Blog posts tagged with 'flatware'

When buying from a restaurant supply store in Canada, purchases can quickly add up for porcelain dinnerware, glass and crystal stemware and restaurant cutlery. With the costs of running a restaurant and the slim profit margins, every little bit helps in contributing to the bottom line. While I’m sure there are some restaurants who want to buy branded dinnerware, cutlery and glassware – from big companies such as Steelite, Oneida and Reidel – restaurants who branch outside the box can often find savings in by buying dishes, glassware and cutlery wholesale as well.

Here is where to buy cutlery wholesale in Canada:

1. RestaurantDishes.net

Based in Newmarket, ON, Restaurant Dishes.net supplies wholesale flatware, charger plates, wholesale dinnerware and much more to Canada, the United States and the Caribbean. They supply to restaurants, resorts, seniors homes, retirement homes and schools.

2. Caterers Warehouse

Based in Rochdale Massachusetts, Caterer's Warehouse, is one of America's Leading sources for Foodservice, Catering, and hard to find Hospitality and Party Rental Supplies. Established in 1990, in Oxford, Massachusetts, they created a company where one-stop shopping for tabletop supplies would be easy, quick, and cost efficient. They allow shipping to Canada and offer wholesale pricing on cutlery along with over 18000 other items.

3. Special Event Sales

Based in Edmonton, Alberta, the event equipment sales division of Special Event Rentals, Special Event Sales provides customers across Canada with quality event equipment that is both durable and functional. Special Event Sales offers an expansive sale inventory of chairs, tables, dance floors, RaceDeck floors, barbeques, linens, tradeshow equipment, concession equipment, catering equipment, and stanchions and ropes. They offer both new and used sale equipment to help meet all customer needs.

With warehouses in Mississauga, Ontario; Brampton, Ontario; and Vancouver, British Columbia, National Event Supply is a wholesale supplier of event equipment and restaurant tabletop supplies to the party rental, event venue, golf course, hotel, catering and restaurant industries. We’re on a mission to not only have stock whenever a restaurant needs it, but also have superior commercial grade products for our customers to trust their business reputation on.

When choosing stainless steel flatware for your catering company, restaurant or party rental, understanding what makes up the flatware and its pros and cons is important. It helps an owner understand how to care for the cutlery and how often they should be looking at replacing it. Flatware typically comes in 18/10, 18/8, 18/0 and 13/0 compositions. The most common type of composition found in rental situations, restaurants and catering functions is 18/10 and 18/0 and is what the basis of this blog post is on.

18/10 stainless steel flatware and 18/0 stainless steel flatware is made up of Chromium and Nickel. The “18” number refers to the percentage of Chromium in the stainless steel flatware. Chromium is a strong durable metal that resists stains, rust and corrosion. The “10” or “0” number is the percentage of nickel in the flatware. Nickel is a corrosion resistant metal that is very expensive and often used for its shine and luster. For casual restaurants or high volume events / restaurants, choosing an 18/0 cutlery will work well with its soft sheen and economic value. Higher end fine dining restaurants or rental companies who service a luxury clientele will be happier with 18/10 flatware for its high shine and stain resistance. Below outlines some of the pros and cons of each flatware type.

18/10 Flatware

• High polish finish
• Superior rust resistant qualities
• Highest durability
• Easy to maintain
• More costly than 18/0 due to nickel
• Stain resistant
• Dishwasher safe

18/0 flatware

• Softer shine
• Prone to staining
• Less expensive due to the lack of nickel in it
• Most still possess durability for everyday use
• Dishwasher safe

With different varieties of restaurant quality flatware for full service restaurants and event rental, it can be confusing knowing the difference between all varieties as well as their standard usage. To make it easier for our customers and prospects who are full service restaurants and event rental we've pulled together this pro/con list for the difference between stainless steel flatware and silver plated flatware. This list should educate you on what to expect with each type of flatware so you can determine which best meets your organization's needs.

Stainless Steel Flatware

• Durable
• Low maintenance
• Rust and stain resistant
• Dishwasher safe
• Most frequently used in restaurant and event settings
• Wide range of patterns that function well in everything from casual to luxury atmospheres
• Available in 18/10 (highest quality), 18/8 and 18/0 (lowest quality) stainless steel compositions made of chromium and nickel
• Lasts 100 years with proper care
• Cost effective

Silver Plated Flatware

• Composed of layers of silver over another metal – oftentimes copper or brass
• More expensive than stainless steel
• Bright, shiny finish that is lighter
• Adds refinement to a table setting
• Generally used for higher-end events or expensive restaurants
• Requires hand-washing most often
• Should be polished occasionally to maintain lustre
• Needs to be stored properly to avoid corrosion or scratches
• Lasts 20 years or less with proper care depending on use.

