Flooring helps vast new Gate Gourmet production kitchen meet high standards

Gate Gourmet is the leading global provider of airline catering solutions and provisioning services for airlines, both in-flight at more than 200 airports as well as at airport lounges. Part of HNA Holdings, headquartered in Hainan (China), Gate Gourmet was founded in 1992, evolving from Swissair Catering, and has its own HQ in Zürich, Switzerland. In addition to food preparation and packaging, Gate Gourmet also prepares carts ready for in-flight loading and cleans and disinfects unloaded carts.

Designed and built to exacting standards

Gate Gourmet’s decision to relocate its Madrid operation to a new state-of-the-art facility in Coslada, just eight minutes’ drive south of Adolfo Suarez Madrid Barajas Airport, involved realizing an ambitious scheme. The objective was to create a cutting-edge 9,600 m² modern production kitchen that would meet high expectations. Underpinning the project was the need to create the right environment for the culinary expertise of Gate Gourmet’s Michelin-starred chefs, who are dedicated to delivering innovative and inspired meals to all classes of airline passengers. Bringing the production kitchen to completion presented a major challenge for both the client and the companies involved in the design and build of the project, which was constructed under LEED (Leadership, Energy and Environment Design) principles. It was critical to define and implement standards and best practices in all functional areas.

From a flooring perspective, this meant using the best available technologies and solutions, guaranteeing three essential factors: safety, quality and speed of delivery. These requirements were especially important for critical areas such as kitchens, washing and sterilizing lines, and areas that had to comply with halal and kosher standards for product handling and packaging.

Many solutions from a single source

A key challenge for flooring specification was the ability to provide suitable high-performance systems for a broad range of areas with different uses and requirements. Our wide range of products allowed us to adapt specific solutions to the needs of each area. For example, MasterTop 1207 on-site epoxy mortar was ideal for areas that would need to withstand heavy traffic and spills, while the unique resin technology of Ucrete systems was a great fit for hygienic areas needing flooring with chemical, mechanical and thermal resistance properties in addition to ongoing spills and cleaning. Within the flooring specification, two Ucrete anti-slip systems were chosen, providing safety underfoot:

• Blue Ucrete DP 10 B6: a 6-mm-thick multilayer system with anti-slip finish, specially designed for hygienic areas with chemical and mechanical resistance properties.
• Gray Ucrete DP 10 B9 system: a 9-mm-thick multilayer system, particularly suitable for cooking areas with elevated hygienic, mechanical, and thermal requirements.

The reassurance of our track record of meeting and surpassing the food and beverage sector’s expectations for over 50 years made MasterTop and Ucrete systems a reliable investment for the client and designer. They could be confident that our highly durable surface protection would offer reliable service many years into the future.

The right fit for the customer

Being able to align with our customer's safety, hygiene and quality policies was central to providing a good cultural fit as a supplier to the project. We were able to meet a comprehensive range of certifications. Ucrete floors are approved for use in food production facilities that operate on Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) quality standards, and they are certified by Halal Certification Europe. Flooring systems also met Eurofins Indoor Air Comfort Gold standard certification for low emissions and AgBB requirements (German Committee for Health-related Evaluation of Building Products).

From a logistical perspective, speed of installation was also critical. Our fast-curing systems helped to keep fit out on track. In total, we supplied 4,000 m² of flooring, comprising:

• 2,800 m² of blue Ucrete DP 10 (B6)
• 1,626 m² of MasterTop 1207 gray epoxy mortar
• 352 m² of gray Ucrete DP 10 (B9) in the halal and kosher area
• 200 m² gray MasterTop BC 310 in the technical rooms
• 698 m² of gray MasterSeal NP 474 for the half-pipes and joints

Gate Gourmet’s next-generation catering facility opened officially on November 12, 2019, meeting the company’s goal of achieving a facility able to support sustainable, innovative working processes, giving Gate Gourmet’s customers the best operational excellence, efficiency and culinary expertise possible.

Learn more about Ucrete on www.ucrete.com