Strictly Bulk

I’ve been coming here for the past few years, and you know what — I love this place. They always have fresh and reasonably priced spices. Other items are new. Nothing is dusty. I think they made my day today for two more reasons, not that you need to be a parent yourself or have a dog in your life… They helped me with the door, like they ALWAYS do. I don’t know if the manager or owner has had their fair share with store doors and a stroller, but it’s like a guardian angel or just anyone, is always around to help me get in and out (so long as the person is free to). Secondly, and this was just icing on the cake, it was a particularly hot day today (heat wave week)… someone noticed my dog, and had the heart to bring out some cold water for him. It’s humbling for me to have any of the awesome staff or fellow patrons (or manager or owner in disguise), help myself, my littles ones, and now my dog, too, out.
Thumbs up!

Having a place like this in the neighborhood is so convenient. I usually duck in for my missing dry ingredients as they have a great selection and variety of nuts, flour, spices, dried fruit, coffee etc. We’ll priced in my opinion. They also sell some dairy products and other healthfood /​healthcare items. There’s a ‘café’ feel about it because even though there’s one table and chair by the window to accommodate one customer it still enhances the ambience of the store. Love it.

The prices here are pretty stellar, particularly for staples like oatmeal and flour (all varieties). I also love the option of buying small amounts of items on an as-​needed basis (hello spices). This place is on my list of weekly stops and it’s saving me $$.
I recently purchased a few cups of dried apricots, five cups of oatmeal, two cups of chocolate chips, few tablespoons of garam masala and cayenne, few cups of sesame snacks, four cups or so of brown rice, couple cups of honey and a cup of almond flour for under $ 20. That’s with honey and almond flour!
They’ll also do tares if you want to bring in your own containers from home.
Only thing — the coffee. I got the house blend bean, just once, but I wasn’t a fan. Seemed bitter/​dry. I might give another blend a try, but coffee just may not be their strong point.

This place was my favourite discovery after moving into the area in July. It has everything and is always inspiring me to try different things… kamut pasta, pepitas, and saffron, oh my!

Cheap. Has a lot of what I need.

Wow! I was on my way to a job interview when I noticed a Strickly Bulk location on Danforth Avenue. I decided to drop in, as I needed to kill some time and I am always in the market for protein powder and nutritional yeast.
Layout: lots of plastic bins and scoops. I’m loving that the prices are clearly labeled and marked on the front of the bins. What’s even more impressive is the selection — two kinds of nutritional yeast — the cheapy stuff and the premium stuff! The selection is mostly staple foods (like different spices, flours, and nuts), with an emphasis on «health» foods like nutritional yeast, gluten free flours, and other speciality foods.
Selection: They also carry an impressive amount of protein powders and shakes. Best of all is the little protein powder packets that you can purchase — try ‘em before you commit yourself to a giant tub! For the bulk selection — there is mostly flours, spices, nuts, and cookies!
Price: Price is on the cheap side — of course, bulk is always pretty cheap! I scored half a bag of nutritional yeast for less than fifty cents!
Locations: There are three locations. One near Danforth and Pape Avenue, one near Ossington, and another at the other end of Bloor Street. Pretty nifty — and pretty good for walking, bus, and any other form of locomotion!
Highly recommended — less soul killing than Bulk Barn!

Cheap coffee, nuts, and dried fruits. Super cheap dairy as well. If you’re feeling broke, their drip coffee is pretty good and they let you refill for free! Only hitch is getting the single sunny table in the window. It’s an early bird’s game…

I stumbled upon this store one afternoon while walking home from the subway and was literally aghast that such a store was so close to my apartment and I hadn’t known about it. I immediately stepped in to browse and probably made a few rounds of the store before filling up on brown rice, nutritional yeast, dish washing soap and rice crackers.
The variety of bulk items is extensive enough that I’ve never not found an item. And don’t get me started on the prices! I buy my Almond Milk by the case ($ 20) and that usually lasts me 10 weeks.
If I had to compare it to somewhere I’d say it’s a Bloordale-​Bulk version of Essence of Life/​Tutti Fruitti. I’m in love!

Love this place. The staff are a great bunch of kids and I can get all my favourite healthy (and not so healthy) snacks. Also great to pop in and pour yourself a nice fresh brewed coffee.
Also an excellent source of diverse culinary staple ingredients from around the globe.

