Duff opens this video with "I just left my bubble tea business of over a decade", then adds: "Don't worry, I didn't quit." What he left was the warehouse, for the yearly trip to find ingredients.
This post follows the stock from those trips to our shelves in Clayton South, and to the van that brings it to your shop.
Why does a bubble tea supplier travel overseas every year?
Because almost everything in a bubble tea is made somewhere else first. In the video Duff says that for the last 12 years he has been travelling internationally "to find you the best and the most unique bubble tea ingredients". The trips are how we find new products, and how we keep checking that the ones we already sell stay the same from one shipment to the next.
Why go to Taiwan every year?
Bubble tea started in Taiwan, and it is still where many of the specialist ingredients are made. Duff says he goes every year to visit the partners "who I've been with since the beginning". A long relationship with a manufacturer matters in this trade: recipes, colours and textures can drift between production runs, and a supplier who knows you well is more likely to flag a change before it reaches your shelf.
In the video, Duff also says we have a secure supply of mochi in Australia thanks to our partner in Taiwan. Our Mini Mochi Strawberry (C212) and Mini Mochi Mango (C213) are small enough to pass through a jumbo straw and hold their chew in a cold drink. Don't refrigerate an unopened bag, because cold hardens mochi.
The other countries Duff names are Singapore, Malaysia, Japan and China. Not every trip ends with a new product on our shelves.
What does that mean for a shop?
Mostly, it means you get a choice. Agar Pearls (C120V-6) come in a Premium grade at $88 a carton and a Value grade at $60. Creamer comes with two shelf lives: Best Creamer 1kg (C854) keeps for 24 months unopened, against 18 months for Super Coffee Mate Creamer (C804), which helps if you don't go through creamer quickly. And tapioca comes as the classic 3kg bag (C101), cooked in a 40-minute cycle, or as Quick Tapioca Pearls 50g (C197), which take 30 seconds in the microwave.
Duff ends the video by asking which products you'd like to see from us this year. If there's a topping, powder or syrup you can't find in Australia, tell us through the contact page.
Back home, the stock ends up on racks in Clayton South. "When my friend asks me which gym I go to": Duff and Dom answer with eight seconds of squats, curls and overhead presses, using whatever is on the shelves.
It's a joke, but the weights are real.
How heavy is a carton of bubble tea ingredients?
The cartons below hold between 10.8kg and 20kg of product each, before you count the box. The net weights come from the pack and carton sizes on each product page.
| Carton | Inside | Net weight |
|---|---|---|
| Super Coffee Mate Creamer (C804) | 20 x 1kg bags | 20kg |
| Fructose (C143) | 4 x 5kg bags | 20kg |
| Tapioca Pearls (C101) | 6 x 3kg bags | 18kg |
| Honey Aloe Vera (C190) | 6 x 3kg cans | 18kg |
| Coconut Jelly Original (C111) | 4 x 3.85kg tubs | 15.4kg |
| Popping Pearls Mango (P191) | 4 x 3.2kg tubs | 12.8kg |
| Canned Sago (C560) | 12 x 900g cans | 10.8kg |
In the video, popping pearls are "for arms" and powder packs are "for legs". Going by the table, the powder cartons are the heavier of the two, so the joke has the workout the right way round.
If you order by the carton, it helps to know these numbers before the delivery arrives. One carton each of creamer, fructose and tapioca pearls is already 58kg to carry in from the van.
Who packs the orders?
The two in the gym video are Duff, who runs Sunwide, and Dom, who packs and delivers orders. Dom has his own story in Meet Dom, the ex-pro skater packing your bubble tea order.
And this is the team's take on a meme. Stressed staff, an angry boss, a gauge marked "cortisol level" in the corner. Then someone hands the boss a bubble tea, the needle swings back to green, and everyone ends up toasting with a cup.
It's a joke about the mood in the warehouse, not a health claim.
Can I pick up from the warehouse?
Yes. Orders can be collected from our warehouse in Clayton South, Melbourne, or delivered Australia-wide. Delivery is free to metro Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide and Brisbane on orders over $200 before GST, and the shipping policy has the details. For another look at the team, see Happiness Comes From Within (the Warehouse).
Prices, shelf lives and carton sizes are from the product pages on sunwide.com.au, checked 27 October 2026. Net weights don't include packaging.
