I was once instructed that the healthiest way to shop at a grocery store, is to purchase and consume as many products as possible that are placed at the periphery of the building.  This statement appropriately describes the newly built Sobey’s store that I visited this morning.  Their fresh market and bakery are at one edge of the store and I understand that Sage Creek is the first Sobey’s in Canada to do this.

I absolutely loved strolling through the fresh market.  It reminded me of our local farmer’s market or the outdoor markets that I love to explore in Europe.

The fruit and vegetable displays are gorgeous and beautifully showcase the bounty of fresh produce at this time of year.

I came across a little stand that was offering tastes of three different kinds of Gouda cheese.  My favourite was the smoked Gouda.  I have only tasted it once previously and it was an excellent reminder to purchase it again for holiday entertaining.

Speaking of cheese, Bothwell cheese is made right here in Manitoba and Sobey’s proudly supports as many local suppliers as possible.  Sobey’s has a special cooler placed at the end of a row, chock full of all the Bothwell varieties.  Bothwell’s Black Truffle cheese is my favourite-what is yours?  I also saw Pioneer Farmer Sausage and Winnipeg Old County deli meats on display.  My Dad would have been so happy, he used to go directly to Winnipeg Old Country in the north end to pick up our fresh meat every Saturday morning.

I had a very difficult time walking through the bakery section without making too many purchases.  In spite of my temptation to pick up one of their exquisitely designed fruit flans, I opted instead for a loaf of artisan bread.

I decided to tear off a chunk of the Cranberry Pumpkin Seed Bread on the way home.  The traffic was slower that I had anticipated, so I tore off another, and then another….  Suffice it to say, I can highly recommend this particular artisan loaf.  They are all baked in store throughout the day using naturally fermented ingredients and no preservatives.

There is a huge section of the store dubbed the “Natural Source” section.  The shelves were full of all those ingredients that you typically find at a health food store.  I was blown away by the number of quinoa based foods that were contained here as well as gluten free products.

In addition, there were mini sections on almost every aisle which bowed out from the flat shelves and were marked: “Better food means better ingredients”.  These special shelves contained items that I would usually have to travel to a specialty store to purchase; brands like Garafalo pasta and Ghiradelli chocolate.  I was super impressed with their extensive ethnic sections: Italian, Asian and Mexican.  We love to dine out at ethnic restaurants but even more, we love to travel to foreign places.  With Sobey’s extensive line of ingredients, we can cook at home and save up for our next travel adventure.

Although I could not linger and order lunch to sit down with, there were many other shoppers taking advantage of this opportunity at the little cafe there.  I had my eye on the chicken stone oven pizza, so next time, I will plan accordingly.

I have always preferred Shopping at Sobey’s, from the moment that I get out of the car in their spacious parking lots, not having to fish for a coin for a cart, having more than enough cashiers open and staffed and not having to bag my own groceries!

In addition, I spied that there was a spacious customer service counter that was not being used as an overflow check out.  There were two family style washrooms and even special motorized carts for persons with disabilities.  I have concluded that when Sobey’s claims that their goal is “Better food for all”, they don’t just mean that they offer fresher, purer food, it means that they are doing everything possible to make access to that food easier and affordable to every walk of life.

Kath’s quote:

Love-that is all.

 

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