BIG GROCERY ORDER.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXVII, Issue 5057, 26 November 1926, Page 4

BIG GROCERY ORDER.

£lO,OOO A WEEK. CATERING FO.R STEAMERS'. Mr Charles Brooks, the catering superintendent to the Canard Line, at Southampton, in the course of every year, is called upon to provide tor a family of be,tween 120,000 and 150,000 passengers, who travel by the company’s three big liners, the Berengaria, Aquitaihia, and Mauretania. His grocery order runs into £lo',ooo a week; he engages the whole of the stewards’ department, comprising between 500 and 650 men for each ship, and an additional 510 men a day for shore gangs, while the vessels are in port; sends 120,000 pieces of linqn to the laundry to be washed, dried, ir°h-' > ed, and returned within 48 hours ; sees the ship is thoroughly washed and cleaned, and, incidentally, decorated with' £l5O worth of plants. ajnd floaters qach trip. ‘He has a £lo,oo'o store of crockery, earthenware, glass, silverware, and linen, which he can always draw upon at a minute’s notice, and also £20,000 wo f rth of winest spirits, tobacco, cigars, .and cigarettes in bond. The following is a list of the principal provisions needed for a round trip of the Berengaria: Tea, 15001 b; coffee, 10001 b; sugar, 90cwt; flour, 21,0001 b; potatoes, 25 tons; meat, 40,0001 b ; butter, 50001 b ; poultry and game, 5500 head ; fish, 12,0001 b ; caviare, 2001 b ; preserves, 30cwt; eggs, 50,000; fresh milk, 2000 gal.; cream, 1000 quarts ; cheese, 15,0001 b ; grapes, peaches, and other fruits, 14001 b. 250,000 CIGARETTES.

Most of the supplies are received from London. Other items are: Wines and spirits, 7500 bottles ; beqrs, 22,000 bottles ; minerals, 20,000 bottles ; cigars, 7000 ; cigarettes, 250,000 ; tobacco, 5001 b ; packs o'! cards, 600. Twenty tons of ice are put bn board for cooling purposes, in addition to special foods for foreign passengers.