If you’re considering purchasing glassware or crystal – whether it be wholesale or retail pricing – and you’ve done research on the web or experienced firsthand some of the problems associated with glassware in commercial environments such as restaurants, caterers or party rental companies.

The 4 most common problems associated with wholesale glassware:

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Problem #1: Stems breaking or popping off the bowls

With stems breaking or popping off the bowls of the wine glass this tends to occur when the crystal stemware is being transferred to different locations – even with proper glassware racks. Generally the bumps in the road cause the wine glass bowls to separate from the stem of the glass. There’s unfortunately little that can be done to fix this if you see high rates of this happening other than buying better quality glassware. At National Event Supply, in the 2 years that we have been selling stemware, we have only heard of one party rental customer instance where 24 of their 1000 champagne flute bowls popped off the stems – and we offered to replace them free of charge on their next order.

Problem #2: Breakage Rates

It’s unfortunately the nature of the glass business. Glass is a notoriously breakable material and even with proper care and careful transportation breakage occurs. Are you aware of your breakage rates? Because of its delicate nature it makes fiscal sense to be keeping track of your breakage rates. We managed to win over a restaurant in Toronto who was averaging a breakage rate of 3 glasses per day with a higher priced glassware provider. They’re now paying 25% less per glass and so far our glasses are performing admirably.

Problem #3: Wine Glass Stems or Bowls not uniform

There are two different kinds of glassware existing on the market: handmade and machine made glassware. Machine made glass means that the molten hot glass is blown into a mold all by machine ensuring consistency of shape while retaining a steady quality. It is a much faster process and allows better affordability in the glasses produced. Handmade glass is mouth blown and molded by slowly nudging, stretching and rolling the blown glass into shape. Because of the time consuming nature of this process and how skilled the artisans must be to produce this glass, handmade glass tends to have a higher price point. Also, because it is made by an artisan, consistency – while strived for – is lacked where shape is concerned. If you have a detail discerning bride who strives for uniformity, a machine made glass will be your best bet for ensuring the quality and consistency of shape is there for her. National Event Supply only stocks machine made glassware & crystal because we want to ensure we can promise our customers a quality made, consistent product.

Problem #4: Glass or Crystal Containing Lead

Per one of our earlier blog posts on the top questions asked about crystal and glass stemware: Lead crystal has been the primary form of crystal glassware since its inception. With the recent awareness and movement away from BPA due to health concerns, there has been debate on the use of lead in crystal. It is advised that you should not use lead crystal containers to store beverages for periods of time longer than a day. As per Riedel's website, assuming that "worldwide legal standards are met and also surpassed", there are no issues or concerns with using lead crystal on a daily basis. The lead addition to the crystal and glass is supposed to add sparkle, give more weight to the stemware, and increase its durability. That being said (and we’re a little biased if truth be told) our crystal stemware sparkles just like a Twilight vampire in the sunshine. If you’re still not 100% sure lead crystal is the right move for your company, National Event Supply only stocks lead-free crystal glasses.

I am excited to be able to share with you that we have recently added new event glassware and bar glassware to our existing wholesale glassware and crystal stemware lines! Again with it being container season, our strong employees were unloading yet another container of bar equipment yesterday. To showcase the new additions to our bulk glassware I’ve outlined each below for your easy reference.

Because of how popular our Serenity Crystal line was, we’ve brought in an entirely new line of Crystal Glasses.

Introducing Victoria Crystal

Our new line of Victoria Crystal is available in a wider selection of glassware than we’ve ever previously stocked. The following crystal is lead free, dishwasher safe for easy use and cleaning in a high-volume commercial environment featuring smooth polished rims, pulled stems for comfort and machine made for quality and consistency. The entire line includes the following glasses (in the picture from left to right):

• 28oz Crystal Wine Glass
• 9oz Crystal Margarita Glass
• 10oz Crystal Old Fashioned Glass
• 13oz Crystal Highball Glass
• 23oz Crystal Wine Glass

Along with introducing a new line of crystal, we also added a 14oz Beer/water glass to the Serenity Crystal line.

We’ve also added a 14oz wine glass to the Eclisse Glassware line.

Utilizing Mahogany Chiavari Chairs & Wedding Linens Direct from National Event Supply to Make an Event Pop!

I came across a fabulous wedding which took place at the Brock House Restaurant in Vancouver and thought it was such a beautiful event that it deserved a nod on our blog.

Party rental companies who also do event design or event planning will truly appreciate the little details this wedding has that makes it a truly beautiful, vintage chic wedding as the author Stephanie Weers of Style me Pretty has classified it as.

I thought that deconstructing some of the key wedding pieces using National Event Supply’s products as well as others would be an interesting way to pull together new themed looks for our readers.

