Frequent Travelers Can Get Their Mile-High Snack Fix With Airplane Food at Home

In addition to headphones and screaming babies, one of the constants of airline travel is the snack. Cookies, pretzels, and other portable, pre-packaged foods are perfect for short treks. But as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, airlines aren’t doling out many of the snacks, and travelers might be missing a specific variety of cheese only an airplane can deliver.

According to The Washington Post, a company is now acting as an intermediary between airlines and the grounded travel enthusiast. Imperfect Foods, a subscription delivery service that specializes in overstock food items, is currently offering JetBlue cheese and snack trays. The tray, which retails on the ground for $2.99, consists of a cheese spread, dried cherries, and crackers.

Rather than subject the cheese offering to a fate in a dumpster full of food waste, JetBlue allowed its supplier to move some of its inventory over to Imperfect Foods. So far, that company has sold 40,000 of them. Airlines like Delta and Southwest are also donating snacks to food banks and other places in need. Delta’s Biscoff cookies have been diverted to frontline healthcare workers.

Imperfect Foods is handling the pandemic overflow in other ways. The company is redistributing hotel pineapples and movie theater popcorn that would otherwise be languishing as those businesses see a sharp decline in patrons.