Kin’s Farm Market – Champlain Square

Produce is generally of good quality. One of the few places in the city where on can get local produce such as strawberries in the summer as well as local English peas. Prices are good when there is a sale on the items you need, otherwise certain items can be a bit higher than elsewhere.

One of the better Kin’s around. Produce tends to be very good in general. They do lack some staple produce times which is odd. I guess you have to go to Independent Grocers. Prices are starting to creep up. Many locations closing down.

Not the cheapest place around.
Don’t buy the box fruit, open and have the many staff around to pack in a smaller case and then you can pick out the old and rotten berries, etc.
Bought some grapes and other than the top ones, all the others are all over wipe.
The $ 1 items are good deal. Today, got a 3lb bag of cooking onions for $ 1.
Be careful if you are looking for ginger, the expensive ORGANIC ginger are pretty and loose, and the regular ginger are in packs and usually looks old and dry. Go to your neighbourhood greengrocer to get cheaper and fresher ginger.
They used to be good but lately I find the fruits at Kins are similar to Safeway — old and expensive.
You can find exotic veggies there but I would suggest Granville Island for cheaper price.

Usually a good place to shop for your fresh veggies and fruits but very lacklustre customer service. Generally only a single cashier on duty so be prepared to wait. More specifically, I returned some green beans that I purchased the day previously as they had mildew and were starting to rot. After waiting 10 minutes for the manager (other staff were not prepared to assist) he first told me to get a new bag (not bloody likely as they were all in a similar condition). Eventually I got a store credit. No apology from the sour faced manager and altogether a disagreeable experience. The beans were still for sale in even worse condition the next day!

This place is great. If you are taking the bus, the 49 drops you off right in front of Champlain Mall.
It’s clean, the produce is very fresh, and the prices are as good as you would find in any little discount produce market. Often better. ex. bags of 4 avocados for 2 $, lettuce for 79 cents, «personal» watermelons for 2.50 each.
It’s not a huge store, but they have a great selection. They take cash, credit or debit, which is great. I like the bags too, they are clear and hold a lot.

Good place to go if you’re in a rush & don’t want to go all the way inside Whole Foods on the other side.
A bit more expensive, but you know it’s fresh & better quality.
Like how it’s right at the corner inside this plaza so parking’s convenient.

This is a neighborhood staple that is my go-​to place for preparing wonderful healthy dishes.
Quality: The freshness here definitely sets them apart from similar places and big-​name places like Extra Foods across the parking lot. First they present each item beautifully. The produce are washed. ie. white button mushrooms — these are WHITE. Spinach — there isn’t mounds of dirt wedged in between the leaves. Farm fresh produce that makes me feel good to serve people.
Prices: very competitive. I usually walk out of the store with a full bag of fruits and veggies that only cost me $ 20 or less. Sometimes Extra Foods sales will beat them in prices, but the quality just isn’t as good as Kin’s.
Service: the people here actually look like they enjoy their work. Beautiful piano music plays in the background.
Cleanliness: Spot on. There is rarely produce on the ground. The produce is full of volume and vibrant colors. I have yet to see yellowed wilted greens or moldy rotten items on the sale shelves. The only time I’ve seen rotten stuff is on the clearance rack in the back. They try their best to throw away anything bad.

I’ve always shopped on the Drive even though it was a little out of the way for me ’cause I am all about the cheap fruit and veggies.
I was suggested to hit up a Kin’s market by the guy I am dating who shares and sympathizes with my financial culinary pain when it comes to produce.
This location of Kin’s is located in Champlain Heights, right by the mall which is a 15 minute walk from my place… very close by.
The only problem with it being within walking distance is that the past two times I’ve walked in and walked out with two heavy bags which slows down my commute returning home. Yesterday I couldn’t help myself when walking home with yet again, two filled large bags. I ate some of the awesome fresh produce in attempts to lighten the loud, however, it didn’t help much.
Fruit pains aside, I scored two large bags of awesome fruit for $ 15. There are always deals such as 3 mangos for $ 5 or cherry tomatoes for $ 2 for a good size portion etc.
I find their selection to be better than Extra Foods in the same complex.
I appreciate that there are samples to try before purchasing. This is important to me since most of the fruit is used in cupcakes as sweetness determines my sugar ratio in baking.
My favourite part about Kin’s is that you can get a whole plate of pre-​cut fruit, a very large amount for $ 3.99 = 4 cups.
If you look in the discount section, you can get mad discounts on fruit that are still good, however, only have a few days in their life span. I make purees out of this used in baking and in sauces. You can also cut and freeze these for later use. I bought 4 peaches for $ 1 yesterday and froze the chunks for a peach cream cupcake.
The service is friendly and like another fellow Unilocaler expressed, since it is in my neighbourhood, it’s easy to strike a conversation with others.
I appreciate this more than farmer’s markets.

Yes for produce! This place is über convenient and they usually have a lot of variety year round and seasonal. They provide samples on occasion for some of their produce. It’s funny to see kids gobbling down more than their share of free strawberry samples or slightly homeless looking people get their free fruit lunch for the day (I swear this happened one day, an older lady that looked slightly disheveled, went to all the freebie samples and ate like half of them, they must have been super delicious! I stayed away from them of course, you never know!)
Prices and quality are reasonably good, and I always have extra foods nearby if there is something that isn’t bang for my buck at kin’s.
The workers and patrons are friendly and it’s in my neighborhood, where you can easily strike up a conversation with a stranger. Oh, there have been a many conversations at this place for me, mostly remarks about the quality of the produce and how to select the perfect melon mind you, but none the less friendly conversation.
I always feel healthier having just visited this market, what could be more health promoting than produce!
St3Fin

I love their fruit samples! It’s like going to a farmers market. Not only does it make me more likely to buy, free food makes for a very happy Steph :) They even had a guy blanching some corn outside and giving out samples. It was some of the sweetest corn I’ve ever tasted.
Compared to the nearby Extra Foods, Kin’s has a much larger selection and you can tell they put a lot more care into their produce from the way they are carefully stacked. The quality tends to be better too. Prices are a little steeper here, but most of the time it’s worth it. Last time I was here I bought figs, blueberries, strawberries, cherry tomatoes, heirloom tomatoes, and basil.
I also love that they label where the produce comes from. I try to buy local when I can to support BC farmers. Having moved to California, it just seems wrong to buy produce from Cali when I’m back home in Vancouver. (Though it also seems wrong that local strawberries were more than twice the price of California strawberries…)

Definitely beats the pants off of Extra Foods for selection and pricing. Not to mention it’s pretty much got a monopoly in the neighbourhood seeing as nothing else is around that even offers the amount of produce and fresh fruit they do.
Parking can be a bit of a pain, but if you live within walking distance it’s the best place to shop.
Lines are efficient and the produce rotates quick here, which I really like. Fresh is great.