Tag Archives: Toronto Supplier

Spice Girls Are Not the Headliner Anymore!

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If you’re an avid baker, you may have realized that there is a worldwide shortage of vanilla beans. Not only is the price of supply skyrocketing, but it’s also making it difficult to find good quality beans. Since my wife had a recipe that required several vanilla beans, I went on a search looking for beans at a reasonable price. During my research, I came across a store that I used to be familiar with when I lived downtown. House of Spice located in Kensington Market in Toronto on Augusta Avenue.

I called up to find out if they had the product I was looking for, and much to my surprise, they stocked a few different varieties of the bean. The most popular is the Madagascar vanilla bean and while other places quoted as much as $12.00 a bean, House of Spice was selling them for $6.95. My wife and I decided to go down there to check out the quality. Much to her excitement, the beans were fresh and of high quality!

While we were there, my wife started looking around and found a number of different and unique ingredients that she had been searching for. Items like pickling salt, Ethiopian spices, and several different types of coffee were all right there, tucked into the little store. In addition to the wide selection of products and reasonable prices, perhaps what was just as important, if not more, was that the staff were extremely friendly and very knowledgeable.

When it comes to something like simple salt and pepper (this store had 4 different varieties of specialty sea salt and truffle salt!) you don’t need an expert, but with other products you need someone who understands what they are for, and how they should be stored. The employees at House of Spice were helpful, and clearly know their business! Although it is a small store, they manage to stock a lot of different items, so I would plan on browsing the shelves. In fact, why not make an afternoon of it? There are lots of other food stores in the neighbourhood, as well as great restaurants to grab a bite.

House of Spice is definitely a worthwhile place to check out for anyone interested. Enjoy your cooking and shopping and remember to invite me for dinner!

House of Spice
416-593-9724
http://www.ehouseofspice.com

 

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Awards to the Awards People at North York Trophies:

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Some Trophies available for purchase from North York Trophies

In all the time I’ve been writing this blog, I’ve neglected to mention a supplier to SQM, and one of my favourite companies to deal with.

For many years, long-serving employees at SQM achieve a special acknowledgement when they hit milestone anniversaries, such as the five and ten-year mark. To celebrate these occasions, the employees not only receive a special gift, but we’ve also awarded them a plaque for being with us for five years, and an engraved crystal for ten years of service.

SQM has been in business for 24 years and since the beginning, I’ve looked no further than North York Trophies for all of my awards needs. In fact, my relationship with them precedes SQM, when I was involved in several sports leagues where athletes would periodically receive awards.

I still remember one of my first visits, when the employee took down the information, asked me about the player, and called me when it was ready. At the time, I had someone else go and pick it up for me, but then a few days later, it dawned on me that I never actually paid for it. When I called the store, the employee told me he had no way of contacting me but was confident that I’d call back to settle up.

Putting aside the quality of their merchandise, the trust factor that they extended was the beginning of a great relationship! I’ve always enjoyed working with companies who put the customer’s needs first, instead of focusing on getting a deposit or being paid upfront. Since that first visit, they’ve always been more concerned with meeting my needs and dealing with the payment after.

Though a few people have changed over the years, thankfully, most things at the business have remained the same. I’m not sure the name does them justice, as they have a lot of variety when it comes to products, their prices are competitive, and the workmanship is of high quality.

And the winner for outstanding trophies and awards goes to……….. North York Trophies!

North York Trophies
905-886-2900
www.northyorktrophies.com

 

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