Collaboration Aims to Increase Availability of Healthful Dining Options for Travelers
Hyde Park, NY, February 19, 2026 – The Culinary Institute of America (CIA) and tRetail Labs have formed a strategic partnership that brings together CIA’s leadership in food, health, sustainability, and culinary education, and tRetail Labs’ nrtureAI platform, which serves as the AI in foodservice enabling implementation, measurement, and continuous improvement at scale. Through the partnership, the two will jointly develop a suite of services and resources, starting with the 2035 Travel Food & Beverage (F&B) Manifesto, a phased, multi-year roadmap for advancing plant-forward foodservice across the Travel F&B sector and the broader visitor economy.
“CIA’s Menus of Change® initiative has helped define what the future of food must become, while tRetail Labs’ nrtureAI is the AI in foodservice that can enable those principles to be implemented, measured, and continuously improved across visitor facing food environments,” said Sushanta Das, founder and CEO of tRetail Labs. “By connecting our capabilities, we can help Travel F&B operators move from aspiration to measurable impact.”
Building on CIA’s more than a decade of collective impact data from Menus of Change and its related collaborative networks, the organizations will provide end-to-end solutions, from experience design to plant-forward menu development, sustainable procurement guidance, food waste reduction strategies, workforce training programs, and experience design recommendations that help nudge guests toward healthier options.
“We’ve all been there—running to a flight and looking for a grab-and-go option that is somewhat healthy,” said Robert E. Jones ’20, vice president of strategic partnerships, industry leadership, and impact at CIA. “With tens of millions of meals being served in airports every year, there is an enormous opportunity to make a positive impact at scale, and I believe this partnership will help lay out a roadmap for airport F&B operators do just that, while also improving profit margins.”
The initial geographic focus will be the United States, with a specific emphasis on airport F&B, aligned with current federal and industry priorities related to healthier food access, family-friendly travel environments, and aviation infrastructure investment. Within this context, the partnership will focus on supporting airport concessions programs through Department of Transportation (DOT)-aligned food and beverage frameworks that translate Menus of Change principles into practical, measurable outcomes.
Media Contact:
Amanda Secor
Associate Director—Industry Marketing and Communications
845-451-1457
[email protected]
Sushanta Das
614-506-44012
[email protected]
About the Culinary Institute of America:
Founded in 1946, the Culinary Institute of America is the world’s premier culinary college. Dedicated to developing leaders in foodservice and hospitality, the independent, not-for-profit CIA offers associate, bachelor’s, and master’s degrees with majors in Baking and Pastry Arts, Culinary Arts, Culinary Science, Culinary Therapeutics, Food Business, Food Studies and Sustainability, Hospitality Management, and Wine and Beverage Management. The college also offers executive education, certificate programs, and courses for professionals and enthusiasts. Its conferences, leadership initiatives, and consulting services have made CIA the think tank of the food industry and its worldwide network of more than 55,000 alumni includes innovators in every area of the food world. CIA has locations in New York, California, Texas, and Singapore.
About tRetail Labs nrtureAI
tRetail Labs is a travel industry focused research and intelligence firm examining experience, behavior, and decision making across travel and visitor environments. nrtureAI is the Visitor Experience Intelligence platform developed by tRetail Labs, synthesizing behavioral and experiential signals across travel touchpoints to reveal how context shapes perception, trust, and decision making. By prioritizing observed behavior over stated preference, nrtureAI supports evidence informed design of experiences and food environments that align wellbeing objectives with commercial performance.
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