New To Bay. Need to find wholesaler of specialty foods

[mrpnlu]

Hello All,
I am moving to the bay and will be starting a small baking business. I need to find a supplier for things like hazelnut paste, almond meal, fondant, vanilla and other high quality baking products. Any suggestions. I included a website of the company I am using where I live now so you guys know what I am talking about. www.provvista.com Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks a Million!

[kz59]

Hi there. Found your post by accident while searching for recipes. For really inexpensive vanilla beans and extract, try www.saffron.com. Their prices are unbeatable, they have great customer service, and shipping is really fast since the warehouse is in S.F. Currently, they sell 1 lb. of vanilla beans from New Guinea for around $30 (that's around 120 beans). I've been using for years for my Russian Easter desserts, and they are very good quality. They also sell saffron; unfortunately, due to several years of drought in Iran, prices have skyrocketed.

[jbsirkin]

I second Pacific Gourmet. They have a good variety of baking and specialty ingredients and tend to have reasonable prices.

Also try Gourmet & More or Chefs' Warehouse.

[kmah]

Also Ital foods- specializes in Italian imports but carries nut meals/pastes, vanilla/spices

I use Pacific Gourmet a lot.

Village Imports has similar products.

[chefj]

kmah, Do you know if Ital foods carries roasted hazelnut flour ?

[chefj]

Pacific Gourmet
Cheese Works West
Polarica Inc
Made In France
To name a few. Hope that helps.

[maxie]

I've been out of the business for a while, so I'm not up to date, but try Qzina http://www.qzina.com/
They are in Burlingame and deliver wholesale orders.

[roster]

Specialty food stores abound here. It really depends on what you are looking for and how much you need to buy. Your link looks like it goes to a specialty distributor, or are they a retailer?
If you search this site you'll find lots of posts. One to get you started on specialty foods could be the specialty foods post here: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/669948

[mrpnlu]

Thanks for your response Roster. I am actually looking for a distributor or wholesaler, as I wouldd be looking to buy things ni bigger quantity. I looked at the link, the suggestions were more along the lines of retail Thanks again.