Grocery Stores
Multiple Organics
I've been eying Multiple Organics for a while now but it wasn't until someone prodded me with an email that I decided it was about time to go inside for a closer look.
Located on Dundas West in the old location of Extreme Games, Multiple Organics is not your typical stocked to the ceiling health food store in the mold of, say, Essence of Life or Tutti Frutti in Kensington Market. Instead, the store is relatively sparsely laid out with sections for fresh organic and local produce, canned goods, pasta and sauces, baby food, eco-friendly products, frozen foods, milk and cheese.
Multiple Organics is the brain child of Nupur Gogia and Carrianne Leung, two recent PhD grads of Sociology and Equity Studies at the University of Toronto. They started the store after recognizing a need in gentrifying Brockton Village and looking for a challenge beyond the academic world. Open since June 1st, they have quickly established themselves as the neighbourhood grocery and have a notepad on the counter where customers can request new items for them to carry. Among the recent suggestions I noticed were goat's milk yogurt and Amy's gluten free pizza.
Looking around the store on this day I spot some super fresh looking local produce (delivered Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays) especially the portobello mushrooms, tomatoes, broccoli, carrots, garlic and strawberries. Some of it is organic, and what isn't is local, brought in by Sovereign Farms among other local suppliers.
On the shelves are familiar items like Kettle Chips, Eden Soy Milk, Bandito's popcorn, Mapleton's Organic ice cream, cheese from Monforte dairy and green cleaning products from Ecover and Nature Clean.
They have also begun talking special orders for meat from Rowe Farms so that customers can get fresh chicken, steaks and pork chops by request. Prices are neither high nor low, about what you'd expect from a specialty grocery and purveyor of organic products.
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If all that doesn't scare you away from the neighbourhood, try the baked samosas and the home-made Indian takeout - you'll love it. I like having neighbourhood supplier of ideal coffee, too.
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Thanks so much for your support! In elaborating on your comments re: the fresh produce - it isn't easy for us to carry green leafy vegetables like kale because we don't have the refrigeration facilities to accomodate them. We have tried to carry various lettuces and spinach in the past but they are quite fragile and therefore don't have a very long shelf life (sometimes, a matter of hours). We hate to have to throw away any food so we've made the decision on focusing on the produce that we do well according to our space. In terms of organic or local - the top shelf is always local but not necessarily organic. Some of it is hydroponic. The bottom two shelves are always organic and when the season permits, as much local as we can find. (Oranges, unfortunately, are never local...)
Best, Carrianne
jewels
Try Zoots Cafe the owners a so down to earth and friendly. They have grilled sandwiches and calflutie (spelling?) pastries. They don't do that crazy latte art stuff just really good ones.
I have a tiny boutique/shop called Beadle (Canadian handmade items) across from Lula and live at the same location. I love living here. I feel like I'm living in a small town. I know dozens of my neighbours by name and dozens still by face. It's fun to be able to talk and smile at people and not feel like a stranger in your own area. Multiple Organics rocks the area is becoming trendy but not gentrified. I'm hoping it continues like this!