Tomato juice on the plane
News News blog
Have you too ever wondered why so many people order tomato juice on airplanes?
There are apparently two main reasons for this.
One reason is, of course, the domino effect or the herd instinct. People see or hear that others are ordering tomato juice and simply follow their example.
Lufthansa, for example, serves more than 1.5 million liters of tomato juice to its passengers every year. That's more liters of tomato juice than beer.
But herd instinct alone cannot be the solution to this - especially since most people hardly drink or like tomato juice outside of airplanes...
The main reason is that the odor and taste threshold is higher at low air pressure - i.e. on an airplane, for example. Statistically, we taste 20 to 30 percent less salt and 15 to 20 percent less sugar on planes. In contrast, foods and beverages that we normally enjoy taste bland on an airplane.
Fruity aromas, on the other hand, can still be perceived well on an airplane, which is why tomato juice is a real taste sensation at windy heights, especially when it is seasoned with salt and pepper.