Blush Lane Organic Market

Wonderful selection and staff. Well-​organized with lots of specialty items and local produce.

For the last few years I have been a regular customer at Blush Lane Organic Market. Blush Lane features all of the departments of a typical grocery store (produce, meat, dairy, grocery, bakery, bath/​home, etc), packed into a relatively small building. All of their departments carry high-​quality, fresh items, and I’ve discovered a lot of favorite brands here over the last couple years.
In addition to a wide selection of organic and local products, Blush Lane carries food for many niche diets (e.g., raw, vegan, vegetarian, gluten-​free). Though I do not fall into any of these categories, I often prefer to buy these products over mainstream versions due to the high quality and/​or uniqueness.
Blush Lane hosts frequent cooking classes which are held in a conference room on the 3^rd floor of the Roots on Whyte building. The classes require a $ 10 deposit which is returned in the form of a Blush Lane gift card when you show up for the class; often I use this to purchase ingredients seen in the demonstrations. The best part is that in addition to a quick lesson and new recipes, you get to try everything so you know which dishes you like!
Blush Lane offers a points system in which you can occasionally get $ 5 off your purchase, or, alternatively, donate the $ 5 to Edmonton’s Youth Empowerment and Support Services (YESS).
The unfortunate downside to shopping here, and I’ve seen this a lot in the Old Strathcona area, is that with some of these niche demographics comes a lot of misinformation and ideas based on fear or pseudoscience («chemical-​free,» «synthetics are bad for you,» the anti-​GMO movement, etc). So while I love to support Blush Lane because they feature so many fantastic products, at the same time I struggle with the idea that I may be inadvertently supporting these and similar cultural movements. This is just too bad, I suppose.
Overall I love this store, they have such an extensive selection of unique, amazing, high-​quality food and bath/​beauty products.

My favorite store in the whole city! The staff are always very friendly and helpful, and it’s like going to a farmers market that runs daily year round! Fantastic selection of local produce and other products. I live within walking distance which is dangerous for my wallet but great for my health!

I love this place!
Amazing organic local produce, great finds for healthy treats and the best part is the cooking classes they offer!
Free cooking classes with an amazing chef who provides delicious recipes, cooks for you, and then you enjoy a meal with plenty of food.
The recipes are always so tasty and healthy, lots of vegan and gluten free options.
Staff are always friendly and helpful.
I wish I lived closer so I could be there more regularly.

I know, I know, I know you go to an organic market you’re going to have to spend a lil more, but all I can say is you’re going to get some quality when you’re shopping at Blush Lane.
I shop here almost exclusively for the produce. It is always of exceptional quality with a real emphasis on local. In fact, the last time I was there they had Alberta Peppers! And by that I do not mean a company named Alberta that gets product from Mexico, I’m talking from Alberta. At least that’s what the produce manager told me.
I’ve had the BEST avocados from Blush Lane and they often have 2 for 1 deals.
If you live in the area it’s probably the best for produce if you’ve missed the farmers market.

My new favourite; I wish we had one downtown, walking distance just for me! The produce is consistently gorgeous, and conveniently located at the front of the store, which is perfect when all you want is something fresh for supper. Go a little deeper into the store, and you’ll likely find whatever other non-​Nestle/​General Mills/​Big Food items you’re after need to stock your fridge or pantry with. The reusable burlap bags are trendy, hold a ton of weight, not plastic, easy to carry. Staff has always been friendly and helpful in my experience; pure shopping pleasure.

Blush Lane Market is a really great place for organic products. I like how everything is well organized and the products always look appealing. The staff are friendly and actually seem to enjoy their jobs. I haven’t approached a sales person for assistance but I’m often greeted and asked if I need help.
Comparatively to Planet Organic, they have similar stock and similar prices although on occasion I have found some things to be marginally cheaper at Blush Lane and they seem to have more frequent sales on more items. However I still shop more often at Planet Organic simply because parking is a bit of an inconvenience here. There is meter parking on the street, or underground pay parking in the Roots building — but personally when I’m shopping for groceries I prefer the convenience of being in an out as quickly as possible.
And I’m not sure if I just come at the wrong times, but I’ve never seen more than one cashier on the till at Blush. The last particular time I was there on a Sunday to purchase two items, spinach and apples. I ended up leaving without buying anything because there was line of several people with full carts and one cashier. An express lane or self-​checkout would be really helpful. I still love Blush Lane for it’s great products, just sometimes it’s not the most convenient.