Thanks to Unilocal,I have found the Bulk store of my dreams! And steps away from my fave subway station too! (Ok, well maybe not my fave, but at least my home subway station. It is too smelly to be a fave anything.)
Yesterday it was time to make my granola. I was all out. But it was also Sunday morning and I was missing a few key ingredients, like dried fruit and nuts. I knew I needed a bulk store, and one that was open on a Sunday morning at that. I thought I was SOL, but Unilocal found me Strictly Bulk, and I headed there stat.
The place is very clean, the staff nice but not intrusive, and they had everything I needed and then some! It’s a small place, but they keep everything organized and tidy. I found everything on my list plus some extras while avoiding the really dangerous for me stuff like candy.
Finally, this place is a real bargain. I love bulk places because you can get exactly the amount you want and this one is really well priced!

Great for all your health food/​baking needs. Their prices are actually pretty good. I used to work in a health food store and so i always am comparing prices… and they are actually similar; most things are cheaper then the average health food/​organic store (think Whole Foods, Noahs, Evergreen, etc) but some things are at average or more expensive.
There is typical bulk food; flour, quinoa, oats (and some organic options), as well as soy milk, tea, coffee, honey, Clif/​Luna/​Lara bars, St. John’s, Black River products and etc.
The staff are always friendly. I would recommend the store!

Strictly Bulk is very much like the «Bulk Barn» except much smaller and independently owned.
Pricewise, it’s awesome. I come here for all my cooking and baking supplies. Nothing like having fresh spices at hand instead of using the shit that’s been sitting in your cupboard since 1985. You can buy small quantities of spices and they end up costing $ 0.50 or so. So basically it’s the perfect place to go when you have a new recipe to try out but don’t want to spend $ 25 at the grocery store on all the obscure ingredients.
Besides spices, they have nuts, candy, cereal, various flours, dried fruits, legumes. They also carry a lot of packaged and canned foods of mostly organic brands.

They could film an urban dating show in this place.
Everyone seems to be either a young hot hipster or a deranged under-​medicated lunatic. The human mix is superb.
You would think that the breakdown is based on item-selection…Some people just inherently like the quinoa and soy beans, others come in for the sugar-​coated-​jelly-​candies and pop-​rocks.
But it’s actually much more of a complex social experiment than that. It seems that people shop here based on their mood of the moment. You can tell that Julie is lonely because she’s stocking up on the bigger chunks of dark chocolate. You can tell that Billy is feeling adventurous because of his bag full of wasabi peas is particularly large this morning.
Whatever the case, they have it all. all the time. And the bins are kept full, the staff is always smiling and the place just feels human.
Bonus points for the outstanding choice of veggie «food» in the back.
The place just rocks.

It’s a bulk store, what else do I have to say? It’s not like you got a lot of options in the area. I mean do you want to bulk or not? Of course you do, who wouldn’t? Well you’re in luck, because this is a great little place to bulk up.
They have a large selection of all things bulk; spices, nuts, pasta’s, cereals, baking necessities, you name it. The staff is friendly, the store is kept clean and the bins are generally always full. You can’t hope for much better then that. There’s even a little place at the front to sit down and enjoy a cup of coffee.
If coffee is your thing, I’d recommend grabbing their House Blend, it’s really good. I’m also a big fan of the Red Roasted Pepper humus they sell and I feel like it’s the cheapest place in the city to grab Almond Milk.
This is all hearsay though, you don’t need any convincing. In fact, you really should have stopped reading after I said «bulk».

Doesn’t have the enormous never-​ending selection of Bulk Barn but still has most of the things you could want. It’s cheap and friendly with a range of healthy stuff and treats. Staff are friendly and have that bizarre ability to recognise random items thrown into a little plastic bag and get the price right.
If the shopping has worn you out, they have a little seated section by the window and serve coffee. It seems like people from the neighbourhood are regulars-it’s really relaxed and friendly.
Tip: if you like Clif and Lara bars, it’s one of the cheapest places to buy them and also has a good selection (including my possibly favourite-​Maple Nut). Clif bars are $ 1.39 here and you can buy by the box if you like :-)

I love strictly bulk!
The staff are friendly and playful. The store itself feels less cramped than many other bulk stores — perhaps because half the aisles are lined with waist high bins rather than towering shelves. And it’s a short bike ride from my house.
They have the cheapest almond meal I’ve seen anywhere in town (regularly 6.49/lb, it’s been on ‘sale’ for weeks at 5.99/lb — woot!), but their stock of other non-​wheat flours is not as comprehensive as it could be (I found brown and white rice flour, but that’s it). That’s ok. I still heart them.

