Bulk Barn

I friggen love Bulk Barn! It is pretty amazing for it’s selection of snacks, baking supplies, spices, import foods, health foods… all packed into small-​ish stores — but very organized. They had a lot of imported items that are sometimes difficult to find in the grocery store (or very expensive at specialty shops).
My favourite part about Bulk Barn is by far their baking supplies — their prices are a lot better than Michael’s, and it’s nice to buy some of this stuff in bulk and get what you need for a specific recipe.

Are you the type of person that likes to tinker in the kitchen? Open up spice jars, bags of stuff, chop up some veggies, throw that bitch on the grill and see what happens?
THIS PLACE IS FOR YOU.
If you’re like me and never have spices last in the kitchen for more than a couple of months, Bulk Barn is right up your alley. Spices, baking needs, obscure ingredients in that vegan cookbook you bought four years ago and never look at anymore because you can’t find «smoked red dulse flakes» anywhere; this place has it all. And just when you think you searched all over, and they didn’t have it; Bulk Barn also has real saffron threads at the checkout.
Three things though:
— Just because it’s bulk, doesn’t mean it’s cheap. Vanilla pods, I found, were more expensive here than CNF. I only go here to restock hard-​to-​find pantry needs. If I can find it at Costco, I’ll buy it there instead.
— Twice I asked if something was available, and staff told me they didn’t carry it. But when I looked carefully, I found it myself. I’m sorry that getting up to help me look, or at the very least, punching in something in the computer and hitting «search» is so difficult for you, Bulk Barn staff.
— The bulk bins are hard to use. You need one hand to keep the lid open, one hand to use the trowel provided and another to hold the plastic bag (or plastic containers they have for sale). Fine if you’re traveling in pairs, but it’s like saying, «F U, single person. Y U shop at the Bulk Barn… ALONE?!»
STOP JUDGING ME, BULK BARN. :’(

Yay another Bulk Barn in C-​town!
I came in on a weekday evening and the place was pretty dead, there were maybe two other customers. This is a big change to what I’m used to in Toronto with big lines and pushy people. It was nice.
Probably the best part of the visit was that the place was spotless. Also, I love the fact that the staff are trained to know the codes of the vast product selection. Customers don’t have to fuss with writing numbers on tags and making sure they write down the correct bin number. If the cashier doesn’t know the code by memory, they have a spinning list at the cash for quick reference. Easy!
Overall you can find almost everything here. They have everything you could need for baking, dried sundries, gooey peanut butters and jams, dog treats, candy, and more. They even have some machines that will grind peanuts at the push of the button so you can have instantly fresh peanut butter. Price wise, its better to purchase things here than in the bulk section at the grocery store, but it may not be cheaper here on some things compared to Costco.