/
1x
Advertisement
Proudly Canadian, obsessively Toronto. Subscribe to Toronto Life!
Food & Drink

Inside Toronto’s first Farm Boy, Etobicoke’s new 20,000-square-foot supermarket

By Renée Suen
Copy link
Inside Toronto's first Farm Boy, Etobicoke's new 20,000-square-foot supermarket
Photo by Renée Suen

More New Supermarkets

Inside Nations Experience, a 155,000-square-foot supermarket with an arcade, a playground and all-day dim sum
Food & Drink

Inside Nations Experience, a 155,000-square-foot supermarket with an arcade, a playground and all-day dim sum

The company that started as a family-owned produce stand 35 years ago in Cornwall just opened a 20,000-square-foot store in Etobicoke. It’s Farm Boy’s 25th location, but the first in Toronto—though up to 15 GTA and Golden Horseshoe locations are in the works, including one at Lakeshore Blvd. E. and Leslie. We stopped by on opening day to see what’s quite literally in store for Farm Boy shoppers, including goods from more than 100 local producers and over 500 of Farm Boy’s private label products.

Farm Boy’s newest store is located in the Shoppes of Alderwood plaza at Brown’s Line and Evans Avenue:

Inside Toronto's first Farm Boy, Etobicoke's new 20,000-square-foot supermarket
Photo by Renée Suen

Farm Boy’s mascot, Lulu the Cow, was there to greet customers on opening day:

Inside Toronto's first Farm Boy, Etobicoke's new 20,000-square-foot supermarket

There’s a sizable produce section:

Inside Toronto's first Farm Boy, Etobicoke's new 20,000-square-foot supermarket

Part of it is dedicated to organic produce:

Advertisement
Inside Toronto's first Farm Boy, Etobicoke's new 20,000-square-foot supermarket

Here’s the berry wall:

Inside Toronto's first Farm Boy, Etobicoke's new 20,000-square-foot supermarket

Farm Boy–branded paper bags feature specially priced fresh produce. Last week they were filled with Pink Lady apples and roma tomatoes:

Inside Toronto's first Farm Boy, Etobicoke's new 20,000-square-foot supermarket

Shoppers can enjoy free samples from the store’s various vendors:

Inside Toronto's first Farm Boy, Etobicoke's new 20,000-square-foot supermarket

Shelves are stocked with the brand’s own small-batch private label products:

Inside Toronto's first Farm Boy, Etobicoke's new 20,000-square-foot supermarket

Here are a bunch of the brand’s own sauces and dressings:

Advertisement
Inside Toronto's first Farm Boy, Etobicoke's new 20,000-square-foot supermarket

And spices:

Inside Toronto's first Farm Boy, Etobicoke's new 20,000-square-foot supermarket

The brand’s number one seller is their lemon-garlic dressing:

Inside Toronto's first Farm Boy, Etobicoke's new 20,000-square-foot supermarket

In the snack aisle, fan favourites include Farm Boy’s double-baked pita crackers...

Inside Toronto's first Farm Boy, Etobicoke's new 20,000-square-foot supermarket

...and Farm Boy’s tortilla chips that are made using a recipe from Tamazula, Mexico:

Inside Toronto's first Farm Boy, Etobicoke's new 20,000-square-foot supermarket

Farm Boy’s motto is proudly displayed above their bulk candy display:

Advertisement
Inside Toronto's first Farm Boy, Etobicoke's new 20,000-square-foot supermarket

Farm Boy’s executive chef Josh Drache shares that the milk chocolate–covered, double-roasted almonds are sold in small portions because they’re so addictive. The 43-degree-roasted nuts have a thin, customized Callebaut chocolate coating:

Inside Toronto's first Farm Boy, Etobicoke's new 20,000-square-foot supermarket

Where’s the beef? Here, most likely:

Inside Toronto's first Farm Boy, Etobicoke's new 20,000-square-foot supermarket

Customers will find suggested Farm Boy private label products nearby for meal prep solutions, like jars of fermented garlic flowers. (Drache thinks they’re great with steak.)

Inside Toronto's first Farm Boy, Etobicoke's new 20,000-square-foot supermarket

Head to the butcher counter for cuts of meat, and organic and specialty meat items...

Inside Toronto's first Farm Boy, Etobicoke's new 20,000-square-foot supermarket

... including 10 varieties of house-made sausages:

Advertisement
Inside Toronto's first Farm Boy, Etobicoke's new 20,000-square-foot supermarket

Popular ready-to-cook items include seasoned and flattened chicken, gourmet burger patties...

