How to Choose a Fresh Noodle Supplier for Your Restaurant
Ask a noodle supplier for a sample, and you will learn very little. Order the same product three weeks in a row, cook it the way you would on a busy night, and you will learn almost everything.
That is the first thing to check. The others are how far the noodles travel to reach you, what food safety paperwork comes with them, what sizes they are packed in, and what the supplier does when they cannot send you everything you ordered. In this article, we go through each one.
Key Points
Two packs can show the same use-by date and still have been made weeks apart. Ask when each batch was made.
Since 25 February 2024, allergens have had to be listed on a food label in a set way. If a supplier cannot send you an up-to-date allergen declaration when you ask, your own food safety audit will be held up.
A certificate can expire without anyone updating the website it appears on. Ask to see the certificate itself and the date it runs out.
The price per kilogram will mislead you. Work out what one serve costs you once you allow for what gets thrown away.
Consistency Between Deliveries
Two batches of fresh wheat noodles are never quite identical. The flour changes a little between deliveries, and so does how long the dough is left to rest before it is cut. You see the difference at service.
One batch takes a few seconds longer to cook through, or it breaks apart in the wok, so the same dish goes out looking different on two nights of the same week. Your chef has to adjust timings mid-service, which slows the pass.
Ask a supplier what they do to keep that variation small:
how many sites they make on
if the recipe changes with the season
what happens to a batch that comes out wrong
Yunion makes everything at one factory, so the noodles you get in your third week are made on the same equipment as the ones in your first.
Freshness & Distance From the Factory
A fresh noodle starts ageing the day it is made. If it spends four days on a truck, that is four days of its shelf life gone before you open the box. You pay for the whole pack either way, so what you lose in transit is stock you end up throwing away.
Ask when the batch was made, and how many days it will have left when it arrives. A use-by date only tells you the last day you can use the noodles. It does not tell you how many good days you are getting.
Yunion makes its noodles in Osborne Park, so a Perth kitchen gets noodles that are days old rather than weeks old.
Food Safety Documents & Allergen Declarations
When you tell a customer a dish contains no nuts, or no egg, you are relying on paperwork from your supplier. If that paperwork is out of date, so is the claim on your menu, and your kitchen is generally the one held responsible for it.
Get the ingredient list and the allergen declaration for every product you buy, in writing, and check them against the pack when it arrives.
Since 25 February 2024, the Food Standards Code has required allergens to be printed in bold in the ingredient list, and again in a summary line starting with the word "contains". Gluten has to be named where it comes from wheat, barley, oats or rye.
Food Standards Australia New Zealand publishes the allergen labelling rules for food businesses.
If your venue needs a supplier to hold a particular certification, ask to see the certificate and the date it expires. A logo on a website does not tell you the certificate is still current, and a lapsed one usually comes to light during your own audit, when there is no time to find another supplier.
Yunion is a Buy West Eat Best member, the Western Australian local-produce program, and the label on every pack is the authority on ingredients, allergens and storage.
Range & Pack Sizes Across Your Menu
One supplier for the noodles and the wrappers means one delivery and one account. Split the order between two suppliers to save a few dollars on one product, and the extra delivery and the extra invoice can cost you that saving back.
Buy the pack size your kitchen will get through before the use-by date. A kitchen using wonton noodles every day should buy the 3kg. A kitchen serving them twice a week should buy the 500g and will throw less away.
Product | Pack Sizes | Where It Fits on a Menu |
Cooked Hokkien Noodles | 1kg | Hokkien char, laksa and stir-fries at volume |
Yunion Special Grade Wonton Noodles, fine and broad | 500g, 3kg | Wonton noodle soup and dry noodle dishes |
Yunion Yang Chun Noodles | 3.5kg | Yang chun mian and clear broth service |
Yunion Japanese Noodles | 500g, 1kg | High-heat stir-fries |
Yunion Shanghai Fine Egg Noodles | 500g | Lighter egg noodle dishes |
Yunion Wonton Skin, standard and extra thin | 300g, 500g | Wontons, fried wontons and soup service |
Gow Gee Skin | 500g | Gow gee, potstickers and steamed dumplings |
Crispy Noodles, plain, chilli, BBQ, chicken garlic and hot chow chow | 200g, 5kg | Garnish, salads and bar snacks |
You can see every pack size on our Yunion product range page, including the 300g plain crispy noodles.
Supply Reliability & Account Management
When a delivery arrives short on a Friday afternoon, you are left with last-minute menu changes, a night of lost sales on your busiest noodle dish, and potentially unhappy customers. Swapping in a different noodle rarely helps, because a thicker or finer strand changes the dish your regulars came in for.
So find out early what a supplier does when they cannot fill an order. A supplier who telephones you that morning gives you the day to plan around it. A supplier who sends less without telling you leaves you to discover it when the delivery is unpacked.
Before you place an order, confirm how much notice your supplier needs before you receive the delivery. Ask what time of day they close off a standing weekly order, and who looks after your account when your usual contact is away. A local maker can usually solve a short-notice problem inside the same week.
Yunion takes trade and wholesale enquiries through our contact page, Monday to Friday between 7 am and 2 pm.
Fresh Noodles Made in Osborne Park for Perth Kitchens
Yunion has been making fresh noodles and wrappers for Western Australian kitchens since 1989. We open trade and wholesale accounts for restaurants, cafes, caterers, retailers and any other food business buying at volume.
Tell us what is on your menu and roughly how much you go through in a week, and we will tell you which products and pack sizes suit you.
To find out more about how our noodles behave in a commercial kitchen, discover Why Perth's Top Asian Restaurants Choose Yunion Noodles.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I order Yunion noodles wholesale for my restaurant in Perth?
Yes. Apply through the restaurant form on our contact page. The fresh noodles and wrappers are not sold through our online store, so a kitchen buys them either on a trade account or through one of our stockists.
What is the difference between the fine & broad wonton noodles?
Use the fine cut for wonton noodle soup and dry noodle dishes, where the noodle should stay light and springy. The broad cut has more chew and suits a heavier bowl. Both come in 500g and 3kg.
How should fresh noodles be stored in a commercial kitchen?
Keep them refrigerated at or below 4°C, as the pack tells you, and use the oldest packs first. Our guide How to Store and Cook Fresh Noodles goes through handling, cooking and holding.
Can a small cafe buy Yunion noodles without a wholesale account?
Yes. Around 100 stockists across Perth metro, the northern and southern suburbs and regional Western Australia carry the range, and our where to buy page lists them by area.
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