Supermarket
 

Hi,

I arrived in Ontario on Sunday with my partner and am still trying to get used to everything. In England we would normally do our food shopping in Asda or Tesco and I thought Walmart would be the Canadian equivalent, but the fresh food seemed to be of poor quality. Would anyone be able to recommend a good supermarket to shop in that is reasonably priced (food seems quite expensive, but I'm not sure if it's because I having been looking in the right place)?

Thanks!

Re: Supermarket
 

Not sure where you are in Ontario. Options (in my part of Ottawa) for supermarkets are:

Farm Boy
Sobies
Metro
Loblaws
Superstore
Freshco

The most expensive is Farm Boy then Sobies. We shop at Metro and find quality good and price reasonable.

Re: Supermarket
 

We shop at:

- the St. Lawrence market, has everything, quality varies between great and not depending on the stall, costs a lot

- Costco, has limited range, high quality, low price per unit but you have to buy three dozen of everything

- Loblaws, somewhere inbetween in terms of quality and price but conveniently located.

Re: Supermarket
 

Thanks for the replies. We're in the Waterloo/Kitchener area so I'll take a look and see if any of your suggestions are near by.

Re: Supermarket
 

We're northeast of Guelph so not that far away. You might also want to look at Caudle's Catch, a fish warehouse in Kitchener. They also have a stand at the market at St. Jacobs (not a very good market except for plants, lots of good deals on plants).

Re: Supermarket
 

There will be some variety of Loblaws/Superstore & Sobeys nearby, trust me. They are the rough equivalent of Tesco/Sainsbury in UK. Walmart is not a place one should shop for food.

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Oh, Loblaws trades as Zehr's in the K-W area.

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My missus would tend to disagree with you. Our local WMs are selling some pretty decent fresh produce at good prices. And they stock Marmite. In the wrong place, obviously.

On a related note, we were in a Loblaws in Ottawa recently. I cleared out the stock of Marmite and Branston. I took the opportunity to berate the poor girl in charge of the aisle on the subject of where Marmite should properly be displayed. The missus giggled. The girl was nonplussed. If however, Marmite starts showing up next to the peanut butter, where it belongs, I have achieved something in life. I'm not holding my breath.

Re: Supermarket
 

Oh, those exotic Quebecois Walmarts. Here in Newfoundland, there is nary a fresh vegetable or piece of fruit to be seen. No, your foodstuffs are limited to packaged & processed gunk of all varities. So, not a place where anyone who cares about what they eat wouold ever want to purchase food.

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That sentence is two words too long.

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I think WM is staging an all-out attack on the competition here. It is probably no coincidence that my local Loblaws got converted to a Maxi (their deep discount store brand here) and a decent fresh produce shop closed down a couple of months ago.

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Which Loblaws was that? We've been stocking up on Branston Pickle at Price Chopper in the States, but not seen it in supermarkets here.

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Why not shop there? We're else would you buy printer ink, or garden stuff, or household items and electrical goods, all the same make and models as Best Buy or other more expensive stores for cheaper.

Im sorry Novo but Price trumps snobbery every time for me.

Re: Supermarket
 

Vanier & McArthur.

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Cheers, I work 5 mins from there. May venture over at lunch time.

Was it with the pickles / gherkins?

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We'll just disagree then. And it's not snobbery, it's ethics.

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Arh ok I get you now!

I apologise then. I do agree with the food being a no no in WMart.

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Wouldn't bother with Walmart for general grocery shopping - they are okay for occasional general household stuff however (don't forget to wear your PJ's and slippers!).
As for food, we tend to use RCSS (Loblaws), Sobeys and sometimes No Frills. We haven't found anything as good or all-encompassing as Tesco or Sainsbury here, plus we find certain items like bread and breakfast cereal very expensive by comparison. And don't get me started on not being able to buy your beer and wine with your weekly shop....! They also seem a bit behind the UK on customer service i.e. they don't open enough checkouts when it is busy and not many stores have the self-serve checkouts.
On a more positive note, parking is often easier and we like the choice and the price of ice-cream here :p

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Not sure but probably. The missus picked it up while I was searching the baking goods section for Marmite. You can always ask. From what I've seen/heard in that place, many of the customers are Brits (and so are some of the staff).

