USA - With show season upon us, members across the industry are spending a lot of time in airports. We know better than many the lack of anything “fresh” available during long layovers, but one company seeks to change that.
OTG, a company whose motto is “transforming the airport experience,” can be found selling produce in New York City’s LaGuardia Airport and the Delta terminal at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport in Minneapolis, according to a Yahoo Foods report.
“To be able to get a ripe, delicious piece of fruit and wash it yourself at a fountain just next to the stand, or have it freshly sliced by one of our crew members, is a simple touch that can make the difference in a traveler’s day,” Rick Blatstein, CEO of OTG, told Yahoo.
The company has posted up more than 200 restaurant and retail locations in ten airports across North America, according to its website, bringing farm fresh produce to the travel table.
It’s a fever that could be catching on, opening up a new market to the produce industry.
Yahoo reports that JetBlue teamed up with GrowNYC in 2013 to create a greenmarket pop-up terminal in a terminal in New York City’s JFK International Airport, a successful stand that featured state-grown products.
“We want to expand the idea of fresh food,” Tamara Young, Manager of Corporate Communications at JetBlue, said, according to Yahoo. “We don’t want customers to have to compromise their diets and the foods they believe in just because they’re traveling.”
The success of the terminal’s kiosk led to opening the store New York Minute, which sells New York state-produced foods, mostly from local farms.
So next time you catch yourself craving a fresh bite at the airport, keep an eye out for a produce stand. If you don’t see one, ask for a manager!
