BEHIND THE SCENES
On Sep 9, 2003, we visited VAC, Vietnam Air Caterers at Ho Chi Minh City Airport (SGN) in Vietnam.

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Upon entering the catering grounds

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Upon entering the catering grounds

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Storage of various goods. All are from Vietnam.

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Storage of various goods. All are from Vietnam.

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The kitchen.

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Wrapping up prepared meals.

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Fresh fruits from all over the country.
Vietnam has an enormous richness of delicious fruits.

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The main kitchen.

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Washing vegetables.

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Washing vegetables.

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The Chef, preparing dishes the way they should be prepared: traditional and to perfection.

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Temporary cooling cell.

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Fresh fruit (red water melon, dragon fruit, mango), ready to be cooled.

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Fresh fruit (red water melon, dragon fruit, mango), ready to be cooled.

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Folding the noodles to a nice, almost artistic shape.

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Preparing the - sweet! - deserts.

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Inside the bakery.

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Preparing the crab dishes.
Just in front of the food, you see a reference card, showing what the end product should look like.

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Chilled rice and noodles.

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Adding beef to the noodle dishes.

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Of course, every company has its own plates, cutlery, napkins, coffee cups etc. Those are all stored here.
Here you see the racks for Cathay Pacific and Japan AirLines.

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A selection of juices, in a general storage room.

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Beer!
Carlsberg, Heineken, and local Halida and Tiger Beer.

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Brought in from the aircraft.

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Brought in from the aircraft: the trolley with used and unused meal trays.

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Brought in from the aircraft.

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Trash!

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Everything that can not be cleaned, ends up on this line.

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Everything that can not be cleaned, ends up on this line.
And at the end of the line...

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And at the end of the line...
This goes down to containers and is then transported to local farmers who feed the returned food to their pigs.
Nothing that comes back from the aircraft will be used again, even if it has not been used on the flight.

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Ready to use again.

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Ready to use again.

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Preparing snack boxes for domestic flights.

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Ready for take-off.

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Ready for take-off.

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All Nippon Airways, Club ANA (business class) meal.

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All Nippon Airways, Club ANA (business class) meal.

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And, finally, ready to take the meals to the aircraft

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Photo taken by: Andy Smulders, TravelQuality.com