Bartholdi wings it away from in-flight catering

Bartholdi, maker of hand-crafted savoury products, has radically changed its strategy due to the tough in-flight catering market.However, the company...

Bartholdi, maker of hand-crafted savoury products, has radically changed its strategy due to the tough in-flight catering market.

However, the company said it could now confidently meet the challenges of 2010 and beyond.

Joint md Toni Bartholdi said airline catering had once represented 85% of its sales, but this had fallen to 3035%. "The glory days have gone for in-flight catering," he said. "We have seen a lot of our competitors go bust."

Bartholdi had been forced to close one of its factories, which had been dedicated to making McCain products, at its base in Heston, Middlesex, in June 2009.

After that, Bartholdi had retrenched production into its seven remaining units and was securing the use of three additional units at the site.

Bartholdi said the firm had shifted focus to the supermarkets. "We're going from strength to strength in the multiple sector." He hopes to win business with three major customers in 2010.