Asian food distributors in Los Angeles

International Marine Products

Regional distributorWashington BoulevardEst. 1968

An importer founded in 1968 by the family behind Tokyo Kaikan, a Little Tokyo restaurant that opened in 1963 and could not get sushi-grade fish consistently from local suppliers, so it started importing from Japan itself. The Los Angeles site is head office and opens from 5am to 10am. The company also runs branches in San Francisco, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, Houston and Denver.

• Importing sushi-grade fish from Japan since 1968
• Started because a Little Tokyo restaurant could not source it locally
• Los Angeles head office, open 5am to 10am

Serves: Sushi restaurants, Restaurants, Markets

Address

3020 E Washington Blvd, Los Angeles, CA, 90023

Phone

(213) 893-6123

Mutual Trading Co.

Regional distributorEl MonteEst. 1926

A Japanese food, sake and restaurant supply specialist that began in 1926 as a co-op buying channel for around ten Japanese grocery store owners near Little Tokyo. It imports, exports, distributes and manufactures, and runs a Los Angeles showroom alongside the warehouse. It moved to El Monte from the Crocker Street warehouse it had occupied since 1968.

• Founded in 1926 as a co-op for around ten Little Tokyo grocers
• Sake and restaurant supply alongside the food line
• Showroom as well as a warehouse

Serves: Restaurants, Retailers

Address

4200 Shirley Ave, El Monte, CA, 91731

Phone

(213) 626-9458

Canton Food Co.

Cash and carryDowntown Los AngelesEst. 1969

A wholesale restaurant supply house on South Alameda Street since 1969, carrying about 2,000 products across a 100,000 square foot floor. Buyers can walk the aisles and pick stock themselves or have the counter pick an order. There is no minimum purchase, and the range runs from Asian groceries and produce through to takeout containers and cleaning supplies.

• No minimum purchase, walk in and pick your own
• About 2,000 products across a 100,000 sq ft floor
• Groceries through to takeout containers and cleaning supplies

Serves: Restaurants, Cafes, Bakeries, Food trucks, Caterers, Grocers, The public

Address

750 S. Alameda St., Los Angeles, CA, 90021

Phone

(213) 688-7707

Cathay L.A.

Regional distributorChinatownEst. 1979

Started in 1979 by a founder the company names only as Mr. Lim, selling a handful of items off the streets of LA's Chinatown. It now runs a 20,000 product line covering dried, packaged, canned and frozen food plus melamine, china and disposables, sourced from China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines and Indonesia. It sells by the loose unit as well as by the full pallet. Its site does not say how you take delivery, so that field is empty here.

• Trading from Chinatown since 1979
• A 20,000 product line, food and tableware
• Sells by the loose unit as well as the pallet

Serves: Restaurants, Grocers

Address

1501 N. Main St., Los Angeles, CA, 90012

Phone

(323) 223-1444

JFC International

National broadlineCommerce

The US arm of a century-old Japanese food business and an affiliate of Kikkoman Corporation, distributing Japanese and other Asian food, beverages and Japanese liquor from distribution centres across North America. Its Slauson Avenue site is both the company head office and the Los Angeles branch.

• An affiliate of Kikkoman Corporation
• Company head office as well as the LA branch
• Food, beverages and Japanese liquor on one account

Serves: Restaurants, Retailers

Address

7101 E. Slauson Ave, Los Angeles, CA, 90040

Phone

(323) 721-6100

Wismettac Asian Foods

National broadlineSanta Fe SpringsEst. 1912

Formerly Nishimoto Trading Co., the group traces its start to 1912 in Kobe supplying Japanese foods to the US, and set up its American arm in 1960. Its Los Angeles branch in Santa Fe Springs is also the US corporate head office, with branches from San Francisco to Miami.

