To relish a sesame crusted tuna with cucumber salad or a baba ganoush from Gordon Ramsay’s kitchen, you definitely need a ticket out of India, but the quest ends at the airport, where the celebrity chef is bringing his famed outlets soon.
In a first-of-its-kind foray for the celebrity chef in India, travellers can have an airport-exclusive dining experience of Ramsay’s signature concept outlets Gordon Ramsay Plane Food, Street Pizza, Street Burger and Gordon Ramsay Plane Food To-Go at Mumbai airport. Set to open in collaboration with F&B operator Travel Food Services (TFS), the first set of outlets will offer artisanal pizzas inspired by London’s vibrant street food scene, gourmet burgers and meals.
With a 22.5% year-on-year growth in international travel during 2023-2024, and outbound passengers at around 70 million in FY2024, capitalising on airports as a retail platform only makes sense.
As Andy Wenlock, CEO, Gordon Ramsay Restaurants, said, “Indian airports are the new stage for culinary journeys, and we are excited to see how travellers embrace these vibrant, flavour-intense dining experiences.”
Varun Kapur, executive director, TFS, a company managing over 380 QSRs, bars and F&B outlets spread across travel hubs in 19 cities in India and operating 27 airport lounges globally, said: “We are building on the food revolution at Indian airports.”
“Ramsay’s iconic brands will deliver an unprecedented fusion of flavour and finesse adding excitement to the Indian travellers’ journey,” Kapur added.
Similar airport-only offerings are aplenty, be it collectibles, gifts, confectionery, liquor or F&B outlets. Travel retail exclusives play a crucial role in personalising the airport duty-free segment too with exclusive access to consumers.
“The products are not available in city stores and are often tailored for specific regions, such as the Indian subcontinent or Middle East, or even for a particular operator or retailer. This is a key differentiation strategy. The contribution of these exclusive brands and SKUs is growing, with more shoppers seeking collectible and giftable items that are not readily available elsewhere. The products are found in the liquor segment and are premium to luxury range items. However, confectionery and beauty brands are increasingly adopting this differentiation strategy as well,” said Abhijit Das, head, marketing, Delhi Duty Free, adding that in the next five-eight years, the travel retail segment is expected to gain more traction and attract more investments from brands.
For instance, tapping the growing popularity of Japanese whisky in India, Hong Kong-based Global Drinks, a brand agency and supply chain provider, launched global travel retail-exclusive premium Japanese whisky Misaka in a distribution partnership with newly-created Delhi-based Platinum Liquids at Delhi Duty Free. LVMH Group-owned Italian luxury house Bulgari also recently collaborated with Hyderabad Duty Free to introduce its Allegra fragrance collection to the duty-free channel.
Besides Ramsay, celebrated chef Wolfgang Puck, a name synonymous with curating the menu for the Oscars Governors Ball for the past three decades, is known to open airport-exclusive outlets. Wolfgang Puck Kitchen + Bar at Bali airport opened in 2023, The Kitchen by Wolfgang Puck opened at the Washington Dulles International Airport in Virginia in 2016, Singapore Changi Airport in 2017, and one at Hong Kong International Airport in collaboration with Lagardere Travel Retail in 2019. In 2021, Puck opened his first restaurant in Austria at Vienna Airport Terminal 3, in partnership with F&B partner SSP.
Bengaluru International Airport (BIAL) was the first to bring Wolfgang Puck in India, besides James Martin Kitchen, PF Chang’s. The airport saw 32.86 million domestic passengers and 4.67 million international travellers during the fiscal year 2023-2024.
Ospree Duty Free, a one-stop shop for duty-free shopping experience at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA), Mumbai Terminal 2, exclusively launched Kylie Cosmetics in Asia in October 2023. The shop achieved 44% year-over-year sales increase for its arrivals and departures duty-free operations in FY2024. “With 52% departure sales, our store blends entertainment, relaxation, and shopping incentives to engage travellers during their wait for an enjoyable shopping experience,” said Avishek Bambi Das, CEO, Ospree Duty Free (previously Mumbai Travel Retail Private, a JV between Adani Airport Holdings (AAHL) and Flemingo Travel Retail (FTRPL)). Some exclusive experiences include live tasting sessions of Tequila Don Julio 1942 in December 2023, organising meet-and-greet sessions with actors like Shah Rukh Khan and Anil Kapoor. Fashion contributes 16% in Mumbai departures with daily average footfall being 35,000; cosmetics contribute 15% with an estimated incremental revenue growth of Rs 4 crore monthly for all brands combined.
CSMIA in the first quarter of FY2024 recorded over 13.4 million passenger trips with 3.7 million international and 9.7 million on domestic routes.
Globally, Changi Airport and Jewel in Singapore have airport exclusive F&B offerings like GoPizza offering Chilli Crab Pizza as homage to Singapore’s iconic dish. Bakery Old Seng Choong specialises in artisanal cookies and has four Changi-exclusive flavours.
Changi Airport handled 16.5 million passenger movements from April to June 2024, an increase of 13.4% compared to a year ago. “Last financial year, over 150 leases were awarded, including more than 40 new-to-Changi brands. In Jewel Changi Airport, more than 70 new brands spanning various categories opened in the same period. Of the new entrants to Jewel, 16 were new-to-market brands. Changi Airport’s e-commerce platform, iShopChangi doubled its offered brands to over 2,000, including more than 100 off-airport merchants across categories such as beauty, electronics and wellness, among others,” said Chandra Mahtani, Changi Airport Group’s head of airside concessions.