Confidential · Investment Memorandum · August 2026
ASF
The operating system for airline catering intelligence
Strictly Confidential · Not for Distribution
The airline industry wastes billions of dollars of food every year. Every flight is catered to a forecast. The forecast is almost always wrong. The meals that come back — untouched, sealed, binned — represent a direct hit to the caterer's margin and the airline's cost base. No one has ever measured this at scale with enough accuracy to act on it. ASF does.
ASF has built the first data platform that audits in-flight food waste at the flight level, giving airlines and caterers — for the first time — the confidence to reduce meal loadings without risking passenger satisfaction. The core proposition is simple: a 10% reduction in sealed meal loadings, multiplied by the cost per meal, produces a margin saving that exceeds the cost of the ASF system. When that equation holds, the commercial model is proven and the business scales.
The proof case is SATS — Singapore Airlines' catering company, one of the largest airline caterers in the world. ASF is in active negotiation to be included in a SATS AI food waste proof of concept running from October 2026. The outcome of that test — expected by March 2027 — is the binary gate: the commercial model either locks or pivots.
49
Flights audited
to date
10%
Target waste
reduction
Mar
2027
Commercial model
target lock
SATS
Proof case &
anchor client
Every commercial flight is catered to a passenger load forecast. The caterer prepares meals based on that forecast, loads them onto the aircraft, and takes back whatever isn't consumed. In economy class, sealed meals — untouched, unreturned, wasted — are binned. The caterer absorbs the cost. The airline absorbs the sustainability exposure. Nobody is measuring it at the flight level with enough accuracy to act on it.
The Caterer's Problem
Margin destroyed on every wasted sealed meal
No standardised measurement across the industry
Waste data collected on handwritten sheets, transferred to spreadsheets, sent manually to airlines
No ability to confidently recommend load reductions without risking passenger satisfaction
All negotiating individually with waste management contractors — no aggregated buying power
The Airline's Problem
Oversupply is the default because under-supply is politically catastrophic — one missing chicken meal reaches the senior in-flight manager immediately
Sustainability reporting requirements growing (PPWR now law in Europe, August 2026)
No standardised waste data from caterers — blind on total waste profile
In-flight managers need 95% accuracy on any data before they'll make a loading decision
Passenger growth forecast to double — waste problem compounds
The core dynamic: Airlines oversupply because they're blind. Caterers absorb the waste cost and pass it up. Neither party has clean enough data to make a confident change. The industry has normalised the waste because there's been no alternative. ASF is the alternative.
ASF provides the data, audit methodology, and dashboard that gives airlines and caterers the confidence to act. Not intelligence in the abstract sense — actionable confidence grounded in flight-level accuracy. The product sits at the intersection of operational measurement and commercial decision-making.
Audit & Data Collection
Flight-by-flight waste audits. Sealed meals, sealed beverages, category-level splits. Proprietary app (Microsoft Power Apps) for in-field data capture. Trained audit team. 49 flights completed — more data than any other organisation in the sector.
The Dashboard
ASF's data platform visualises waste by flight, route, category, and against industry benchmark. Clients see — for the first time — where their waste sits relative to peers. Delivered as a SaaS dashboard with accreditation access for clients.
Insight Consulting
Post-audit insight meetings identify the three categories with highest reduction potential. Specific, prioritised, defensible. The recommendation that follows is not a guess — it's a delta, validated by audit data, that an in-flight manager can act on with confidence.
Current capability level: ASF operates at the insight-with-consulting layer. Real data. Real recommendations. Not yet at the predictive intelligence layer — and it doesn't need to be. The commercial case is won at the delta: load this many fewer meals, save this much margin. That is sufficient to prove the model at SATS and scale from there.
The commercial model is a two-sided structure. The caterer is the primary buyer — they hold the margin saving. The airline is the secondary buyer — they see the dashboard and the sustainability proof. Both layers activate once the core equation is proven.
10%
fewer meal loadings
×
$X
cost per sealed meal
=
Margin saved on wasted meals
Gate question: Is saving > cost of ASF system?
Yes → caterer commits → passes cost to airline → ASF charges dashboard fee on top
Airline sees same 10% proof → pays premium for visibility and sustainability reporting
Revenue Stream 1 — Caterer
System access fee — paid by the caterer as a proportion of the margin saving realised. Gate condition: saving must exceed fee. If it does, the caterer has no reason to refuse. The ROI is immediate and measurable.
Primary target: GM / COO / Procurement at major airline caterers.
Revenue Stream 2 — Airline
Dashboard access fee — charged on top of the caterer fee. Airline gains: waste visibility, sustainability reporting data, benchmark against peers, load reduction confidence.
Primary target: In-Flight / Sustainability / Procurement at major carriers.