• Group founded in Kobe in 1912, US company since 1960
• US corporate head office as well as the LA branch
• Runs the Shirakiku private brand

Serves: Restaurants, Retailers

Address

13409 Orden Drive, Building J, Santa Fe Springs, CA, 90670

Phone

(562) 802-1900

True World Foods Los Angeles

National broadlineVernon

The Los Angeles arm of a North American premium seafood supplier, on South Alameda Street in Vernon. The range is built for sushi counters: bluefin, bigeye and yellowfin tuna, uni, madai and hamachi flown in on its Toyosu and Fukuoka Express shipments, Japanese A5 Wagyu, and its own frozen and dry lines. Unlike its Chicago branch, the LA address is on the federal carrier register rather than only on the company's own site.

• Toyosu and Fukuoka Express air shipments from Japan
• Built for sushi counters, including A5 Wagyu
• LA address confirmed on the federal carrier register

Serves: Sushi restaurants, Japanese restaurants

Address

4200 S Alameda St, Vernon, CA, 90058

Phone

(323) 846-3300

H.C. Foods

Regional distributorCommerceEst. 1987

Started in 1987 as a local distributor and now describes itself as one of the largest Asian foodstuff importers and distributors in California, with a network reaching across the US and into some international markets. It sources from Greater China, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong, France, Australia, Morocco and Malaysia.

• Trading since 1987, now sourcing from eleven countries
• One of California's largest Asian importers, by its own account
• Carries an alcohol range alongside the food line

Serves: Restaurants, Retailers

Address

6414 Gayhart Street, Commerce, CA, 90040

Phone

(323) 722-8648

Kim Seng Company

Regional distributorCommerce

An importer of dried and refrigerated food from Asian and European countries, distributing to markets, restaurants and other wholesalers across North America. It also moves American agricultural products in the other direction, and sells single items to consumers through a separate online retail partner.

• Imports from Asia and Europe, and exports American agricultural products
• Sells to other wholesalers as well as to kitchens
• Single items available through a separate retail channel

Serves: Markets, Restaurants, Other wholesalers

Address

6121 Randolph St, Commerce, CA, 90040

Phone

(323) 724-8551

United Asian Foods

Regional distributorCommerce

A family-owned importer and wholesaler of dry and frozen Asian groceries, with about thirty years supplying supermarkets and restaurants in California and nationally. It carries Thai jasmine rice, tropical fruit and juices, frozen exotic fish, and coconut and bamboo ingredients, and handles orders from a small local drop up to a full container.

• Family owned, around thirty years in the trade
• Orders from a small local drop up to a full container
• Thai jasmine rice, tropical fruit and frozen exotic fish

Serves: Supermarkets, Restaurants

Address

5845 S. Malt Ave., Commerce, CA, 90040

Phone

(323) 268-8818

Philippine Foodtrade Corporation

Regional distributorCommerce

A major importer and wholesaler of Philippine and Asian products supplying grocers, restaurants and institutions. Its flagship brand is Tropics, which the company says has been synonymous with quality since 1970, and it carries a wider set of category brands alongside it.

• Filipino specialist, not a general Asian house
• Flagship Tropics brand, dated by the company to 1970
• Supplies institutions as well as grocers and restaurants

Serves: Grocers, Restaurants, Institutions

Address

2626 S. Malt Avenue, Commerce, CA, 90040

Phone

(323) 727-5107

J & A Importers

Regional distributorVernon

An importer and wholesale distributor of Asian foods in Vernon, carrying canned fruit, eggs, nuts, beans, vegetables and extracts, rice sticks, rice papers, noodles and vermicelli, and a sauce, marinade and seasoning range.

• Noodles, rice papers and vermicelli as a core line
• Sauces, marinades and seasonings alongside canned goods
• Importer and distributor in one company

Serves: Restaurants, Retailers

Address

4398 Ayers Avenue, Vernon, CA, 90058

Phone

(323) 780-3998

Robben Wholesale Distribution

Regional distributorVernon

A grower, shipper and distributor of produce with, in its own words, deep roots in Asian vegetables. It backs that with more than 35 years of farming experience and 12,000 acres of family-owned farmland in Mexico and Canada, and supplies regional distributors, wholesalers and selected retail partners rather than only end kitchens.

