IFSA EXPO 2025: En Route Elevates In-Flight Dining with Dedicated US Cheese Program

Originally published on APEX

All photos via En Route

En Route has announced a dedicated US in-flight cheese program. In today’s competitive aviation industry, service differentiation is crucial, and En Route’s program gives airlines a fresh tool for building brand identity.

Redefining In-Flight Dining, Using Cheese

Cheese has long appeared on in-flight menus, often at the end of a business-class meal. En Route’s new initiative aims to change that, putting cheese in the spotlight by allowing airlines to create a passenger experience that links culinary culture directly to the journey.

The concept draws inspiration from the way airlines have elevated their wine programs. For decades, curated wine lists and sommelier partnerships have served as brand differentiators. En Route believes cheese can play a similar role, carrying stories of place, tradition, and craft. “Cheese can be a powerful part of the in-flight dining experience; it speaks to comfort, indulgence, and origin,” explained Nick Wiley, Managing Director at En Route.

While En Route just launched its US-dedicated cheese program, the company launched its first cheese program offering more than a decade ago. Over subsequent years, the program has grown through close collaboration with airlines and caterers, and today it is deployed in the UK, Europe, India, and Singapore. 

The company identified the demand for a US program through discussions with regional airlines and caterers. Following a significant investment in its US operations, which means that every customer En Route serves in the region has a full team of specialists working as an extension of their team, it is now ready to deliver.

It will begin rolling out its new US cheese program during the final quarter of 2025 and continue through 2026. The aim is to offer US-based airlines and airline caterers a fully-managed, end-to-end solution. This includes selecting the cheeses and pairings, crafting the customer-facing experience, and ensuring the product is handled, presented, and served with care. 

Delivering cheese onboard poses unique challenges, from packaging and limited storage to cabin humidity and fluctuating temperatures, all of which require careful management. Drawing on its extensive experience, En Route will manage sourcing, cutting, packing, packaging, and delivery. The program can be tailored to different cabin classes and route types.

“Our new US cheese program is built to give airlines and airline caterers confidence through consistency, quality, and provenance. Whether it’s a first-class pairing or a thoughtfully curated economy snack, we can provide the right product every time,” Wiley added.

Authenticity and Adaptability Define En Route’s Program

Curation is at the center of En Route’s cheese program. Each selection connects to place, process, and people. The company partners with regional producers, cooperatives, and farms to ensure authenticity, giving it access to more than 200 cheeses from dairies across the UK, Europe, North America, and South America. For US customers, this means a thoughtful balance of local cheeses and international selections. Each rotation is tailored to routes, passengers, and airline needs, with no one-size-fits-all model.

A major highlight is the seasonal rotation of premium cheeses, which keeps menus dynamic, relevant, and engaging year-round. Airlines can count on consistent quality across their networks while maintaining flexibility to adjust offerings by route or cabin. 

For Tom Lay, En Route’s Marketing and Creative Director, one of its most popular offerings is the Santori Espresso. “It is a sweet BellaVitano cheese that has freshly-roasted espresso hand-rubbed over it for a delightful hit of coffee. We’ve also got a beautifully peppery blue cheese from California that blends really well with honey or salted caramel.”

This adaptability also allows food to reflect geography. A flight departing from Rome might feature Italian cheeses, while the return from New York could highlight American artisanal options. For passengers, this transforms travel into a cultural exchange rather than simple movement from one place to another. Storytelling onboard further enhances the experience, linking passengers to the origin and journey of the cheese they enjoy.

The program also adapts to different cabin environments. Lay explained, “In economy, individually wrapped portions can be served as part of a tray set or for a more premium offering, En Route can support the creation of custom packaging for a more robust cheese-and-cracker option. For first and business class, we have introduced a ‘rip’n’flip’ format that lets crew peel, flip, and serve the cheese with restaurant-quality presentation.”