Not entirely surprisingly the view expressed by Southside is pretty much in line with the view expressed by the vast majority of other ranks and many SNCOs and Officers when they were asked for their opinion of the standard daily food charge (old) system. I think it was the AFPRB that agreed that in the modern world our old system looked strange. It was never a trial it was always phased implementation because of the level of investment by the contractor in the associated money-spinners like the clubs, shops etc. Now that we have some experience of the 'new' I'm sure the majority in the RAF would go back to the old system if they could. Trouble is they can't.
Oh except at one or two select overseas locations where the contractor can't also run the shops and clubs and is therefore not interested in providing just a dining service. So daily messing will continue at most UK detachments to NATO HQs.