• Grows what it sells, on 12,000 acres in Mexico and Canada
• Specialises in Asian vegetables
• Supplies other distributors as well as retailers

Serves: Regional distributors, Wholesalers, Retail partners

Address

6152 S Boyle Ave, Vernon, CA, 90058

Phone

(213) 556-2699

Wang Globalnet

Regional distributorVernon

A Korean food specialist handling more than 2,000 products, from fresh produce and frozen items through to ready-to-eat meals, and shipping to all fifty states from distribution centres around the country. Its Los Angeles operation is on Fruitland Avenue in Vernon.

• Korean specialist, over 2,000 products
• Ships to all fifty states
• Fresh produce and prepared meals as well as frozen

Serves: Restaurants, Retailers

Address

2465 Fruitland Ave., Vernon, CA, 90058

Phone

(213) 622-5111

Great River Food

Local specialistCity of IndustryEst. 1985

A manufacturer as well as a distributor, making Chinese and Vietnamese frozen foods in City of Industry since 1985 and supplying more than 700 retail customers and restaurants across the US and Canada. The line runs to meatballs, meatloaf, fish balls and fish cake, marinated meat, sausage, dumplings and instant coffee.

• Makes what it sells, in City of Industry since 1985
• Over 700 retail customers and restaurants
• Chinese and Vietnamese frozen specialities

Serves: Restaurants, Retailers, Distributors

Address

14500 Valley Blvd, City of Industry, CA, 91746

Phone

(626) 968-6917

Food For All

Regional distributorCity of Industry

One of the leading importers of Filipino food and other Asian food products in Southern California, by its own description, with a combined team experience of over seventy years and distribution reaching Las Vegas, New York, Chicago, Texas, Florida, Hawaii and Canada.

• Filipino specialist importer
• Distribution reaching seven states and Canada
• Over seventy years of combined team experience, in its own words

Serves: Retailers

Address

18461 Railroad Street, City of Industry, CA, 91748

Phone

(626) 839-8687

Ming Hong International

Regional distributorCity of Industry

An importer, manufacturer and wholesaler specialising in Japanese sushi ingredients and other Asian specialty foods, which describes itself as a one-stop warehouse for other distributors as well as for restaurants and chains. It keeps its own freezer and cooler space and runs a fleet of refrigerated trucks for local delivery.

• Sushi ingredients as the core specialism
• Sells to other distributors as well as to kitchens
• Own freezer, cooler and refrigerated fleet

Serves: Restaurants, Chains, Other distributors

Address

14730 Don Julian Road, City of Industry, CA, 91746

Phone

(626) 820-9888

Great Wall Seafood LA

National broadlineIrwindale

A West Coast frozen seafood distributor carrying over a thousand frozen seafood, sushi and meat items, serving restaurants, supermarkets and wholesale markets across California, Nevada, Arizona and Utah. It is part of HF Foods Group, the Nasdaq-listed distributor to Asian restaurants, which acquired the Great Wall business in December 2021.

• Over a thousand frozen seafood, sushi and meat items
• Part of HF Foods Group, acquired December 2021
• Covers California, Nevada, Arizona and Utah

Serves: Restaurants, Supermarkets, Wholesale markets

Address

15854 Ornelas St, Irwindale, CA, 91706

Phone

(626) 452-0908

Delivers

California, Nevada, Arizona and Utah

Rong Cheng

National broadlineCity of Industry

A distribution centre of HF Foods Group, the Nasdaq-listed distributor to Asian restaurants, supplying fresh produce, seafood, frozen and other specialty food to restaurants and grocers across California and Nevada, and feeding the group's Las Vegas cross-dock. It shares an owner with Great Wall Seafood LA, also listed here.

• Part of HF Foods Group, alongside Great Wall Seafood LA
• Fresh produce as well as frozen and dry
• Feeds the group's Las Vegas cross-dock

Serves: Restaurants, Grocers

Address

19319 Arenth Ave, City of Industry, CA, 91748

Phone

(626) 338-1090

Delivers

California and Nevada