Serving “funky, fresh delight” – that’s how innovative travel food retail experience company Jacq Out the Box (JOTB) transformed the inflight snack experience for many passengers across Europe.
What started as a travel cuisine consultancy has grown to be among the top ambient box suppliers serving UK airlines.
The company now features an eclectic portfolio of food offerings for various travel operators across the UK, with plans to further expand its business into the wider travel retail space.
JOTB was founded by Jacqui Davidson and together with Alyna Trotman, who have combined their extensive experience in the travel industry.
A culinary professional, Davidson co-founded Monty’s Bakehouse in 2004 as Innovation Director, where she pioneered bake-in-pack for hot snacking onboard.
In 2011, she started another inflight snacking business, Gastro Culinary Innovation (GCI), in partnership with its former Director Caroline Thompson.
GCI developed and sourced its own branded range of artisan savoury and sweet convenience snacking for the buy onboard and complimentary international travel market. This included Gastropak, which took the entrée into a handheld format under the Streetfood brand, making it available as easy-to-heat, pre-packaged snacks.
The company later appointed Lance Hayward, Founder and Managing Director of UK company The Hayward Partnership, as Non-Executive Director.
Davidson said: “We’d been supplying UK airlines, caterers, train lines with hot snacks and cakes for complimentary services, changing the passenger’s food experience from what was a travel necessity, basically, to a funky, fresh delight.
“Lance was fully onboard with pushing that further, using his extended airline catering and retail experience to advise on a strategy to move the company forward into a newly developing arena of onboard retail.”
As reported, GCI sold the majority of its stake to Heinemann-Scorpio International, co-founded by Stuart McGuire, in 2017. The move helped address the need to adapt to the fast-evolving changes in the aviation industry.
The company was known for developing and sourcing its own branded range of artisan savoury and sweet convenience snacking for the buy onboard sector and sales, marketing and distribution services for non-competing high street brands.
The acquisition strengthened GCI’s team with the addition of Trotman, introduced by Hayward, while Thompson had to leave the business for personal reasons.
Trotman brought three decades of aviation experience to the company, including 20 years with inflight product, cabin and commercial departments.
Trotman said: “Something clicked. I joined as Sales Director via the Hayward Partnership. Very quickly Jacqui and I realised we enjoyed working with each other and our complementary skills were highly effective as a leadership team.”
Davidson added: “The industry is always changing. Opportunities, trends and technology, you really need to be thinking of the next thing all the time. With Alyna’s experience in operations, business success, it was the right time to create something new.”
Heinemann-Scorpio International is now fully owned by Gebr Heinemann after the latter acquired the remaining stake in the business in 2019, with their strategic focus very much on their core travel retail market.
Extending its airline retail footprint, GCI debuted its ambient snack box on the British Airways retail programme in 2019 – the company’s foray into the ambient world of onboard snacking. This also allowed Davidson and Trotman to innovate their business.
Later that year, JOTB partnered with travel retail specialist distributor Cecil Macdonald, with over 70 years of experience in the channel.
Even as the pandemic hit the travel retail sector, JOTB continued to develop three new styles of ambient snack boxes, preparing for the return of regular airline services. Trotman and Davidson were able to produce a portfolio of ambient products amid the shift in consumer habits, market demands and post-lockdown travel trends.
Within two years and with a pandemic behind it, the company emerged as the top supplier of ambient snacks for UK airlines and extended its reach into Europe, thanks to the partnership with Cecil Macdonald.
Cecil Macdonald Managing Director Steve Westcott commented: “We have a perfect partnership with JOTB. Jacqui’s creativity, vision and incredible ability to source both artisanal and mainstream products, coupled with Alyna’s eye for detail and accuracy in pulling concepts together, have resulted in some fabulous snack box options being offered to airlines and beyond.
“Supported by my own team’s experience in demand planning and supply chain, together with the specialist logistics function we provide has resulted in a very strong proposition to the UK travel industry.”
Trotman added: “We’re very well known in the industry but what we really pride ourselves on is agility. What Jacq and I do differently for our clients and suppliers shows we’re always ready, anticipating opportunities, gaps and new trends. We’re leading creativity as well as cost-to-quality.”
JOTB’s core offers include its Vegan and Gluten Free Box, a sweet and savoury snack box made for passengers seeking vegan and gluten-free options.
Davidson said: “We work with our designer to package the product in a way that enhances the overall experience. The vibe matches the content feel. In our Tapas Box, we had a Spanish-English phrase printed inside that could be used in-person to amuse and delight.
“On the Vegan Box we have pop art style for that refreshing feeling in seat. Our Ploughman’s Box is a bestseller, the imagery on pack transports you right where you need to be – a pub garden in dappled sunlight.”
Amid the growing demand for sustainably made products in travel retail, the company ensures that its packaging produces minimal waste for airlines. Each carton is made from FSC board, which is 100% recycled, compostable, biodegradable material and sourced from responsibly managed forests.
Trotman said: “Jacq curates each box herself, expertly balancing the different components from a flavour-texture angle. We are obsessed with authenticity. We bring sweet and savoury snacking that’s so well-rounded and moreish, it leaves a big impression.”
JOTB continues to explore new markets by growing its network of suppliers across the globe from provincial, artisan producers to well-known British brands.
Davidson said: “Our mission is always to excite and inspire. We’re bringing creamy, crunchy, tangy and salty – all those flavour-texture combinations that knock your socks off and leave you thinking on your last bite ‘I need more’.
“We’re bringing that to the customer in seat and the quality is the best. We make sure it’s the highest quality, most authentic on offer. Our suppliers are carefully picked – we’re market leaders in the industry and our producers really are the best at what they do.” 
