Air Pac takes wine tasting West
Thumbs up or down: customers of Air Pacific during the blind tasting at Yees Cold Storage Seafood Limited in Nadi on Tuesday night. Photo: JESSAN DOTON
By JESSAN DOTON
Sparkling, red, white, woody, full-bodied were expressions making the rounds at Air Pacific’s wine-tasting function on Tuesday night.
Air Pacific organised the event in conjunction with Yees Cold Storage Seafood Limited at their boardroom in Nadi.
The blind tasting was the first in a series of three to be held in the West as part of Air Pacific’s efforts in rebranding the airline which is heading towards the arrival of its new fleet next year, as well as a name reversion to Fiji Airways.
Mark Turner, Air Pacific’s general manager guest services said the blind wine tasting was an innovative ‘tender process’.
“It is an initiative by the airline to find the best wines on board its aircrafts, and who better to decide than customers and stakeholders linked to their clients,” he said.
“It is part of building a new customer experience, and this includes the wine, as well as looking at food menus.
“We are looking for our clients to help us build an understanding, a better picture of what people want.”
Around 21 participants comprising staff from Air Terminal Services, ANZ Bank, Western Dairy, Fiji Water, Bulaccino, as well as customers sampled 20 selected wines distributed by Yees Cold Storage Seafood Ltd.
Chedly Kalek, owner of Western Dairy and Blue Bure who was one of the attendees at the event said he was appreciative of the effort Air Pacific was putting in to improve their services and the airline as a whole.
“It’s all about giving guests a good flying experience and it is encouraging that they are actually including other people, especially their customers in this process,” he said.
“This is a good way of hearing us out. Good, food, good wine, entertainment and service make for an enjoyable flying experience, and this is a good way to start.”
Participants rated un-labeled wine according to preference, after which the scorecards were collected. Results will be assessed after the final tasting tonight and the best rated wines shortlisted for the next round.
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