As ‘live week’ at the Virtual Travel Retail Expo ended on 15 October (an ‘encore’ period runs for six weeks), The Moodie Davitt Report named the inaugural winners of the FAB Superstars Awards, a programme that recognises the efforts and achievements of staff in the travel food & beverage sector around the world. The ceremony was an uplifting experience that shone a light on the wonderful people that kept the industry going throughout 2020 and into this second consecutive troubled year.

Along with sister awards programme Travel Retail Superstars (see previous pages), FAB Superstars was created to shine a light on those frontline and behind the scenes heroes and heroines. We asked employers to submit a written entry for each individual or team, addressing the impact made by the person or department through their actions, and how far they reached; how they measured success in terms of service or helped improve the business; and what made a particular staff member or team stand out?

Categories included Star Team, Star Individual, Star Story (Team or Individual), Innovation (Team or Individual) and Humanity, Leadership & Inspiration. Nominations were invited by region and by department (Front of House; Kitchen; Stores/Admin/Logistics) to cover as broad a spectrum of staff as possible.

To help decide the award winners, The Moodie Davitt Report gathered an advisory committee of vastly experienced travel food & beverage specialists as judges. They included industry consultant Nick Inkster, who spent 25 years in senior roles with SSP; Kevin Zajax, CEO at Ground Control Global and former CEO & Managing Director at Emirates Leisure Retail; US airport commercial management consultant Alan Gluck, alongside The Moodie Davitt Report Founder & Chairman Martin Moodie.

The Moodie Davitt Report President Dermot Davitt said: “The number and quality of the entries we received from right around the world was humbling and inspiring.

“We thank all of the companies that made nominations and most of all we salute those heroes and heroines of the front line and back office that have kept our sector running through its greatest crisis.

“These awards reinforce the message that this is an industry built on its people, their humanity, their service, the personal touch that sets great in-person dining and retail apart from other channels – values that will sustain our industry as it recovers.”