When it comes to grocery shopping, I'll try anything to save a few bucks given how expensive just about everything costs in Toronto.
I generally try and check out the grocery flyers every week to see which of the big stores has the best savings on whatever the main protein is I'll be cooking for the upcoming week, but a recent Reddit thread where users suggested what independent grocery stores people in the city should check out caught my eye.
I decided to give one of them a try (after all, supporting local is always a nice thing to do!) and see what difference it would make to my grocery bill rather if I shopped at Loblaws, which is where I sometimes go when I'm feeling lazy as it's the closest store to my home in the West End of Toronto.
So, I headed to Nosso Talho on Bloor between Lansdowne and Dovercourt with a short list of the groceries I needed to supplement what I already had in my fridge to make a few meals this week.
Here's how my shopping went and what my bill ended up being.
Nosso Talho
A pack of five chicken legs for $7.00 from Nosso Talho.
I ended up finding the chicken legs I was looking for which came in a large, club-sized package and cost just $7. After finding the breakfast patties I was looking for at $3.99 (breakfast for lunch is an underrated move), I picked out a few other items including some salmon as it looked super fresh and tasty.
Here's what my end bill looked like:
- 5 chicken legs, 1.2 kg = $7.00
- Maple breakfast patties, 375 grams = $3.99
- Salmon, 1.115 pounds (506 grams) = $14.48
- Crumbled feta, 0.355 pounds (10.39 per pound) = $3.69
- Spring mix and baby spinach, 142 grams = $2.99
- Crimini mushrooms, 227 grams = $2.99
- 3 vine tomatoes, 1 pound = $2.99
- 1 cucumber = $1.99
- Total = $40.12
Loblaws
The exterior of a Loblaws.
- Chicken legs, 1.2 kg = $11.88
- Maple breakfast sausages, 375 g = $6.98
- Salmon, 1.115 lb (506 g) = $18.96
- Crumbled feta, 0.355 lb (161 g) = $3.22 (on sale, regularly $3.48)
- Spring mix and baby spinach, 142 g - $3.99 (on sale, regularly $4.99)
- Crimini mushrooms, 227 g = $3.00 (on sale, regularly $3.49)
- 3 vine tomatoes, 1 lb (454 g) = $1.99 (on sale, regularly $2.99)
- 1 cucumber = $1.99
- Total = $52.01
The verdict
Irie brand ground black pepper from Nosso Talho.
In total, I saved about $12 by shopping at Nosso Talho in comparison to shopping at Loblaws, so it's absolutely worth it to shop local if that's an option that's feasible for you.
That being said, there are some caveats that are important to keep in mind.
While the price of meats at Nosso Talho is more affordable than Loblaws, they don't have a huge selection of produce, and what they do carry is fairly comparable in price to bigger grocery stores. For instance, while I did pick up a few things I wanted for my salads, I wasn't able to find strawberries or bok choy and there were only two varieties of apples.
They do carry a lot of specialty times (I found the black pepper that my mom buys from the West Indian store near her house in Pickering, which I've never seen at another store) and have the most massive variety of meat I've ever seen.
On the other hand, Loblaws almost always has exactly what I'm looking for (they definitely have strawberries, bok choy and at least 6 different varieties of apples). They occasionally don't have some specialty items I'm looking for (like casareep or wiri wiri peppers), but I know I'll likely find at a West Indian store or Asian grocery mart.
All of that being said, I will absolutely be going back to Nosso Talho to take advantage of their excellent prices on meat and deli items, and I'll likely do the rest of my shopping for produce and snacks at Nations, which is an Asian grocery store in Stockyards that I think has some of the best prices in the city.
If you're interested in trying out other independent grocery stores in Toronto, many on Reddit are sharing great places to try, particularly in light of the boycott of Loblaws and Loblaw-owned companies that some may currently be following for the month of May.
"Highland Farms and Coppas are both great if you can drive to one of their stores," said one person on the r/Toronto forum. "They have an amazing deli, cheese, meat, poultry and fish section. Packaged food is a bit pricey, but that's going to be the case at almost any independent supermarket.
"Galaxy Fresh Foods is definitely cheaper than a lot of the local spots," said another of an east-end option. "It’s Broadview and Gerrard but pretty accessible via transit."
"Sooo many amazing produce markets on Roncesvalles," commented another user. "My favourites are Master Supermarket and Maple Produce, but farther down the street is Ko Fruit Market which also has great reviews."
In a different Reddit thread where someone asked which local grocers won't break the bank, many recommended Tavora, Sweet Potato (but only their items on sale), Carload, P.A.T., Kai Wei, Moberley, Fresh 1 Market, Plank Road Market, Royal Beef, Dragon Supermarket and Daily Goods.
Good luck out there with grocery shopping, folks, and remember — always price match when you can, it can save you some seriously big bucks!
These prices are confirmed at the time of publishing, but they can change at any time. Taxes and fees may not be included.
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