All Nippon Airways (ANA) is inviting the public to vote on which dishes will be added to its inflight menu for premium economy and economy class passengers. This initiative ais a little unusual in the airline industry, but not for ANA, which has run such competitions since 2013, with ANA adding new winning in-flight dishes every year. Every year, the competing dishes represent a different category of Japanese cuisine, with last year’s competition being based around curry dishes. This year, the 10 possible additions are all themed around donburi, a traditional Japanese rice bowl meal. All 10 dishes have been created by ANA’s team of chefs, named ‘The Connoisseurs’. The donburi dishes are meant to capture the local flavour of 10 distinct Japanese regions.
There will be two different voting periods, with participants choosing their favourite dishes from eastern Japan and western Japan. The first voting period opened on 8 October and runs until 17 October at 23:59 JST, the results of which will determine the top two dishes from Japan’s eastern regions. The next voting period will run from 18 October, 10:00 JST until 27 October, 23:59 JST and will determine the top two dishes inspired by western Japan. The rounds will result in four winning dishes, two from each part of Japan. Voting will be open to ANA customers from all over the world, with the winning four dishes served in premium economy and economy class on international flights departing from Japan starting in March 2020.
ANA has launched a specially designed website in Japanese and English for the contest, and voting will also take place on Weibo. After the votes have been tallied, ANA will announce the winning donburi dishes on Facebook, Twitter and on the ANA special website in mid-November. The specific routes for each dish will be announced in February 2020.
“We are always looking for new ways to give our passengers a voice and inviting their input on the services that we offer in order to create a more responsive airline,” said Hideki Kunugi, EVP of ANA. “Voting via the internet and social media platforms is a fun way for the public to make their opinion heard and ensure that our offerings align with their interests. ANA will continue prioritising consumer input as we align every aspect of the in-flight experience with passenger needs.”
