What the hell is a Chia Pot? You tell me and we’ll both know. Breakfast time at an airline lounge is usually a predictable affair. There will be hot items such as bacon and eggs and cold items such as pastries, yoghurt and fruit. But Chia?

I know what Chia is, in fact I buy it and sprinkle a spoonful on my cereal each morning. However the last place I expect to see it is in an airline lounge and in an unexpected form.

Breakfast in Auckland

My routine on arrival in an airline lounge is fairly standard. If the food area is clear I’ll dive in with my phone and get photos without interrupting people. This is so you can see what I see.


Pootling along with my phone and snapping away, nothing appeared out of the ordinary. All the usual breakfast items are on offer and I made a mental note to snag me a hash brown. Then I came across something unusual…

Little Glass Jars Filled With Mystery Gloop

Sitting defiantly among the breakfast items are four glass jars. They each feature a festive flash of purple that seems to shout, “I belong in the breakfast range!” Naturally I decided to have one.


A pair of passengers nearby noticed my quizzical looks and we all speculated on the contents. Frogs eggs? Some kind of post Chernobyl caviar? The suggestion came that I should stir it up and give it a try.

A Chia Pot, You Say?

Doing my usual Facebook location check in (as you do), I attached the picture at the top of this post and wrote, “Not sure what these are but I’m going to have one!”. The comments came in thick and fast.

Tristan noted, “Looks like a chia pot” followed by Terri who clarified, “Chia pots – it’s like sago for hipsters”. Tia then confirmed, “That’s a chia pot, or chia pudding. Very good!” It’s clear that people with names starting with the letter T know about these things.


Anna confirmed, “Chia it is!” and finally Kristy provided identification and advice – “Yep chia pots. I love them. Make sure you drink plenty of water after eating them!”

Clearly my memo was lost in the mail – I didn’t know such a thing exists (and my name starts with a T!). The pots contained the purple berry flash and also some honey which made the eating very good. According to the Internet they are dead easy to make too.

Overall Thoughts

I really enjoy discovering new food when I travel as it adds to the experience. It is quite unusual for me to discover something new when visiting an airline lounge as they tend to play it quite safe when it comes to dining.

Kudos to the people who cater the Qantas First Class lounge in Auckland for doing something different. This particular thing is very cost effective as well as being interesting and delicious so I am definitely a fan.

Have you ever come across a new food in an airline lounge? If so, let me know. Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.

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