Emirates develops real food plant-based menus targeting a 2027 onboard rollout

• January 22, 2026
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For New Zealand business travellers who spend long hours in the air particularly on Emirates’ daily Dubai–Auckland service the airline is signalling a notable shift in onboard wellbeing, new vegan dining concepts built around whole, minimally processed plant foods, rather than engineered meat substitutes, are now in development and slated to begin appearing onboard from 2027.

Emirates says its culinary direction is moving towards naturally plant-forward cuisines that have “always been plant-forward”, with dishes inspired by Mediterranean mezze, Levantine grain salads, Asian noodle bowls and African stews.

Emirates Vice President of Food & Beverage Design Doxis Bekris said, “Our focus now is on legumes, grains, nuts, seeds, and seasonal vegetables as the heroes of the plate. These ingredients offer natural depth of flavour, texture, and nutrition without relying on ultra-processed alternatives. Instead of replicating meat, we want to draw from cuisines that have always been plant-forward like Mediterranean mezze, Levantine grain salads, Asian noodle bowls, and African stews. In our view this approach feels genuine and culturally rich.”

Why it matters on the NZ–Dubai–Europe corridor

For corporate travellers, this is less about ideology and more about comfort, energy and consistency on ultra-long-haul journeys. Emirates itself notes demand is being driven not only by vegan flyers, but also by passengers selecting plant-based meals as a lighter, easier-to-digest option.

Emirates says it now has 488 vegan recipes in rotation across 140 destinations (a 60% increase from 2024) and serves around half a million vegan meals each year. The airline’s top destinations for vegan meal orders last year included London (No.1), followed by Sydney, Bangkok, Melbourne, Frankfurt, Manchester, Mumbai, Bali and Singapore.

Farm-to-fork, backed by a vertical farm

To support the “farm-to-fork” positioning, Emirates points to Bustanica, its hydroponic vertical farm supplying pesticide- and chemical-free leafy greens directly to its catering facilities.

NZ Business Traveller takeaway: if you’re flying Emirates out of Auckland (or connecting across Australia into Dubai), setting your meal preference early is one of the simplest ways to personalise the journey and, if Emirates delivers on this “real food” brief, it could be a meaningful upgrade for anyone trying to arrive sharper after a long-haul sector.