This list should provide the general differences that exist between the two types of flatware. Using this list should help you decide which best meets your needs.

So you live in Vancouver, BC and you’re looking for a way to lower your current restaurant costs for tabletop supplies. OR perhaps you’re looking to extend your budget by sourcing lower cost restaurant dishes or melamine serveware – whatever the situation may be, once you know you're ready to move forward, the next step is finding the right restaurant supply for the project.

Considering we've supplied hundreds of convention centers, hotel restaurants and full-service standalone restaurants in the Vancouver area over the past few years, as well as the fact that we've seen so many other restaurant supply stores and their products/service, we're happy to give our thoughts on some of the better restaurant supply stores in the city.

As you're likely aware, we at National Event Supply have been expanding our target market from nationwide party rental companies across Canada to restaurants. Selling direct to restaurants instead of through a distributor model allows us to offer the same quality tabletop supplies as the major brands, without all the middlemen taking a cut of the total cost. Although factory-direct wholesalers have been popping up to meet the restaurant industry’s needs for years, there are some occasions (due to kickbacks, one-stop shop, immediacy etc.) where a restaurant supply store makes sense over a wholesaler. In a case like this, we'd recommend you consider the following companies:

1. Puddifoot:

Based on Rand Avenue by Fraser River Park in Southlands, Puddifoot is well known for distributing very high-end dinnerware lines such as the Patra and Nikko brands as well as custom designs and productions by request.

2. Hendrix Foodservice Equipment:

Based out of Brockville, ON with two locations in British Columbia including one on the east side of the Trans-Canada Hwy, Hendrix Foodservice Equipment offers the largest one-stop shop collection on this list of foodservice equipment, food prep, smallwares, chef knives, tabletop & serving, furniture etc.

3. Pacific Restaurant Supply:

Based in the neighbourhood of Hastings on E Cordova Street in Vancouver, Pacific Restaurant Supply is not only a restaurant supply company but also help clients design and build their restaurants along with a full service custom stainless fabrication and installation company allowing custom installations.

So there you have it, an honest assessment of some of the best restaurant supply stores in Vancouver.

Questions or comments? Please feel free to leave your thoughts below.

Sammic Cutlery Polisher

Made in Spain, Sammic has three different models for their cutlery polishers: a tabletop unit outputting 3000 pieces per hour, a floor standing unit outputting 8000 pieces per hour and a second floor standing unit outputting 8000 pieces per hour that comes with a motor brake which shortens the stopping time, reduces vibrations and improves the durability of the machine. All three units are equipped with the following:

• Fully automatic
• Stainless steel exterior with a Stainless steel drying tank
• Rounded cutlery carousel which avoids cutlery jams
• Lights and sounds indicating when machine is done
• Lights indicating if heating elements are activated
• Lights indicating that the polishing product must be replaced
• Drying and polishing cycle with automatic stop after use
• UVC-ray germicide lamp sterilizes both the cutlery and the drying product

Sammic cutlery polishers are available in Canada through Permul Foodservice Equipment.

CPI Silvershine Cutlery Dryer/Polisher

Made in USA, CPI Silvershine has four different models of cutlery polishers: CDM-Star which outputs 1500 pieces per hour, CDM-2K which outputs 2000 pieces per hour, CDM-6K which outputs 6000 pieces per hour and CDM-12K which outputs 12000 pieces per hour. They were awarded the 2007 Kitchen Innovations award at the National Restaurant Association show. All four models come with the following features:

• A 9-11W ultraviolet (UV-C) lamp operating at a peak of 253.7 nm for a safe, chemical-free germicide process
• Sanitation option can be engaged/disengaged manually
• Machine self-diagnoses on start-up
• Patented stainless steel NAUTILUS tub
• Calrod heated tub provides consistent heat
• Internal timer monitors granulate change periods (Every 400 hrs)
• Operates automatically at 30-40 seconds per piece
• Quiet and vibration free

CPI Silvershine is available in Canada through GBS Food Service Equipment.