Cruise Cuisine from our backyard to world seas
A culinary adventure with the nation’s leading cruise operator is taking Manildra Group’s premium Australian-made products and home-grown ingredients to the high seas.
Cruising the South Pacific from Australian shores for 85 years, P&O Cruises stocks its floating cities with Manildra’s 100 per cent Australian-grown and made flour, bakery mixes and sugars, which go into many of the more than 12,000 meals served on board daily.
“The galley is one of the busiest places on our ships,” said Uwe Stiefel, Corporate Executive Chef at P&O Cruises, one of seven cruise lines that comprise Australia’s largest cruise operator Carnival Australia.
“Knowing that the food offering is a big part of why many people go cruising in the first place, we buy a huge amount of local produce to look after passengers’ culinary needs and tastes – and Manildra products find their way into a vast array of dishes; playing an integral part in our efforts to exceed passengers’ expectations,” Mr Stiefel said.
He said with the support of Australian suppliers a key strategy for P&O Cruises, building a close relationship with Manildra – a 66-year-old Australian family- owned international agribusiness – enabled the iconic cruise line to engage with a company whose roots and structure remained 100 per cent Australian and at the heart of Australian agriculture.
“Australia has a reputation for the excellent quality of its fresh produce and we are very fortunate to have local access to such high-quality products grown and made locally, to supply our locally based ships,” said Mr Stiefel.
“It’s a wonderful combination that helps us exceed the expectations of our cruise guests but it’s also part of a wider story, in which cruising contributes more than $5.3 billion annually to the Australian economy.”
Manildra NSW and NZ Sales Manager Barry Bance said premium products such as seeded bread mixes, white flours and dry sugars – to produce focaccias, wholemeal bread rolls, white breads and seeded breads – had been supplied to Carnival’s local ships for the past 12 months.
“We’re so proud to partner with Australia’s leading cruise company in showcasing the finest quality Australian ingredients and products to so many cruise ship passengers,” said Mr Bance.
Mr Stiefel said with cruise ship operators always developing and innovating in the food and beverage space, “the team and facilities at Manildra provide for a relationship that can assist us to continue to meet our guests’ needs”.
“We are also very aware that innovation and ideas can come from our suppliers just as much as it can come from within our own four walls, and we have no doubt Manildra will be a great source of ideas and inspiration in the future,” the P&O Cruises’ corporate executive chef said.
He said the main cruise season out of Australia ran from the start of October to the end of April but industry growth meant cruising had become a year-round activity, with ships based locally.
Three of the eight cruise ships based Down Under year-round belong to Carnival’s P&O Cruises, Princess Cruises and Carnival Cruise Line; with others from the Carnival stable also home-ported in Australia seasonally. Ships from Carnival’s international brands, such as the Cunard and Seabourn vessels, also visit Australian ports on world voyages.
In December 2019, Carnival will boost its capacity in Australia by two-thirds when one of its glitziest ships, the 3000-passenger Carnival Splendor is based year-round in Sydney. With one of the most over-the-top designs of any Carnival ship – including walls with pink polka dots and black tile with lime green grout – Splendor was one of the last of the line’s vessels to debut with an interior designed by Joe Farcus, legendary for his wild and extravagant creations.
Back to news