Revenue Stream 3 — Consultancy & Insights
Once a client is in the system and realising savings, ASF can offer: deeper analysis on supply chain waste, service design recommendations, aggregated industry insight reports (sold to trade bodies, regulators, sustainability bodies). This is the spin-off layer — not the core sell, but the margin expander.
The aviation catering market serves approximately 4 billion passengers per year, a figure forecast to double within the next decade. Every one of those passengers represents food loaded, food consumed, and food wasted. The waste problem is structural and growing. Regulatory pressure is accelerating it — PPWR (Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation) became law in Europe in August 2026. Airlines face mandatory sustainability disclosures. The commercial incentive and the regulatory mandate are converging.
Airlines
~5,000 commercial airlines globally. Top 50 carriers represent the majority of volume. Each is a potential dashboard client. Entry point: sustainability and in-flight teams. Conversion driver: cost reduction proof from caterer layer.
Caterers
A concentrated market. A handful of major caterers — including SATS, LSG, gategroup, DO&CO — serve the majority of global airline meals. Each caterer operates across multiple airlines, meaning a single caterer contract cascades across many airline relationships.
Regulatory Tailwind
PPWR (EU, August 2026). Airline ESG reporting requirements. Net zero commitments across every major carrier. Aviation food waste sits at the intersection of all three. ASF provides the measurement infrastructure that makes compliance possible.
The concentration opportunity: Winning one major caterer doesn't win one airline. It wins every airline that caterer serves. SATS services Singapore Airlines across multiple hubs. A proven model at SATS rolls across the relationship network — not one sale, but a cascade.
| Proof Point |
Detail |
Status |
| 49 audited flights |
More flight-level food waste data than any other organisation in the sector. Second round of audits running September 2026, adding sealed beverages and loading data for the first time. |
Live |
| SATS engagement |
Active negotiation to be included in SATS AI food waste POC. SATS is Singapore Airlines' catering company — one of the largest aviation caterers in the world. Decision by September 7, 2026. |
70% confidence |
| ACA membership |
Recently joined the Aviation Catering Association — the primary trade body connecting ASF to caterers at scale. Webinar pipeline being developed. |
Active |
| AI partner (NDA) |
Unnamed AI partner providing the machine learning infrastructure for the SATS POC. Licence negotiation in progress. This partnership provides the technical backbone for the intelligence layer. |
In negotiation |
| Dashboard live |
Client-facing dashboard operational. Clients can access their waste data, benchmark against peers, and receive post-audit insight reports. First client to receive accreditation access: SATS. |
Live |
| Senior buyer engagement |
MD-level and COO-level meetings at major caterers. Four senior caterers at WTCE Toulouse confirmed active interest in AI food waste intelligence. Awareness exists at the decision-making level. |
Pipeline |
| Regulatory alignment |
PPWR now law in Europe (August 12, 2026). ASF's audit and reporting infrastructure is exactly what airlines and caterers need for compliance. Regulatory tailwind is now live, not future. |
Confirmed |
The sales strategy is sequenced. Prove the model at SATS. Use the proof to sell caterers through the ACA. Use caterer commitments to activate the airline dashboard layer above. The channel is concentrated — win a caterer, cascade across their airline network.
Primary Channel — Caterers via ACA
ACA (Aviation Catering Association) is the gateway to every major caterer. ASF recently joined. The ACA webinar is the first activation. The SATS proof case becomes the centrepiece of every ACA conversation: here is a caterer that saved X. Here is the data. Here is what it cost. Here is what it returned.
Target buyers: GM, COO, Procurement at major catering groups.
Secondary Channel — Airlines Direct
Sustainability teams are the door. PPWR compliance is the conversation opener. The dashboard is the product. But the airline sale activates only after the caterer commits — because the caterer relationship carries the primary cost justification.
Target buyers: Head of In-Flight, Sustainability Director, Procurement.
Stage 3 — AI Video as Sales Asset
Once the SATS proof case is delivered, the commercial model becomes the pitch. AI video content translates the proof case into a scalable sales asset — deployed across the ACA network, at WTCE Hamburg, and in direct airline outreach. The proven model sells itself. The video scales the reach.
September 2026 · Binary Gate
SATS POC Inclusion Confirmed
Matt travels to Singapore, week one of September
ASF inclusion in SATS POC confirmed or denied by September 7
If yes: all downstream milestones activate. If no: pivot and identify new proof case.
September audits add sealed beverages and loading data to the dataset
App tested in the wild for the first time (parallel spreadsheet backup)
October — November 2026
POC Runs. Commercial Equation Written.
Matt in Singapore as part of the active POC
Real flight data. Real waste counts. Real cost numbers applied to the equation.
Commercial model written in words by November: "This + this = that."