Strictly Bulk is a regular stop on my weekly grocery shopping trips. I pick up all my nuts, seeds, rice, and baking supplies here. They also have tahini and honey behind the cash. The quality is top notch, the prices are good, and it’s nice to not have to waste all the packaging that comes with prepackaged items. Once you buy nuts at a bulk store you’ll never go back to buying prepackaged, stale crap at the grocery store.
My only complaint is that they could have a better selection of dried beans. I usually end up going to Little India for my lentils instead.
Pro Tip: Bring your own containers. They’ll weight them for you when you first come in, then subtract the weight of the container when you pay.

Whoever invented bulk shopping had the right idea. It’s weird how I go about my life, acting as though it does not exist.
It seems like a good (far better than Dominion– excuse me, «Metro») place to buy things like nuts and dried fruits and candy, were I so inclined (I am not, to that last one). Their walnuts were on sale nearly two dollars off the pound. And I got some «white» popcorn and I think I am going to start buying my spices here, too. Times are tough, after all.
I hung around, taking my own damn time, more than five minutes after they closed, unbeknownst to me. The girl laughed a little when I tried to remember the bin numbers off the top of my head (I couldn’t and didn’t have to) and when I sort of dropped my stuff (I was carrying a lot of bags), and profusely apologized for overstaying my welcome. But she let me take my own damn time, so it’s ai-​ight.
I think I may have just entered my bulk years.

Strictly Bulk is a godsend for the terribly grocery-​deprived Bloorcourt area. If you live here, and you aren’t looking to go to one of the half dozen butchers shops or Shoppers’, you will find this store very useful indeed.
The store carries everything from organic laundry soap to bulk candy (whoo!). Despite the name, they do carry a few non-​bulk and prepackaged items, including my beloved Fontaine Sante hummus.
The prices are more than competitive, and they beat out the bulk sections of some of the large grocery stores nearby (such as No Frills at Dufferin Mall or the Sobeys at Ossington and Dupont). You’ll never want to buy steel cut oats at Whole Foods again!
The savings are definitely there, whether you are buying for a large family or just one person. You aren’t paying for packaging, marketing, etc. One time, for fun, I compared my bag of whole salted almonds to the prepackaged brand at Shoppers, and the price came out to nearly three dollars more per pound (!) if I had purchased the Life brand. And they were on sale! Spices are another incredible savings, if you only need a few tablespoons of something for one recipe you will pay pennies on the dollar with nothing left to lose its potency while it collects dust in your cabinet for months or years.
The staff is very friendly and helpful. They will always check to make sure that they are charging the correct price for your items. I noticed tonight that they just put their staff holiday stockings up, so if you’re a regular try to show them some love! There are plenty of people who love this place so much they seem to hang out at the tables up front drinking coffee all the time!
Watch out for their limited weekend hours, I have been mid-​recipe cooking Sunday dinner and popped over only to have forgotten that they close at 5pm.
Recommended buys: Fontaine Sante dips, handmade face and body soaps, veggie pâté, grind-​it-​yourself coffee (I like the Turkish kind). Best value is in spices and staples (rice, beans, etc).
Needs some work: Very small cheese/​refrigerated selection, not the most kid-​friendly store — today I saw a little boy accidentally spill about a quarter pound of pasta on the floor, and I watched in horrified anticipation as he gathered it together if he was going to take it to the trash can or put it back in the bin. He ended up listening to his mom and left it for the cashiers to clean up.

This was one of my first discoveries upon moving into the Bloorcourt hood!
I have always loved bulk food stores, and Strictly Bulk did not disappoint. It contains bins upon bins of your usual bulk food contents; cereals, pastas, spices and chocolate covered almonds :) !
As well, you will find a fridge full of organic dairy products and shelves of other organic goods. There are some packaged foods here, so not everything is sold in bulk, and when you are done shopping, a tiny café at the front of the store is a good rest-​spot for people watching with a coffee and a paper.