By COLlive reporter
United Airlines is taking Kosher cuisine to new heights by introducing a variety of new options for customers traveling between the U.S. and Tel Aviv, beginning this month.
These new dining options will be available from the carrier’s hubs in the Newark / New York, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. / Dulles airports.
The meals will be prepared by Fresko (Maverick Caterers LLC) based in Hackensack, New Jersey, and certified by the Star-K kosher supervision.
A large variety of kosher prepared food options packaged under the Fresko and Yummy Sandwich labels have been available to the estimated 1.5 million kosher travelers who fly domestically and internationally from JFK, LaGuardia, and Newark airports.
Now, meals on United flights from Newark to Tel Aviv will feature an entirely new menu. Options will include dishes such as fresh bagels, a cheese omelet, blintzes, chicken marsala, a kale quinoa burger and traditional bakery items like rugelach and black and white cookies.
As part of the introduction of these new dining options, United is also testing a menu offering for its youngest customers – a Kosher children’s meal in all cabins between Tel Aviv, Newark and San Francisco.
If the testing is successful, the airline will roll out the meal selection on additional Tel Aviv routes, COLlive.com was told.
For those customers traveling in Polaris and United Premium Plus, additional dining enhancements can be found in the all Kosher snack choices for mid-flight enjoyment. The new offerings include Deep River Potato Chips, Madi K’s Almonds and Drizzilicious Cinnamon Swirl crisps. Two additional offerings – Cheez-It crackers and M&M’S – are dairy and not suitable for Cholov Yisroel observers.
New beverage options will include Kosher wine provided by Royal Wine, another New Jersey-based company, which includes Herzog Lineage Cabernet Sauvignon and Herzog Lineage Sauvignon Blanc throughout the Polaris cabin.
Additionally, building on the airline’s partnership with Illy coffee, United is upgrading its Kosher coffee to provide both regular and decaf Illy coffee within all cabins over the next several months.
“We are proud to certify Fresko and partner in providing United passengers with fresh, locally-sourced quality meals,” stated STAR-K President Dr. Avrom Pollak.
Rabbi Shmuel Heinemann, STAR-K Kashrus Administrator for the greater New York/New Jersey area, said, “United has taken kosher airline meals to a higher level.”
United said that the new menu additions include popular choices from several leading Kosher food and beverage brands and reflects United’s commitment to elevate the travel experience for our customers.
“We at United are committed to ensuring our customer’s experience is exceptional both on the ground and in the air,” said Jill Kaplan, President, New York / New Jersey for United Airlines.
“In New York and New Jersey, our communities are a mosaic representation of the vast diversity within our region, therefore we are pleased to announce we have added new and enhanced Kosher options. In sourcing these enrichments, we have proudly partnered with two local New Jersey companies Fresko and Royal Wines each of which are pillars within the Kosher business community.”
Part of the Kosher expansion includes the airport experience where United is testing the addition of a hot Kosher à la carte meal option in the Newark Polaris Lounge to complement the already featured Kosher wines. Additionally, at both the Polaris lounge and United Clubs in Newark and LaGuardia Airports the offerings will include Kosher packaged snacks upon request.
