A starter topping basket, one case each of crystal ball ($4.00/kg), coconut jelly ($3.95/kg), and mango popping boba ($6.75/1.25kg), costs $14.70 by the case in Ontario and $14.20 in Quebec. Add black tapioca pearl at $3.75/kg (Ontario) or $3.50/kg (Quebec) and a four-topping bar covering chewy, jelly, and bursting textures runs $18.45 in Ontario or $17.70 in Quebec, all before you have priced a single drink. Doking Canada sells all four by the case from local warehouses in Toronto and Montreal, with per-province wholesale pricing and free samples on request. Grass jelly is currently sold out; coconut jelly is the in-stock swap. The rest of this page breaks down what each topping category costs and handles like, an at-a-glance case-price table, and how to set a reorder rhythm so you are not caught short on a Friday night.
At-a-glance case pricing
| Topping | Category | Case unit | Ontario by-case | Quebec by-case | Single (national ref.) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black tapioca pearl | Pearl (cooked) | 1kg | $3.75 | $3.50 | $6.50 |
| Original flavoured crystal ball | Chewy jelly boba | 1kg | $4.00 | $3.95 | $7.95 |
| Coconut jelly | Jelly, ready to serve | 1kg | $3.95 | $3.75 | $6.75 |
| Grass jelly | Jelly, ready to serve | SOLD OUT | SOLD OUT | ||
| Mango popping boba | Popping boba | 1.25kg | $6.75 | $6.50 | $10.50 |
| Strawberry popping boba | Popping boba | Per case | Quote per case | Quote per case | Quote |
Prices are Doking’s current by-the-case wholesale price list, set per province. The single-unit price is a national retail reference, not the wholesale number, so it is here for comparison only, not for ordering.
Pearls vs jellies vs popping boba: cost and handling
The three categories are not interchangeable on your line, even where the price per kilogram is close.
Pearls (black tapioca, $3.75/kg Ontario, $3.50/kg Quebec) are the cheapest topping on the sheet, but they carry the most labour. They need to be boiled, rested, and sugar-soaked before service, and a cooked batch has a limited holding window before texture drops off and it has to be discarded. That prep cost does not show up on the case invoice, but it shows up in your labour schedule and in whatever you throw out at close. Doking’s recipe cost card for a classic pearl milk tea puts the ingredient cost at about $0.70 per 500ml cup, an 88% ingredient margin before labour, rent, and cups, so pearls still pay for their prep time on a well-run bar.
Crystal ball ($4.00/kg Ontario, $3.95/kg Quebec) sits closest to pearls in texture, a chewy jelly-style boba, but at a similar per-kilogram cost with generally less involved prep than fully cooked tapioca. It is the middle option for shops that want a chew beyond coconut jelly’s cut cube without running a full tapioca cook station.
Jellies (coconut jelly, $3.95/kg Ontario, $3.75/kg Quebec) are cut, ready-to-serve cubes with no cooking step at all. You portion straight from the case. That makes jelly the lowest-labour topping on the sheet at a price close to pearls, which is why it is usually the first topping a shop adds after tapioca.
Popping boba (mango, $6.75/1.25kg Ontario, $6.50/1.25kg Quebec) costs more per case than pearls or jelly, but it also needs no cooking, no sugar soak, and does not force an end-of-day throw-out the way a cooked pearl batch does. It earns its higher price back in labour saved and in the visual pop it adds to fruit teas. Strawberry popping boba is also on the line and quoted per case, so tell us your province if you want a firm number.
For fruit-forward drinks that pair well with jelly or popping boba, the recipe cost card for a passion fruit double blast comes in at about $1.00 in ingredients per 500ml cup, roughly an 83% ingredient margin. A spoon of jelly or popping boba is a small add on a cup that is already mostly margin.
See the black tapioca pearl page and the mango popping boba page for the two SKUs most shops start with.
Grass jelly is sold out, here is what to stock instead
Grass jelly is currently sold out and marked as such rather than pulled from the site, since we expect to bring it back into stock. If grass jelly is on your build sheet today, coconut jelly is the in-stock swap: same ready-to-serve, no-cook handling, and a close price point at $3.95/kg in Ontario and $3.75/kg in Quebec. See the coconut jelly page for current availability.
Reorder cadence for a topping bar
Toppings are high-turn stock relative to syrups and powders, so treat them differently on your count sheet.
- Count open pails weekly, not monthly. A topping that runs out mid-shift is a drink you cannot serve, and pearls and popping boba tend to move faster than jellies on most menus.
- Reorder before the pail you have open runs down, not after it is empty. Because Doking sells by the case with no online checkout, you request a quote and order by purchase order, so build in the time that process takes rather than ordering the day you notice you are low.
- Rotate oldest stock first. Pull from the earliest-received case before opening a newer one, and keep unopened cases in a cool, dry place until they are needed.
- Watch pearls and popping boba closer than jelly. Cooked pearls have a same-day holding window once prepared, so a slow shift can waste a batch even when the case itself is fine. Popping boba and jelly do not carry that same-day risk, which is part of why they are easier to run lean on.
Toronto and Montreal pickup, and free samples
Doking is a wholesale supplier, not a retail checkout. You buy by the case, request a quote, and order by purchase order. Because stock sits locally, you pick up or take delivery from the warehouse in your province instead of waiting on an overseas shipment.
- Toronto warehouse: 3802 Victoria Park Ave, Toronto, ON M2H 3H7, +1-416-833-4866. Serves the Greater Toronto Area and Ontario.
- Montreal warehouse: 7320 Rue Cordner, Montreal, QC H8N 2W8, +1-514-712-9993. Serves Montreal, Laval, the South Shore, and Quebec.
Free samples of pearls, jellies, and popping boba are available on request, so you can test texture and flavour in your own drinks before you commit a case to any one topping.
Certifications
Doking’s production base holds HACCP, ISO 9001, ISO 22000, and HALAL certifications, available on request. Doking Canada is the local operation of a manufacturer that has produced these ingredients since 1996.
Get case pricing and free samples
Tell us which toppings you want to build your menu around and your province, and we will send current by-the-case pricing plus free samples from your nearest warehouse in Toronto or Montreal. For foodservice operators in Ontario and Quebec, that is the fastest way to price a full topping bar before you commit to a case.
