Dépêches

Aéroports de Paris: The Future Desserts at Paris-Charles de Gaulle Taste-Tested by Travellers -a Laboratory of Culinary Innovation Comes to the Airport-

Dépèche transmise le 19 novembre 2009 par Business Wire

PARIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Regulatory News:

Aéroports de Paris (Paris:ADP) (Pink Sheets:AEOPF)

Today, at the heart of Terminal 1, two hundred travellers will taste-test five chocolate desserts created by “Foodlab”, SSP’s culinary innovation laboratory. Travellers will first vote for their favourite dessert and then blind test three types of chocolate to determine the right degree of bitterness to be adapted for the selected dessert final recipe.

The combined results of these two tests will be used to create the future chocolate dessert to be sold in SSP take away outlets at Paris-Charles de Gaulle airport. The test will be carried out by BVA Institute among a representative sample of international travellers.

A culinary laboratory at the airport to taste-test desserts among passenger

For the first time ever, the SSP Foodlab experts will join forces at Paris-Charles de Gaulle with one purpose: create the winning chocolate dessert. In the central kitchen of Terminal 1, each of the five international Foodlab Chefs (England, Denmark, Norway, France and Netherlands) will create a brand new recipe:

• “Croc Belle-Hélène” (a chocolate and pear sandwich-like cake) by French Chef Stéphane Cathelin
• Anise-flavored Chocolate Soup,“Spice Chocolate” by Norwegian Chef Tore Kristian Olsen
• Deconstructed Black Forest by Dutch Chef Peter Van Den Bos
• Chocolate Matcha tea by Danish Chef Nicolaï Poulsen
• Chocolate Burger “Don’t touch my Burger” by English Chef Sindy Kam Cheong

Created in the very heart of the airport, the desserts will be tested by travellers on the same day. “We want to create a custom-made dessert that pleases all travellers, no matter where they come from or what their eating habits may be,” declared Olivier Pichot, SSP Foodlab representative and founder of Gourmet Consultant.

Pierre Graff, Managing Director of Airports of Paris declared: “We are open to the innovative capabilities of our airports caterers. Thanks to our partner’s initiative, the travellers get to choose today the recipes they will enjoy at the airport tomorrow. Today's event is in line with our quality of service policy which aims at improving our customer satisfaction levels on a daily basis.”

Nick Inkster, SSP President - Western Europe, affirmed:

“SSP’s primary objective is to satisfy our customers by paying particular attention to the quality and freshness of our products, whether they are innovative or traditional. The international reach of our business, together with our Foodlab, means we can take and develop the best dishes from around the world. Today, that's desserts based on a chocolate theme. The dessert with the most votes will be on sale tomorrow at our units.”

The Foodlab

The Foodlab is a culinary innovation laboratory created in 2007 and gathering 9 chefs of the SSP network.

These international cuisine experts meet regularly to create new recipes for SSP own brands taking into account new trends and passengers' expectations.

Then each chef works on a recipe created jointly to adapt it to their region's culinary tastes.

Located in Mans, the Foodlab will exceptionally come to Paris-CDG to attend the taste-test of desserts among passengers

A main kitchen allows on-site meal development

Every day 6 900 products are prepared in the main kitchen of Paris-Charles de Gaulle airport by a team of 30 people working around the clock.

Sandwiches, salads, pastries, baked goods, and box lunches are prepared to supply the 16 outlets in Terminal 1, 23 restaurants in Terminal 2, and 2 outlets in Terminal 3 of Airport Paris-Charles de Gaulle airport.

The virtues of chocolate… for travel

Goethe, a fervent chocolate lover and frequent traveller states, “Whoever drinks a cup of chocolate can withstand a day's travel against a day of travelling!”

Chocolate contains uplifting substances mainly, caffeine, and serotonin which stimulate the central nervous system and help recover wellness.

Chocolate, recognized as having soothing properties, is the ideal food to eat before travelling.

*The chocolate dessert chosen by travellers will be sold at around 4, 5 Euros in approximately 10 SSP take away outlets at Paris-Charles de Gaulle terminals.

Chocolate consumption around the world:

Global consumption is estimated at 2,800,000 tonnes per annum. The world's biggest importers of cocoa beans are Europe (over 1.2 million tonnes p.a.) and the USA (0.4 million tonnes p.a.). The top five chocolate consumers are the USA, followed by Germany, France, United Kingdom and Russia.

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