Catering to your aircraft in Rioja.
Rioja's apron sits at 2,707 ft above the Alto Mayo valley, and the cloud forest keeps afternoons humid. We pack for the galley in that heat and hand over at your FBO for the crew.
We know the galley, the diet card and the 5 a.m. re-plate — because we lived them. So we built the caterer we always wished we could call.
Fourteen years on VIP and head-of-state cabins. Can plate for twelve in a G650 galley and still land it hot.
The one who reads every diet card twice. If it says no cross-contact, it means no cross-contact.
Answers at 5 a.m. when the leg moved overnight. Same-day swaps are her love language.
San Martín Region is coffee and cacao country, and a private jet menu built around Rioja starts there. The inflight menu draws on local specialities: single-origin Alto Mayo coffee for the pot, dark cacao for the dessert plate, and Amazon river fish such as paiche and doncella. Private jet food from this region travels well when it is organised by finish: juanes wrapped in bijao leaf go in the oven, cecina and chorizo regional style are sliced cold, and tacacho with sauce apart is re-plated at service. Tropical fruit, camu camu and aguaje are packed chilled for the galley.
For private jet platters out of Rioja, we build the private jet menu from what San Martín Region actually grows. Gourmet inflight meals use paiche or tilapia from regional fish farms, juanes and patarashca in leaf, and avocado and plantain sides. Private jet snacks lean on toasted Alto Mayo coffee beans, cacao nibs and dried banana. Each local speciality is labelled for the drawer or the oven, so the inflight menu serves without a second pass in the galley.
Tail, pax, diets, timing. One message — no portal, no quote form. Answered at any hour, by a flight attendant.
Leak-proof boxes, marked by guest and restriction, with reheating times written on the lid.
Two minutes out of the drawer. Whatever you ordered for the crew comes in the same delivery, and one clean invoice follows.
Rioja sits on the Alto Mayo plateau where coffee terraces meet the cloud forest, and that is the larder for private jet catering at Juan Simons Vela (SPJA / RIJ). Inflight catering here leans on regional coffee, cacao and Amazon river fish, packed for the galley and handed to your FBO. In-flight catering and aviation catering for business aviation catering requests follow the same order: tail, slot, headcount. Executive jet catering, diplomatic flight catering and cabin crew meals are written and charged like any other line of the order.
Who flies into Rioja is mostly mining, agribusiness and tourism executives, and the galley is rarely generous. Business jet catering is therefore planned plate by plate: corporate jet catering for lunch, charter flight catering for the return, VIP flight catering for a guest with restrictions. Our private jet chef drafts a bespoke menu and luxury inflight catering is delivered to the FBO.
A delegation arriving at Juan Simons Vela needs a menu cleared before cooking. For government flight catering, head of state flight catering, VIP aviation catering and state visit aircraft catering we assign a named team, record every ingredient and hand over sealed, at the aircraft.
At Rioja the allergen question is practical: Amazon cooking leans on peanuts, river fish, shellfish stock and bijao-wrapped dishes made on shared surfaces. Kosher and halal meals are prepared sealed from the first stage, vegan menus use plantain, yuca, beans and tropical fruit, gluten free plates avoid wheat-thickened sauces, and allergen free orders are boxed separately and labelled by seat. Kids meals and other special meals are written into the same order, with the restriction named for the crew.
A sheet per guest. Separate boards, separate boxes.
Sealed, certificate in the same box.
Their own menu, nothing to cut at altitude.
Vegan, low-carb, light — composed, never compromised.
Crew meals at SPJA are on request and billed like the rest. Flight crew meals, pilot meals and crew catering are planned for a long day with a short ground stop; cockpit meals can be eaten one-handed. Crew meal boxes are labelled CREW, and different meals for pilots are available when the operator asks. Cabin crew meals ride in the same boxes, marked by role.
FBO catering at Rioja is handed to your FBO or handling agent, who walks it to the aircraft. Catering delivery to the FBO is coordinated with ground handling catering staff and the general aviation terminal if it is in use. Handling agent catering stays in your name.
