LSG Sky Chefs’ Frozen-Food Subsidiary Celebrates 20th Anniversary

Neu-Isenburg / Alzey, Germany – LSG Sky Chefs’ frozen-food subsidiary, LSG-Sky Food, is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. The company, based in Alzey, Germany, produces up to 35 million meals a year for airlines, canteens and retail outlets in Europe.

When LSG Sky Chefs opened its first dedicated frozen airline meals facility in 1994, it was a first in the industry. The rationale for establishing the business was based on the rising demand for consistent, high-quality meals at an efficient cost. It also offered the advantage of meals that could be produced and stored regardless of the daily fluctuations in passenger numbers.

The company originally started with some 50 employees and a single customer, producing about 3.5 million Economy Class meals in the first year. In 2008, the production area was extended by 1,500 square meters (for a total area of 7,500) to accommodate the growing number of customers. Today, annual production is 10 times what it was when the facility opened, and the customer list has grown to 25 airlines for which Economy, Business and First-Class meals and meal components are produced. The company has also reached into the retail and canteen markets in Germany.

The facility’s state-of-the-art kitchen is equipped with two frying belts (for items like beef, shrimp and scrambled eggs), a blancher (for pasta, vegetables and German-style dumplings, for example) and eight assembly lines where meals are portioned before going through one of two spiral freezers that quickly chill the food to minus 18°C. Four to six tons of vegetables, 1.3 tons of beef and 3.6 tons of pasta can be processed there every day.

“I am always impressed by the passion with which our staff produces high-quality meals every single day,” said Alexander Thies, Managing Director LSG-Sky Food GmbH. “We are active in very dynamic markets, so I am proud that our team responds with so much passion in meeting the challenges this represents. Our success of the past 20 years is the best proof of their dedication.” A special highlight of the anniversary is the fact that among the 409 employees, 38 are celebrating their own 20 years with LSG-Sky Food.