World Travel Catering & Onboard Services Expo (WTCE) announces the return of its Tech Trail ahead of the event taking place from 14 to 16 April at Hamburg’s Messe, following the resounding success of its inaugural edition at last year’s event.

The Tech Trail guides visitors to key stands featuring solutions like AI-driven planning, smart galley management, sustainable audio, and seamless digital retail. It addresses key industry challenges such as waste reduction, operational streamlining and enhanced connectivity, offering a firsthand look at the future of onboard services.

Curated with invaluable guidance from the WTCE Retail Technology Ambassador, Kai Kosicki, this year’s trail highlights ten innovative exhibitors transforming aviation catering through AI, automation, sustainability, and digital ecosystems.

The full line-up

WTCE’s Tech Trail kicks off with integrated operational solutions, starting with LimeFlight (Stand 1A20), which streamlines load planning, meal services, inventory, and invoicing into a single airline-centric platform trusted worldwide. Alongside this, Paxia will present Paxia Cloud at Stand 4D70, an integrated catering management platform connecting the supply chain across the full catering cycle — from specifications and galley planning through to ordering, invoicing, and analytics.

Driessen Catering Equipment B.V. at Stand 1A35 will introduce CLEO360, a smart galley system leveraging BLE tracking and predictive analytics to optimise maintenance, reduce waste, and increase sustainability. Exhibiting for the first time, Devion at Stand 1C81 will build on this efficiency theme with RivoLoad robotics, automatic trolley loading for hygienic, labour-light catering flows that ensure reliability in high-pressure kitchens.

The trail then turns to inventory visibility and security. Countifi applies computer vision to automate asset tracking across kitchens, warehouses, and aircraft — removing the need for barcodes, RFID, or manual counts to deliver real-time inventory data. Todd Research addresses the security side of ground operations with a purpose-built X-ray screening machine designed specifically for airline catering carts, trolleys, and containers.

Shifting to passenger-facing digital and audio innovations, Immfly at Stand 1C89 unites retail, connectivity, and data into one ecosystem, with its technology proven to boost onboard orders while enabling latest services such as satcom-powered WhatsApp messaging. Foodcase International (Stand 4C10) adds a new layer through its Yogi Namak AI, which delivers personalised nutrition guidance to ease travel stress and information overload.

Rounding out the trail, C8Rtech at Stand 1G86 powers core catering with its Catering and Inflight Suites for waste-reducing transparency across global operations, and Omnevo at Stand 1E40 caps the list by merging pre-order, onboard sales, and real-time insights into a revenue-boosting retail engine.

Shona Thomson, Event Director of WTCE, said: “The pace of change in aviation catering is being driven by a combination of pressures including tighter margins, stricter sustainability targets, and passengers who expect a retail experience in the air that matches what they get on the ground. What this year’s Tech Trail shows is that the industry has built solutions around these pressures. Ten exhibitors, each tackling a different part of the operation chain, but all working towards smarter and more efficient process for caterers, airlines, and passengers alike.”

Featured image credited to WTCE