The typical conclusion would have been branded fortune cookies and food cartons. But, we knew that sweet-and-sour chicken was an Americanised-stereotype, not a true representation of their proud culture. We needed to find the authentic, underground eats and speak to our consumers in their native tongue.Buns—steaming-hot, filled with pork, shrimp, or vegetables—are the most popular comfort food sold in NYC’s China Town. We created the first branded, in-language bun sleeve to serve them in. One month leading up to the inaugural flight, when Chinese bought a taste of home (a pork bun) it was wrapped in a sleeve with Chinese characters that read “The taste of hometown; it is what you missed the most,” and alerted them to the new flight.MediaVest created a network of 20 Chinese bakeries and worked with vendors to customise a sleeve for the size and shape of the tasty treats.

On March 26, 2009, seats on the Boeing 777 were full, as were the seats on Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday. The new route was profitable within a few months, beating industry averages and analysts’ predictions. It became Continental’s 2nd most profitable flight globally, proving that Chinese really did miss the taste of hometown the most.