Gluten-free travellers across Australia are jumping for joy.
After influencer Sopha Dopha unintentionally sparked a whirlwind feud with Sydney Airport over their lack of gluten-free options last week, one airline has come to the rescue.
The 22-year-old, whose real name is Sophia Begg, was surprised by staff at Sydney’s Virgin Australia lounge earlier this week with her favourite breakfast – a gluten-free ham and cheese toastie.
The delicious morsel, dubbed the ‘Sopha Dopha Gluten Free Toastie’, can now be ordered by travellers at any of Virgin Australia’s domestic lounges across Australia – but only until August 24.
“It’s up there, you can order it,” Ms Begg said in an Instagram clip as she laughed.
She appeared stunned by the signs the lounge had put up compelling travellers to order the toastie, adding it’s a classic combo.
“The sausages are also a staple for me in the lounge. Love you Virgin.”
A spokesperson for Virgin Australia told news.com.au it “only made sense” for the lounge to offer this “exciting, limited-time meal”.
“Sophia was back at Sydney Airport and in true Virgin Australia style, we decided to have a little fun after she named a gluten free toastie from the Virgin Australia Lounge as her usual go-to,” they explained.
“When she announced to her 1.5 million TikTok followers that her go-to breakfast is the humble ham and cheese toastie, it only made sense to make it official across Virgin Australia’s Lounges.
“Our Lounge team surprised Sophia with her favourite brekky – a ham and cheese toastie on gluten-free bread, of course.”
The spokesperson said the toastie has already proved to be very popular at their lounges – and while the Sopha Dopha special is for one week only, the airline is proud to offer gluten-free options year-round.
“The Sopha Dopha toastie has already had hundreds of comments across social media, with people sharing their excitement to try it for themselves,” they said.
“The newly named ‘Sopha Dopha Gluten Free Toastie’ is currently available for one week only.
The spokesperson said gluten-free bread, however, is available year-round, so guests can request it to create their own toastie creations in Virgin Australia’s seven domestic lounges.
“Virgin Australia offers a range of gluten-free breakfast options for guests to enjoy, including gluten-free bread, Berry Coconut Muesli, Fresh Fruit Salad with Coconut Yoghurt, Scrambled Eggs and Chicken & Thyme Sausages,” they added.
It comes as the internet was set alight last week after the influencer shared her disappointment at what she believes was a severe lack of gluten-free options at Sydney airport.
“Sydney Airport, you need to get your sh*t together,” she said in the clip, which has since racked up almost 3 million views and thousands of comments.
“Tell me why I’m walking over to every single food place and no one does gluten-free.
“Every single cafe, no gluten-free bread. What would you like me to eat?
“Because at literally every single place, they don’t have gluten-free.”
A spokesperson for Sydney Airport told news.com.au that they recognised that their recent post may have “missed the mark”.
“We recognise that some people felt that our recent post missed the mark, our intent was to highlight the gluten free options at the airport which on this occasion failed to meet expectations,” they said.
“We know that finding suitable food options when travelling is important and we’re working with our retail partners to make it easier for passengers to find the information they need.”
Hundreds of other gluten-free Aussies applauded her for speaking out, agreeing that Sydney Airport had very little options – however others urged her just to “get something without bread” or to “bring your own food”.
Sydney Airport stunned their followers by posting a controversial response, titled “Some options for our gluten-free friends” and “hope this helps” while tagging Sopha Dopha.
The post – which had Sopha Dopha’s voice from her original video playing in the background – featured photos of seven food outlets that had gluten-free options, including “literally any sushi place, look for the signs”.
While some applauded the post as being a “hilarious response”, others said it “didn’t quite land”.
“Ah yes 7 options across 3 terminals and most of them are sold out or not available when u go, pulp and grind told me their granola wasn’t gluten-free last time [sic],” Sophia commented.
“Would just LOVE some gf toast. That’s all I’m asking.”