Licence model, rationale, and product/price proposition formalised
Roles of founders defined. Team structure built for commercial operation.
January — March 2027
Hypothesis Tested. Model Locked or Pivoted.
SATS POC data validated. 10% saving > ASF cost? Binary answer.
If proven: commercial model locked. Rebrand decision triggered.
If not proven: pivot the proposition before March 2027.
Grant funding directed at ASF team structure and scale resource.
March 2027 · Target
Rename & Rebrand. Brand Ready to Scale.
Proof case delivered. Commercial model proven.
ASF rebrands under a name and identity built for scale.
ACA pipeline opens using SATS as the centrepiece case study.
April 2027 · Launch Event
WTCE Hamburg — Public Launch
World Travel Catering & Equipment Expo, Hamburg
The industry event. Every major caterer and airline in the room.
Proven model, new brand, AI video as the pitch asset. Pipeline converts.
Diana
Founder. Deep operational knowledge of the airline catering industry. Drives the commercial model, client relationships, and ACA strategy. Singapore Airlines/SATS relationship was originated and managed by Diana. Primary voice on commercial positioning and investor narrative.
Matt
Co-founder. The commercial mind. Architect of the concentric model — product, sell, benefits, brand. Leads the SATS POC engagement in Singapore. Drives the Stage 3 sales motion and the rebrand decision. Primary external-facing role post-proof-case.
Steve
Co-founder. Data and product. Owns the audit methodology, app development, and dashboard. Built the proprietary audit process. Manages data integrity — the foundation on which the commercial model rests. Leading the September audit expansion.
Note: Team roles for the commercial phase — post-POC, post-licence — are actively being defined. The structure that emerges from the SATS outcome will determine headcount, functional responsibilities, and whether grant funding can be directed toward team build-out. This is intentionally held open until the proof case determines the shape of the business.
High
AI licence not granted
The unnamed AI partner under NDA holds the technology backbone for the SATS POC intelligence layer. If the licence is not granted, the POC runs without ASF's full technology proposition. Mitigation: ASF's audit data and dashboard have standalone commercial value independent of the AI partner. The core saving equation does not require the AI layer to be proven.
High
ASF not included in the SATS POC
If Matt's September trip results in a no, the SATS proof case does not run. The commercial model equation remains untested with real numbers. Mitigation: The roadmap includes an explicit pivot clause — if SATS fails, a new proof case is identified and the proposition is adjusted before March 2027. The commercial model framework is transferable to any major caterer.
High
App fails in the wild
The Microsoft Power Apps audit tool has never been tested outside of desk research. Its first live test is the September audits — running simultaneously with the SATS engagement. Mitigation: Parallel spreadsheet process running alongside the app at all times. Data integrity is protected even if the app fails. The spreadsheet is the proven fallback.
Medium
Hypothesis fails — 10% saving does not exceed ASF cost
If the core equation doesn't hold at SATS, the commercial model is unproven. Mitigation: The equation is designed to pivot — if 10% doesn't clear the bar, the target reduction or the pricing model adjusts. The SATS data itself becomes the basis for recalibrating the proposition. Failure at SATS is still more data than the industry has.
Medium
Data credibility challenged
49 flights is not a statistically robust sample against 200,000+ commercial flights globally. Sophisticated buyers will ask. Mitigation: ASF does not claim statistical universality — it claims flight-level accuracy for the specific client's operations. The sell is confidence for that client's data, not industry-wide generalisation. The September audits expand the dataset materially.
Low
Regulatory landscape shifts
PPWR and airline sustainability requirements could change in pace or scope. Mitigation: ASF maintains an active regulatory tracker. The core commercial case (margin saving) is independent of regulatory tailwinds — regulation adds urgency, it doesn't create the case.
Note: All pricing figures marked £[X] are illustrative placeholders. Actual unit pricing will be set once the SATS proof case validates the saving-to-cost ratio. The model structure is fixed — the inputs update once the commercial equation is locked in November 2026. Projections begin from commercial launch (April 2027, WTCE Hamburg).
The revenue architecture stacks two recurring fees — caterer licence + airline dashboard — with a consultancy layer on top. The critical multiplier is the caterer cascade: one caterer contract covers every airline they serve. This compresses CAC and accelerates ARR growth relative to a direct airline-only model.
Pricing Assumptions (Illustrative)
Caterer Licence — Annual Fee
Per hub (audit + dashboard + ops support)£[X] / year
Saving delivered per hub (10% target)> £[X] / year
Gate conditionSaving must exceed fee
Contract termAnnual, renewable
Airline Dashboard — Annual Fee
Per airline (dashboard + sustainability reporting)£[Y] / year
Cascade ratio (airlines per caterer)3–8×
Activation triggerCaterer commits first
Contract termAnnual, renewable
The cascade multiplier: One caterer contract does not equal one airline relationship. SATS services Singapore Airlines across multiple hubs. gategroup serves 300+ airlines. Winning a caterer at contract level cascades across their entire airline network. One enterprise sale generates 3–8× the airline dashboard revenue on top. This is the structural advantage of selling through the caterer layer first.
