Flying Food Group

Project Description

Flying Food Group (FFG) produces exceptional food destined for customers in the airline catering, grocery, food service, and specialty markets. FFG is dedicated to quality, cost-efficient delivery of outstanding products that exceed customer expectations. Mekus Tanager is currently working with Flying Food Group to create state-of-the-art food service industry facilities or to remodel FFG’s existing facilities to maximize productivity, facility flexibility, and food quality and safety.

To help maximize the productivity of each facility, the facility design and floor plans are being designed to create product flow optimization. Examples of this in the design are that most rooms that serve another are adjacent (see Product Process Flow), product flows do not overlap, and ease of operation in the equipment specified. Furthermore, the facility is designed for continuous, 24-hour operation, with operational redundancies built in to ensure continuous operation.

Facility flexibility is achieved by designing a facility that can operate at both a high volume or a low volume, while also allowing it to produce two types of products simultaneously without overlap (see Facility Flexibility). An example of this flexibility is to operate both a Halal and a Standard Kitchen for airline clients, in which each kitchen and its supporting rooms are completely separated to ensure compliance with religious practices. Alternatively, this separation allows for two different products to be created simultaneously depending on the client(s) being served by the facility. An example would be that the facility could serve both airline clients and pre-packaged retail food clients simultaneously.

To achieve maximum food quality and safety, the facilities are being designed to meet the highest food safety standards: the GFSI (Global Food Safety Initiative), specifically the BRC (British Retail Consortium) global standard. As of writing, there are only six such facilities in the US that meet these stringent standards. To achieve this high standard, there is a total assessment of each risk area in the facilities and associated activities, total environmental separation between risk areas (see Environmental Separation), and a dedicated flow and pathway for all ingredients, supplies, and employees through each area of the facility (see Employee Area Entrancing), with barriers between and throughout all risk areas.

By maximizing productivity, facility flexibility, and food quality and safety, Flying Food Group and Mekus Tanager are creating food service facilities that not only exceed the highest food safety standards in the world, but facilities that maximize FFG’s return on investment and business opportunities in the future.

Quick Facts

• Client: Flying Food Group
• Project Size: Varies
• Services Performed: Architecture, Planning, Interior Design
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