Sorajin
Future of Sustainable Dining in Air Travel
Timeline
Jan. - May 2024
Role
Sole Industrial Designer
Tools
SolidWorks, Figma, Keyshot, ProCreate
Reimagining economy class dining to target zero food waste through freeze-dried, on-demand meal service
Industrial Design
Service Design
UI/UX Design
THE PROBLEM
In-Flight Meals Generate Massive Food Waste
Airlines must prepare for every possible meal request, even when demand is uncertain. As a result, untouched meals are discarded after landing
THE Solution
A freeze-dried airline meal system that helps airlines serve fresh, space-saving, and waste-free meals:
Sorajin combines sustainability with dining flexibility, allowing passengers to savor their meals onboard or take them for later enjoyment. Packaged in recyclable materials, Sorajin not only reduces food waste but also elevates your dining experience.
Guided by Design
The packaging shows users exactly what to do. Every fold has printed cues that make assembly intuitive, even in a tight in-flight setting. It turns setup into a smooth, almost automatic process—proof that good design doesn’t need to say much to be understood.
Extending Interaction Beyond the Object
Sorajin not only live in the hands of the travelers, but also bridges the moment between anticipation and taste on the digital layer, transforming dining from a passive service into an active, sensory experience that begins before the tray even arrives.
Engineered Details With Care
From its foldable structure to its no-adhesive assembly and built-in cup holder, every element of Sorajin is designed for purpose and sustainability. Each detail reflects a balance between precision engineering and human consideration—making the product effortless to use and easy to recycle.
Carry Consideration
A cut-out handle makes meals easy to carry, and the compact form slips neatly into a seat pocket.
Zero Glue, Full Circularity
Adhesive-free tuck-and-secure streamlines assembly and improves recyclability.
Flat-Fold Cup Holder
A single folded layer forms a stable cup holder, reducing extra material use.
Choice That Travels With You
Sorajin’s menu offers diverse protein options with standard appetizers and desserts, ensuring passengers can enjoy a full-course meal tailored to their dietary preferences. This variety caters to all tastes, making mealtime a journey highlight.
PROJECT TIMELINE
This project was developed in 4 months
Initial Observation
Riding an airplane is fun.
But dining on a plane, can be discouraging.
And why is that?
Secondary Research
Why is airplane food wasted?
With this question in mind, I took a holistic research approach to investigate the problem space, understand travelers' behaviors, and uncover the pain points contributing to airplane food waste.
Secondary research & Stakeholder Interviews
Beyond Taste: User Behavior
As I researched about food waste issue in the aviation industry in, it remains little known about the relationship between airline
food wastage and passengers’ behavior. Passengers, as the service receivers, play an important role in the cabin service sector. Their airplane food consumption behaviors ultimately and potentially influences the airplane food waste generation.
insights
The system needs to be more adaptable to how people actually eat
Food waste in air travel isn’t caused by carelessness—it’s caused by inflexibility. Airlines must discard uneaten meals for safety while over-preparing to meet unpredictable passenger needs. A system built for certainty ends up producing excess. What’s missing is adaptability—design that connects preparation with real human behavior.
Analogous Research
Learning from how we eat in motion
To understand how context shapes meal design in transit, I studied dining systems across rail, air, and space travel to build new levels of understanding and empathy that help me generate idea that can ultimately bring to my design challenges.
International Space Station
Space food shifted from cans to freeze-dried meals, solving preservation challenges in zero gravity. Today, the same method brings durable, nutrient-rich meals to Earth — valued in camping and increasingly seen as desirable cuisine
China
China’s railways merge tradition with tech: passengers order meals online and receive them at the next station. By solving dining logistics digitally, the system turns travel mealtime into a more convenient and customizable experience.
Japan
In Japan, ekiben makes train journeys incomplete without a taste of place. Tied to the One-Village-One-Product movement, each box celebrates local cuisine and sustainability — showing how dining can become an integral part of the travel experience.
Problem statement
How might we reimagine in-flight dining for passengers with diverse preferences and changing eating habits, so airlines can reduce food waste and operate more sustainably?
After uncovering how systemic inflexibility and passenger unpredictability drive food waste, the question became how design could bridge that gap.
Ideation
Journey-Based Ideation Mapping
Ideating on different stages of dining experience on airplane to expand on the possibilities of product that exist in the overall user experience. Mix and matching ideas to challenge myself to ideating beyond what’s existing on airplane.
Iteration
Narrowing down from 3 concepts to form exploration
My convergent process after concepts generation went from concept sketches and rapid prototypes, to concept validation through testing, final concept direction with form exploration, and low-fidelity wireframes.
Problem statement
Prototyping & User Testing
Early prototypes were brought and tested onboard to assess compatibility with cabin layout, focusing on size, user flow, and seamless integration into the passenger experience. This phase provided insights for necessary adjustments to optimize functionality.
Development
Rethinking how food travels
Food lies at the center of the waste problem in air travel. By exploring freeze-drying, a preservation method recently revived for its efficiency and flavor retention, I reimagined how meals can move through the system.
Muji’s popular freeze-dried range proves that shelf-stable food can still deliver flavor and convenience. The rise of brands like Patagonia Provisions reflects a broader shift
— freeze-drying is no longer just functional, but an appealing choice for modern consumers.
Add hot water inside the package
Close the package and wait 5-7 minutes
Open the package and stir thoroughly
4. Pour into serving bowl
Service design mapping
Visualizing how system works together
The blueprint maps how Sorajin comes to life across passengers, crew, and catering teams. It helped me understand how each touchpoint—digital, physical, and operation—works together.
User testing & iteration
Refining the experience through feedback
Before the final build, I tested with users to see how they interacted with both packaging and the interface. It quickly showed me what felt intuitive and what didn't.
This is Sorajin—the future of economy class dining
Sorajin integrates sustainable packaging, digital touchpoints, and a refined service system to create a smarter, more human dining experience for the future of air travel.
Production
Bringing Sorajin from concept to reality
At this stage, I focused on turning Sorajin into something ready for real production. I refined materials, adjusted the folds, and considered streamlined production
digital touchpoint
Extending the experience beyond the object
I designed the digital interface to complement the physical system and make meal selection more intuitive. It guides passengers through choices with clarity and calmness, while helping airlines better predict demand.
Next steps
Expanding the vision
Sorajin was first designed for Japan Airlines, but the goal is to adapt it for other airlines that value sustainability. Each brand could bring its own identity while sharing the same system of efficiency, care, and reduced waste.