We don't go there often but it's on the way home from Homesense, so she has to compromise when she drags me down there to look at the crap she likes.

Re: Supermarket
 

Depends on the Walmart. As far as I remember, two of ours have only processed and canned food, the third does have a fresh produce section. We buy from there if we happen to be in the store to buy something else, but wouldn't go out of our way otherwise.

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In my case it's most definately snobbery. One has standards after all. Walmart is a source of Diapers, Cat Food & Bum wad. Not much else in this household.

I'm sure we've been down this road before, but what other stores to you choose not to purchase from because of ethical considerations? Enquring minds and all that.

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When Walmart converted to fresh produce in Red Deer the quality of fresh produce was increased ten fold, I must say it is where I do the bulk of my grocery shopping these days, and my kid works there, which is so uncool according to her lol

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You should perhaps choose a different brand of cat food. It seems to be giving him/her the shits.

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I don't give ethics much of a thought when shopping. I just want an enjoyable experience, nice environment, pleasant staff. I'll avoid places because of poor parking, inconvenient access, branding that jars with my inner OCD and professional opinion, mixing with a demographic that requires cammo or PJ's to blend in, and all sorts of other illogical reasons.

I've never been in a Zellers, Target, Ikea, any $1 store, Wendy's, A&W, Bed Bath and Beyond, Foot Locker and various other stores that are unappealing. I avoid as far as possible Home Hardware, Rona, Walmart, Canadian Superstore, Jysk, The Brick, Winners and Homesense.

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Good for you. Snobbery suits you. I have no need of diapers, cat food and if bum wad means toilet paper, I have other sources. <I rip it off from the local mall's pissoir>

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Depends on the Wal-Mart and area I think, the new ones (here in many area's of BC anyhow) have pretty much everything Super Store has, fresh produce, meat, sea food, a bakery, and all the usual frozen and packaged foods.

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You can buy a house in our Walmart.

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It takes a while to settle in and find your favorite supermarket, I thought I was a Sobey's woman, but have discovered I generally prefer the Superstore.

I am sure that you will have a Farmer's Market available somewhere near you, possibly only at the weekend? They have become very popular and have great quality locally produced seasonal fruit and veg. Very best of luck.

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Are there not independent supermarkets where you live? Small family-owned fruit & vegetable operators? I know you're in Waterloo/Kitchener, where I've never been, but here in Vancouver, the best produce (in terms of quality and price) can be found at the smaller supermarkets. The same goes with cheese (better prices/quality at speciality cheese shops, better meat quality/prices at independent butchers, etc.) Living in the suburbs here can be a different story, but I've found, at least in the west, you can't replicate English shopping habits in Canada, without being severely disappointed. There is no one supermarket where everything is good. That has been my observation.

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Walmart in Peterborough had a redo about a year ago, zellers became Walmart and the existing Walmart was pimped uo. The produce in there is the best around here. I don't go there regularly but if in that part of Pbro then I do. I can also stock up on British Heinz beans.

I used to have principles then we moved here and became poor.

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Surprised no one has chimed in with Fortinos as a suggestion - Waitrose prices and Tesco ambiance.

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Never seen one. I miss Waitrose.

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From what I can find online, Fortinos has a 21 stores, owned by Loblaws.

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Oh me too....I'm that impoverished woman buying free range eggs!

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There's a small chain in the area, L and M Stores. The locals refer to it as "Limp and Mouldy".

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It wasn't that expensive in the olden days, better quality but identical stuff was price matched. No idea what it's like now. If I went in one I would probably have a breakdown and have to be dragged away from the deli and cheese counter.

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Oh gawd I miss Waitrose!

and Marks

even Sainsburys

and Oddbins

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Canada used to have M&S until the late 90s. Does anyone know why they closed?

Edit: Nevermind!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marks_%26_Spencer

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Has anyone with a Target found them to be stocking any decent food?

Re: Supermarket
 

Try No Frills