When you think of pastries, a danish or scone may come instantly to mind, but pastries include any kind of baked good made from flour, butter or shortening, baking powder or eggs. Pastries are perfect any time of day, but your customers probably most often think of them for breakfast or dessert. So does this mean you need to hire a great pastry chef for your restaurant, coffee shop or catering business? Not at all! You can purchase great wholesale pastries from a variety of sources.

Wholesale suppliers of pastries range from those providing basic types to those who make only gourmet pastries. But before you decide which suppliers to do business with, consider the following:

1. What pastries do your customers expect for breakfast?

2. What sort of pastries will they prefer on your dessert menu?

3. How can you spice things up with seasonal pastries?

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Discover great breakfast pastries

What better way to start the day than with a flaky, scrumptious pastry? Offer your customers the best in danishes, croissants, scones and the like by buying wholesale from these excellent suppliers.

I recommend: City Cafe and Bakery is a pastry distributor offering many types of wholesale pastries, including breakfast pastries like danishes. First and Last Pastries and Sauces carries wholesale pastries online, including scones, danishes and croissants. Balthazar Bakery offers wholesale danishes, croissants, scones and more.

Offer your customers the best dessert pastries

After a good meal, a fine dessert pastry is just the thing. Whether you want to offer your customers classic Italian or Danish pastries, or include more familiar tarts and cakes, there are plenty of good suppliers out there.

I recommend: Food-Attitude has a line of tarts, mini pastries and cakes for wholesale customers. Sapienza Pastry is a pastry supplier selling cannolis, cream puffs, éclairs, napoleons, run ba-ba and other Italian specialities. Pastries of Denmark offers a nice variety of dessert pastries, from tortes to petit fours.

Remember seasonal pastries

Christmas is the obvious time of year to add special treats like Yule logs to your menu, but don't neglect Easter and Thanksgiving treats, too. And what would summer be without pastries with fresh fruits?

I recommend: Symphony Pastries offers seasonally appropriate wholesale pastries, including traditional Buche de Noel and custom pastries. Bit of Swiss Pastry Shoppe sells old-world holiday stollen. Zingerman's Bakehouse has a larger selection of seasonal pastries, including a Yule log, kulich (Russian Easter cake), bunny tails and fresh fruit summer tarts. Cakes, Etc. carries primarily Christmas pastries.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  The best way to keep pastries fresh for your customers is to use a case or dome designed for that purpose. For ultimate freshness, keep them covered in plastic wrap, too.