MANILA -- “Farm-to-table” is a popular dining concept used by restaurants that source ingredients directly from farms. It's an efficient supply system that also assures freshness of ingredients, whether be it vegetables or animal meat.

AirAsia Philippines takes this concept to a different level, specifically to the sky.

Recently, the low-cost airline introduced its “farm-to-air” inflight meals as part of its Santan Menu. It features a couple of healthy dishes that uses vegetables sourced directly from a farm in Silang, Cavite.

Since vegetables are highly perishable, the airline is exerting extra effort to ensure its freshness. The moment it leaves the farm, it gets delivered to a facility that packages the salad, then straight to AirAsia's facility and eventually on board.

This must be done within five to six hours.

“What we have, whatever's delivered early in the morning like midnight, that's what we serve through the day so it's really fresh. In terms of the cold chain, we maintain it. So from the farm, going to our warehouse, it's under controlled temperature. From our warehouse to the plane, we have all these insulated boxes,” explained AirAsia Philippines head of ancillary business Karlo Serafin Sanchez.

The two dishes are Caesar salad and chipotle chicken wrap, priced at P120 and P100 respectively. The salad has a plain option (lettuce, tomatoes, eggs, croutons, parmesan cheese, and dressing) and a chicken option at an additional cost of P10.

For airlines, vegetable salads is one of the more difficult dishes to maintain. That's why it's important to keep it fresh and serve it at a certain time frame. According to the founder of Basic Necessity, Lyndon Tan, vegetables, especially salad greens, are considered fresh up to 24 hours after harvest.

“Once it's processed, it should be out in the next two hours. Anything within 24 hours, in our industry, is considered fresh,” he said.

AirAsia Philippines partnered with Basic Necessity, the company behind Salad Time, a brand of pre-packaged and pre-washed salad greens. The company also supplies various herbs to supermarkets and restaurants in Metro Manila.

Basic Necessity's main farm is in Silang, Cavite, which grows leafy greens such as curly lettuce, spinach, kale, and arugula, just to name a few. The farm also grows a a variety of herbs like basil, cilantro, parsley, sage, tarragon, and thyme, among others.

The company also has a facility in Benguet, which mainly grows highland produce like romaine lettuce.

“We partnered with Lyndon because in terms of the way they prepare their greens, it's really world-class. They wash their greens using distilled water. The ones you buy at the grocery, you can eat it right away. But moving forward, we want to identify farms that can do something similar,” Sanchez said.

During the launch held at Discovery Country Suites in Tagaytay City, AirAsia Philippines also introduced four new items in its menu. As practice, the airlines introduces new dishes quarterly to compliment its standard and favorite dishes, Uncle Chin's chicken rice and Pak Nasser's nasi lemak.

“We launched Santan menu in 2015 as a tribute to ASEAN [Association of Southeast Asian Nations] flavors. Santan is an essential ingredient in Malay cooking, it's a thick creamy liquid from coconut that is often used as a a substitute for butter, cream or soup stock in ASEAN cooking. We call it gata (coconut milk) here. Because we value customer happiness, at all points of the journey, from the purchase of the ticket to leaving the airport on board and onto the destination. Santan inflight menu is aimed at making flying with us a delightful dining experience,” said AirAsia Philippines chief executive officer and pilot Capt. Dexter Comendador.

The new dishes are: chicken teriyaki, roasted chicken with creamy pesto, and Koren beef stew with kimchi fried rice. All meals are priced at P170.

Another new item is a drink called the Sunset Burst. It's a sweet concoction of lychee and strawberry served with a coconut jelly. This drink is extra special because the cabin crew makes it right in front of the passenger.

All the new dishes and the drink are already available at all AirAsia Philippines flights.

“In AirAsia, we use food as part of our ancillary product that can entice our passengers to enjoy and uplift their flying experience. With this new concept, it's keeping everyone healthy. It's providing some soul in our flying and dining experience and letting them enjoy the regular food on board a little more healthy and a little more special,” Sanchez said.