I wasn’t too impressed with the store. Maybe it was because I was fighting pneumonia for the 3^rd week straight that I didn’t care too much for being in the store.
Aside from that, the prices are good and they have a lot of delicious looking organic products. They carry a great selection of spices if you’re into that sort of thing. I found quite a few spices there that I had been searching for. The staff is friendly and helpful and they also offer courses on eating clean and healthy.
Definitely check these guys out! And if you don’t have a points card, no problem. It’s super easy to sign up and you am use the points towards products!

This tiny little grocery store specializes in having healthy organic groceries, and does well at that. It isn’t very large so if you’re looking for the widest variety of food, you’re likely out of luck, but you can certainly find a pretty good selection of quality food there.

This is like an adorable little neighbourhood market that you would find in a chic area of New York. It’s all organic, health foodie, trendy, the staff is a bit aloof, and all of the customers in line at the till are madly trolling their Instagram accounts.
The produce is great, the meat looks amazing at the meat counter. There are lots of unusual or not normally found (in a regular store) «health conscience» snacks, etc. The prices are higher then discount stores — but that is to be expected. The one thing that most likely will deter me from being a regular customer is that I just don’t live on Whyte. It’s a bit of a stretch to drive to a very busy area of town, where it is quite hard to find parking, just to go to an organic market. But, on a day like today when I had a biz meeting at Da Capo and was already parked near by… Well then that makes it quite easy!
I suggest make a day of it: Meet a friend for lunch at Under The High Wheel, go to a yoga class up-​stairs, stroll Whyte, people watch, grab an espresso at Da Capo, then get groceries and go home! Ta Da!

I really like doing a small amount of my weekly shopping at the Blush Lane Market. Produce is a little expensive, but we are eating Organic. I bought my Christmas Turkey from the Market, and was told by my family that it tasted fantastic, I must say it cooked much faster than the regular store bought. I do recommend.

I tend to go out of my way to come here instead of more convenient grocery stores due to the selection and atmosphere this grocery store has. So many different organic and non GMO options to choose from. The staff are welcoming and answer any questions you might have. Underground parking is available, which is only $ 2 or free if you spend more than $ 25 at Blush. A lot of the reviews say its very expensive… It’s quality food so its more expensive then everything else. However, I do think that it’s cheaper than shopping at Planet Organic. Not too sure about produce as I get all of that from the Organic Box.

I was surprised when I walked into Blush Lane a few weekends ago. It wasnt how the pictures posted made it seem, however it was busy so that had to be a good sign.
My spouse and I grabbed a basket to do a little bit of «picking“while we browsed our options. They seem to have a really good selection of things but some how are really expensive compared to the other places we’ve been to. Their meat is on the top of the expensive list… two chicken breasts at nearly $ 20.00? I had to put it down and walk away. I know I probably wont find cheaper organic meat else where but that to me is insane! The 5 lbs box of mandarines, as delicious as they were, cost $ 17.00…probably best to buy them on ocassion. By the time we checked out, our basket was near full… mostly big items (box of mandarines, ice cream, some fish, coconut oil etc) and our bill came to just over $ 150.00. We ended up doing the rest of our shop at Save-​On foods.
All in all, I really liked the layout and how everything was so organized. The staff was very helpful and friendly. I would go back there for a few items but definitely not for a whole weeks worth of groceries.

