruntled managers initially. "With the first criticisms Egon Ronay made, we had a fairly uniform negative reaction," says Pereira.

Working closely with the individual companies represented at the airports was the answer to finding remedies, although Pereira credits Ronay for making comments that are constructive as well as critical.

Ronay believes the ultimate achievement from the airport point of view would be for the great and the good of British cuisine to eschew the capital for a space at the airport. "I do not see why there is no room for, say, Michel Roux to open a restaurant here," says Ronay.

BAA agrees and is "actively considering" the concept of a five-star restaurant, most probably for Heathrow, although Pereira acknowledges the timing will probably be "opportunistic" and depending on space availability.

BAA future plans

Planet Hollywood opening landside at Gatwick's South Terminal is the latest news from the BAA press office.

Noons, an Indian food supplier, will open its first retail outlet this autumn at Terminal 1 to test the water for ethnic cuisine, which is currently in short supply at the airports.

The company's philosophy for the catering outlets at its airports is focused on quality and customer choice. This is the reason for bringing in well-known high street brands and instituting guarantees for value and quality.

The catering outlets at the seven airports generate revenue of £20m for BAA, but even this is only 5% of the company's retail income. Heathrow is the major earner, with about two-thirds of the total coming from its 40 establishments.

However, Pereira, says that with 50% of passengers sampling the catering in one form or another, it plays a greater role than just generating income. "Catering has an influence disproportionate to its revenue contribution," he says. "The passengers' perception of the airport can be determined by the food and service, and if a passenger is unhappy they are not going to buy a CD player from Dixons or go to the duty free shop."

Pereira acknowledges that it is a long battle to change perceptions of airport food, although BAA has tried through various advertising campaigns.

Ensuring value for money is important to assure the passengers they are not being ripped off just because they are at an airport. In the contractual agreements BAA signs with each operator is a clause that says prices must match those of high street branches.

In the instances where no other outlets exist, BAA conducts comparative price checks at similar establishments twice a year.

Outlets pay "rent" to BAA based on a percentage of their turnover. BAA looks for caterers to fill gaps in the market, but also welcomes propositions. "We plan the type of catering facilities we think are appropriate," says Pereira.

Examples of customer turnover are startling. A busy food court at Heathrow or Gatwick will see 2,200 covers daily. A Costa Coffee outlet, on a good day, could see 1,300, while a Garfunkel's might have 750 covers.

The future will involve consolidating the quality checks done by Egon Ronay Associates and widening the scope of the cuisine being offered. "We need to bring pizzazz to airport catering. It is very mid-market and flat," says Pereira.

In addition to the testing of ethnic cuisine, Pereira says the airports need to look at the needs of the female passengers. Drinking establishments lean toward male-oriented pubs and Pereira believes there should be more Continental-style café-bars.