Instead of using the traditional rounds, the bride and groom along with their event planner Petite Pearl Events chose a different route utilizing rectangle tables. If you’re hoping to achieve this same look you could use wood harvest tables covered in ivory wedding linens direct from National Event Supply.

For seating, the wedding went the traditional classic chiavari chair route. The same look can be achieved with National Event Supply’s Mahogany Chiavari Chairs with Plywood Base Chiavari Chair Cushion in White.

As far as wedding tableware, I’ll break it down into wedding dishes, event glassware, and wedding cutlery. Wedding dishes – feature a white dinnerware set with rolled rim similar to the Hotelier white dinnerware line. The cup is so similar that I wondered if it was the Hotelier dishes!

Event Glassware could be achieved with the Eclisse 11oz water glass and the Eclisse 12oz wine glass or utilizing the Serenity Crystal stemware collection should wholesale crystal stemware be a preference to the couple.

Wedding cutlery could be achieved utilizing Concord Cutlery a popular flatware line.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the photographer of this event, Vasia Photography, who shot some truly glorious images all shown above.

For full details including a touching write up on the wedding, go to Style Me Pretty to read more.

Did you know that there are actually 3 legitimate reasons to drink beer from a beer glass instead of the can or bottle? I sure didn’t. I know it’s the trend to match the brand of beer with the corresponding beer glass. On the weekend Jonathan and I toasted St. Patrick’s day with a Guinness in an Eclisse 12oz Beer Glass and a Kilkenny in a Eclisse 14oz Beer Glass. To celebrate the passing of St. Patrick’s Day with us, I found an interesting infographic that notes 3 reasons why you should drink beer from a beer glass instead of a can or bottle. Check it out below!

Explore more infographics like this one on the web's largest information design community - Visually.

More and more over the years National Event Supply has increasingly gained additional customers in the catering / foodservice industry – particularly in the Greater Toronto area with respect to their catering supplies such as porcelain platters & bowls, melamine platters & bowls, porcelain wonton spoons, porcelain tasting spoons, amuse-bouche spoons & amuse-bouche forks. And because so many folks know our thoughts (from this website) on quality products and great service, they often ask us who would we classify as the best catering supply store and competitors that sell catering supplies in the area.

We like to be as transparent as possible with our customers and because of this, here is a list of some of the companies that have a solid catering supply history in the Toronto area:

1. Nella Cutlery:

Nella Cutlery (also known as Nella Food Equipment & Nella Cucina) started in the Toronto area in 1952 and is located in North York, Ontario. With a 55,000 sq foot showroom, they sell their own line of knives, pizza accessories, scales & cutting boards as well as reselling additional catering supplies such as buffetware and serveware from Johnson-Rose, Browne Foodservice, Vollrath, Cambro, Rubbermaid Commercial, Winco & Tableware Solutions.

2. Dinetz Restaurant Equipment Ltd:

A long standing fixture to the Toronto catering scene, Dinetz Restaurant Equipment Ltd has been around since 1912. They supply cook & bakeware, heavy equipment, kitchen knives, appliances, smallware, glassware, flatware and china to hotels, caterers, hospitals, offices, schools, entertainment facilities, culinary students and households throughout Ontario and Canada.

3. Williams Food Equipment:

Based in Windsor, Ontario, Williams Food Equipment is a 100% Canadian owned and operated family business (much like National Event Supply) and supplies high-quality cookware and kitchenware. They believe in 100% customer satisfaction, the latest kitchenware products and getting those products to you fast.

4. Gordon Food Service:

North America`s largest family-owned broadline foodservice distributor, Gordon Food Service supplies restaurants, hotels, caterers, convenience stores, camps, daycare centers, churches, amusement and recreation facilities, jails, and prisons with meat, seafood, dairy, produce, bakery and tabletop supplies. Instead of focusing on a few core areas of competency they focus on providing broadline distribution of foodservice products.

5. Browne Foodservice:

Browne & Co. is a Canadian company that provides the global marketplace with foodservice and retail housewares products. They focus on product innovation and outstanding service with their own proprietary brands while also marketing and distributing other brands such as Arc International, Emile Henry, Bamix, T&S and Global in the Canadian Market. They distribute and sell bakeware, bar service, buffet service, coffee service, cookware, dinnerware, flatware, food preparation, glassware and tabletop essentials.

So there are 5 companies to consider if you’re getting quotes or pricing for your catering business. At risk of sounding like a broken record, the key to a great experience with purchasing from a catering supply store is:

• The durability of the product
• The value of the product
• The quality of the product

Hopefully, in your case, your experience with the best catering supplies stores in Toronto will be an exceptional one.