Three-Year Revenue Outlook — Post Commercial Launch (April 2027)
Year 1 · Apr 2027 – Mar 2028
Prove & Seed
Caterer contracts1 – 2
Airline dashboards3 – 10
Caterer ARR£[X] × 2
Airline ARR£[Y] × 10
Consultancy revenue£[Z]
Total ARR£[TBD]
Year 2 · Apr 2028 – Mar 2029
Scale via ACA
Caterer contracts4 – 6
Airline dashboards15 – 35
Caterer ARR£[X] × 6
Airline ARR£[Y] × 35
Consultancy revenue£[Z] × 3
Total ARR£[TBD]
Year 3 · Apr 2029 – Mar 2030
Category Leader
Caterer contracts10 – 15
Airline dashboards40 – 80
Caterer ARR£[X] × 15
Airline ARR£[Y] × 80
Consultancy revenue£[Z] × 8
Total ARR£[TBD]
Key SaaS Metrics & Assumptions
3–8×
Airline cascade per caterer win
>80%
Target gross margin
(SaaS layer)
Annual
Contract structure
(upfront billing)
ACA
Primary pipeline source
post-SATS
Growth Assumptions
SATS proof case → 1st ACA webinar → 3–5 caterer conversations in Year 1
Caterer market concentrated: top 10 caterers cover majority of global airline meals
Each caterer win cascades: 3–8 airline dashboards activated automatically
Passenger volumes doubling = waste problem compounds = urgency increases annually
PPWR compliance deadlines accelerate buying decisions in EU markets
Downside Scenario
SATS is only proof case — if it fails, Year 1 launch delayed by 6–12 months
Caterer market resistance if 10% saving doesn't clear the fee in all hub types
Sales cycle risk: enterprise catering contracts run long (6–12 months to close)
Pivot scenario: direct airline sell without caterer intermediary — lower cascade multiple but broader TAM
When the numbers become real: The £[X] and £[Y] price points get set in November 2026 once the commercial equation is written in words. The SATS POC data (Oct–Nov 2026) gives us the saving figure. The saving figure sets the ceiling for the licence fee. Everything above flows from that single number.
Investment will be deployed across four areas, sequenced to the proof case timeline. No capital is deployed at scale until the SATS outcome is known.
| Area |
Purpose |
Timing |
| SATS POC Delivery |
Travel, audit team costs, technology deployment, and client support for the Singapore proof of concept. |
Oct — Dec 2026 |
| Data & Product |
September audit expansion (sealed beverages, loading data). App stabilisation and hardening post-SATS. Dashboard enhancements for client-facing accreditation layer. |
Sep 2026 — Mar 2027 |
| Commercial Infrastructure |
Commercial proposal writing, legal (licence structure, Singapore NFP closure), team role definition, and commercial model formalisation. |
Sep — Nov 2026 |
| Sales & Brand (Post-Proof) |
AI video content as pitch asset. ACA activation. WTCE Hamburg presence. Rebrand execution. Deployed only if SATS hypothesis holds. |
Jan — Apr 2027 |
Grant funding: ASF is exploring whether grant funding from the SATS/Singapore Airlines programme can be directed toward ASF's operational costs during the POC. This is a parallel capital path, not a substitute for investment.
Investment Opportunity
ASF is raising a seed round to fund the SATS proof of concept delivery and the commercial infrastructure needed to lock the model by March 2027. The raise amount and terms are available on request. The right investor brings more than capital — sector relationships, regulatory credibility, or caterer/airline network access will accelerate every stage of the roadmap.
What success looks like by March 2027
SATS POC completed with validated data
10% saving > ASF cost: equation proven
Commercial model locked and defensible
ACA pipeline live with SATS as proof case
Rebrand completed. Brand ready to scale.
Hamburg WTCE: public launch ready
What we ask of investors
Capital to fund POC delivery and commercial build
Patience for the SATS binary gate (Sept 7)
Sector relationships — caterer or airline introductions
Regulatory expertise (EU sustainability, PPWR)
Comfort with a pivot clause if hypothesis fails
A March 2027 decision horizon
The bottom line: SATS is not just a client. It is the proof case that either locks the commercial model or tells us exactly how to pivot it. The entire raise is structured around that single outcome. An investor who comes in now gets in before the proof case — at the risk of the hypothesis, and the upside of being first if it holds.