SPJA handles regional and business aircraft, so galley catering rarely needs a high loader: most trays are carried to the door by hand or cart. For a larger type the airside catering delivery is agreed with your handling agent, who confirms stairs, door height and whether lift equipment is on the apron. Aircraft provisioning at Rioja is planned around the galley you actually have, oven or no oven, and the order is packed to match.
Mention it when you orderCertified, inspected, with cold-chain records filed against your trip.
Whichever terminal you park at, handover is at the aircraft, on your slot.
Allergen sheet per guest, halal and kosher on request, sealed and labelled.
Itemised and trip-report ready, sent after the leg.
Juan Simons Vela Airport (SPJA / RIJ) serves Rioja in the Alto Mayo valley of San Martín Region. It is a modest regional field at 2,707 ft that takes turboprops and small jets for general aviation and business aviation, and airport catering here is a small, hand-carried affair. FBO services and ground handling services are limited to what the apron needs: stairs, a cart, a person to meet the aircraft.
Rioja is a business aviation hub only in a small sense: a few executive trips a month, more in dry season. Inflight catering, in-flight catering and aviation catering orders are modest and scaled to the galley. Business aviation catering, executive jet catering, diplomatic flight catering, crew meals and cabin crew meals are all arranged on request, and your handling agent, who supplies the ground handling services on the apron, walks them to the door.
Peruvian customs and the agricultural authority check fresh meat, fruit and fish on international legs. A flight leaving Rioja with local produce can be inspected at departure, and the arrival country may restrict items, so airport catering here is labelled by origin on every tray. FBO services at a field this size do not include food inspection, so we advise on what to keep sealed before the order is packed.
Average rating from the cabin crew and pilots we cater for.
“We kept the passenger brief simple at SPJA: roasted vegetable bowls with separate dressings for 8 guests, organised with a short ground stop in mind. The Galley Girls updated the canapés in the written order and sent back a confirmation that clearly showed our amendments. The note about the main courses was easy to spot, and we could brief the rest of the team quickly. I appreciated the emphasis on packing arrangement throughout the aviation catering arrangements.”
“Clear quantities were essential at RIJ: we had 4 passengers expecting smoked salmon bagels and sliced fruit and were working around two separate meal services. The Galley Girls understood why we wanted the crew provisions readily accessible instead of spread across several different boxes. The packing arrangement stood out more than any sales pitch about aviation catering services. We left the salads stored until needed, which kept the first service manageable and reduced unnecessary handling.”
“It was the packing plan I cared about at Juan Simons Vela Airport, with 12 servings of a mezze selection with flatbreads and a tight boarding window to consider. I want an aviation catering company to understand meal organisation, and this order gave us a useful starting point. I asked The Galley Girls to review the snack boxes quantities against the passenger brief, and the proposed portions made sense. We also checked the main courses before approval, which helped avoid a second round of questions later in the preparation.”
For a charter that flies back out of Rioja, we price each leg as its own menu. A paiche patarashca for the first leg and a lighter cold plate for the return will differ, and that difference is the whole quote. Nothing is flat or bundled.
SPJA is a regional field, so we plan around the slot rather than a fixed timeline. A late change from four to seven guests means extra juanes and a bigger fruit plate, and we confirm the new menu with you before packing.
Peruvian produce loaded here for a flight leaving the country can face inspection of fresh fruit, meat and fish at departure. Coffee and cacao are routine; fresh camu camu or fish may be checked by the authorities, so we label origin and pack sealed. Your handling agent confirms the formalities.
Outside food is allowed on board, subject to customs on the leg. At Rioja, a night or dawn slot makes a boxed order easier: everything is in the drawer, labelled by seat, handed over at the aircraft.
Catering sits outside the charter contract, even for official flights. A delegation into SPJA places its own order, with protocol, seat plan and restrictions, and it is billed like any other.
Tail, pax and diets — a flight attendant takes it from there, day or night.
