Coop

This Co-​op is a good Co-​op and an honest Co-​op where I often purchase my groceries which are also very good. I prefer Co-​op over other large Supermarkets in the area, for their dedication to supporting Canadian products, and carrying pesticide free produce if I am lucky, even if it is not necessarily labelled as organic.
Co-​op does not carry some of the vegan luxury items I could find at other grocery stores nearby, such as Tofurkey products, Daiya, etc. However, I find that because Co-​op has such a great produce selection most of the time, I end up coming here and getting inspired to create more simple veggie dishes; soups full of every vegetable ever, warming curries, bomb tofu scrambles. Also, this is one of the only chain markets in the city where I can actually eat the bread confidently. Co-​op stocks a line of artisan breads (ACE, and sometimes their own artisan baguettes) that happen to contain no dairy products, l-​cystiene, or other weird preservatives. Whenever I confirm with bakery staff whether they egg glaze these products, I get a solid «no» across the board. Often times, they will also take out their thick ingredient binders and give them to me so I can browse the ingredients of my desired products myself. This kind of consistency across the board is something I find comforting.
Also, Co-​op sells muffin tops. Which I can’t eat, but do tip my hat to the Seinfeld reference, if anyone was thinking about the TOP OF THE MUFFIN TO YOU episode while offering that product there. I will continue to patronize Co-​op for most of my basics that I don’t always have time to visit an organic market for. The staff here are also very friendly.

Co-op’s new tasting centre in Beddington is awesome. Presentation and selection is great.
I also recently enjoyed an event called He Said, She Said, which was for beer and wine tasting. They gave us so many samples that I was on the edge of needing a cab. Others at the event certainly drank all of their samples and would not have been driving. Food paired with the beer and wine was quality. I wouldn’t have needed to eat dinner beforehand. The host made the event educational, fun and invited everyone to stay afterward for more of the food and beverage samples they liked. He also handed out coupons for store discounts. I was impressed with the attendance, which was about 20 people, making it even more interesting. An event like this, which was on a Sat. night, is a fun outing and great way to start off an evening. I’d highly recommend checking out the events calendar and I’ll definitely go to another function here.