Inside Toronto's first Farm Boy, Etobicoke's new 20,000-square-foot supermarket

...and these stuffed, Ontario-grown portobello mushroom caps:

Inside Toronto's first Farm Boy, Etobicoke's new 20,000-square-foot supermarket

The seafood counter carries sustainable seafood, including some pre-marinated stuff:

Inside Toronto's first Farm Boy, Etobicoke's new 20,000-square-foot supermarket

The refrigerated section is stocked with house-made sauces and dips, salads and 18 varieties of soup:

Inside Toronto's first Farm Boy, Etobicoke's new 20,000-square-foot supermarket

In addition to locally made ice creams (the ones pictured are from London) there will be cocktail-flavoured freeze pops for sale this summer:

Advertisement
Inside Toronto's first Farm Boy, Etobicoke's new 20,000-square-foot supermarket

There is also a section for vegan products and supplements, including some from local vendors like Live and Nona:

Inside Toronto's first Farm Boy, Etobicoke's new 20,000-square-foot supermarket

The cheese counter has over 400 kinds of cheese, including the store’s own small-batch aged cheddar (unfortunately sold out for the season) and popular house-made cheese balls:

Inside Toronto's first Farm Boy, Etobicoke's new 20,000-square-foot supermarket

Fresh cheese curds from St. Albert are delivered daily:

Inside Toronto's first Farm Boy, Etobicoke's new 20,000-square-foot supermarket

The salad bar has over 60 freshly prepared ingredients from the store, including produce, meat and seafood, all priced by weight ($2.19 for 100 grams). “In our store, the number one supplier of our kitchen is our produce department; our number two supplier is the meat department. We’re all customers of each other,” says Drache:

Inside Toronto's first Farm Boy, Etobicoke's new 20,000-square-foot supermarket

Here are just some of the mix-ins:

Advertisement
Inside Toronto's first Farm Boy, Etobicoke's new 20,000-square-foot supermarket

Meats in the salad bar include chicken, Atlantic salmon and nitrate-free roast beef:

Inside Toronto's first Farm Boy, Etobicoke's new 20,000-square-foot supermarket

The hot counter offers a bunch of prepared things that could include butter chicken, vegan curry, bison shepherd’s pie, Farm Boy’s ever-popular jalapeño cream cheese won tons, and rotating features (last month was Italian, this month is all about Spain):

Inside Toronto's first Farm Boy, Etobicoke's new 20,000-square-foot supermarket

March’s Taste of Spain menu includes arroz a la Española (Spanish rice), pisto manchego con pollo (stewed vegetable with chicken) and fabes con cerdo (pork and beans stew):

Inside Toronto's first Farm Boy, Etobicoke's new 20,000-square-foot supermarket

Wood-fired pizzas are made to order in an Italian stone pizza oven, using the brand’s own tomato sauce and other products from the store. The pies take four minutes to bake, and start at $7.99:

Inside Toronto's first Farm Boy, Etobicoke's new 20,000-square-foot supermarket

There’s also a sushi station and a deli counter stocked with daily-made sandwiches and wraps, which can be toasted:

Advertisement
Inside Toronto's first Farm Boy, Etobicoke's new 20,000-square-foot supermarket

At the stir fry station, shoppers can build their own bowl using their choice of produce, protein (chicken, beef, shrimp, tofu), starch (brown rice, white rice, rice noodles) and sauce:

Inside Toronto's first Farm Boy, Etobicoke's new 20,000-square-foot supermarket

Customers will find European-style breads, tart squares, sticky toffee pudding, and more, in the bakery:

Inside Toronto's first Farm Boy, Etobicoke's new 20,000-square-foot supermarket

Including Farm Boy’s house-made loaves in flavours like lemon-thyme and banana-chocolate:

Inside Toronto's first Farm Boy, Etobicoke's new 20,000-square-foot supermarket

The drink aisle stocks Farm Boy’s own private-label soda, organic kombucha and fresh-pressed juices (the newest line includes a charcoal-infused one). Beer and cider are coming soon:

Inside Toronto's first Farm Boy, Etobicoke's new 20,000-square-foot supermarket

A section near the checkout counters has tables and seating for those who would rather dine in:

Advertisement
Inside Toronto's first Farm Boy, Etobicoke's new 20,000-square-foot supermarket

Farm Boy’s executive chef Josh Drache (shown here high-fiving Carolyn Trudel, director of PR and market development) says that Farm Boy’s goal is to share their love of great food:

Inside Toronto's first Farm Boy, Etobicoke's new 20,000-square-foot supermarket

And here’s where you part with your money:

Inside Toronto's first Farm Boy, Etobicoke's new 20,000-square-foot supermarket

841 Brown’s Line Rd., 416-253-9379, farmboy.ca

NEVER MISS A TORONTO LIFE STORY

Sign up for Table Talk, our free newsletter with essential food and drink stories.

By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy.
You may unsubscribe at any time.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Advertisement
Advertisement

Big Stories

Inside the Latest Issue

The May issue of Toronto Life features the artists, professors, scientists and other luminaries moving north to avoid the carnage of Trump. Plus, our obsessive coverage of everything that matters now in the city.