I started coming here as a part of my recent efforts to have a healthier lifestyle. The prices for stuff here are steep, but your health is worth it.
They have all sorts of beans and nuts that the main grocery stores don’t carry. I recently picked up some fruit and vegetables here and I could taste the difference. The food here has more flavor and tastes fresher than anything you find at the national chains. They also have a deli where I discovered that vegetarian sandwiches can be really good.
The staff here are super friendly and helpful. I like the super casual dress code at this store. It makes the staff a lot more down to earth and approachable.
Additionally, the store offers samples from time to time. Great opportunity to seek out good food.

This store reminds me of a small version of Whole Foods in the US. It is pricey but it has a large assortment of cereal, organic fruits and vegetables, nuts, flour, pasta, soy milk (and other types of vegan milk products), pasture-​raised meats, etc. It lacks in cheese and bread selection, but is otherwise great.

Great store. Insane selection. Incredible customer service.
Wish they could come to Ft. McMurray.
:(

I’ve got to say that I agree to quite an extent with the views of other reviewers. The selection here is excellent. Most of the produce seems really fresh and with Sunworks Organic being their meat supplier, they’re in good hands in the local department.
However, the prices here are going to keep me at bay. Every now and then I might come here to try some of their artisanal cheeses from B.C., but mind you at $ 11 or so for a 200gm case of goat cheese it would have to be a special occasion. I wish I could afford to shop here regularly.
Bread comes from Treestone as well as some wood-​fired artisanal loafs from bakeries in B.C. Apparently, they ship the bread ‘half done’ and the last stage of baking is completed in store. Again, delicious bread that is probably better than what you’d get at most bakeries around town but a tad on the expensive side.
The fruits and vegetables are probably closer or equal in price to other organic stores. Definitely consider dropping in for some fresh fruit if you happen to be walking down Whyte. Try it out and see if it’s to your liking. With a dearth of organic produce in Edmonton, I’m glad that living on/​close to Whyte gives us access to a variety of organic shops.

East Whyte Ave is my favourite under-​rated (and under-​Yelped!) part of the city. With additions like the Roots Building, I think that’s all about to change. With a yoga studio, café, diner, vitamin store and Blush Lane as just a few of its offerings, this new addition is totally going to attract a trendy, upscale Whyte Ave kind of customer, and hopefully those customers venture all the way down Whyte to places like Red Pony, Flirt and The Empress afterwards, too.
Blush Lane is oddly hidden towards the back of the building, through Da Capo and past Under The High Wheel. (Or you could just take the side entrance, I suppose.) I thought it was a tiny market when I first walked in, but it seems to keep going and going and going. It’s about the size of a Sunterra, and the products remind me of my favourite grocery store, too, but it seems like they’ve crammed way more in here. Fresh fruits, a deli, and most impressive is the frozen foods section. As someone who tries to eat healthy and is a part-​time vegetarian, I was very pleased with the number of vegetarian, vegan and/​or organic pizzas, frozen dinners and more.
The staff were friendly, although their casual clothes (no uniforms here) made it a little difficult to identify them.
You’ll spend more at Blush Lane than you will at Superstore, but it’s worth it.

Excellent selection but the prices keep these products out of reach for many people. I picked up ingredients to feed three people for supper and it cost me more than I usually spend on a week’s worth of groceries. I have nothing but respect for Blush Lane and its suppliers for giving shoppers a high quality alternative to shopping at regular supermarkets but the prices will keep me from shopping there on a regular basis. Believe me, I would buy all my food organic if I could. I loved the bakery counter there, the displays were attractive and when I asked the guy at the meat counter for suggestions for the BBQ, he was genuinely helpful. I just wish — how I wish — that it was a store for everyone.

While I love that this organic market is right on Whyte Avenue and in a more convenient location than the other nearby organic markets, but the prices tend to be significantly higher than Earth’s General Store and slightly higher than Planet Organic (fine, this is based entirely on the price of Romaine Lettuce and Green Cuisine Tofu).
Service is friendly, the produce looks great, and the market is clean. But it makes sense that Blush Lane is a chain from the presumably less price sensitive Calgary.
Unless I need a product that Earth’s General doesn’t carry, I think I’ll continue shopping at Earth’s General for my organic grocery needs.