Shopping: Aliments Merci!

A friend of mine asked me the other day how many shops I have to go to to be able to make anything and the truth is that I usually have to hit up at least 2 places. However, that is about the same as it was before I was gluten and dairy free! I love the way I can shop here in Montreal - to the butcher for meat, a fishmonger for seafood,ethnic foods from ethnic markets, and fruit and veg from another vendor all together. Don't get me wrong, there are days when having a Metro grocer on the way home from work means the difference between something cooked and take out or delivery. I would simply prefer supporting small businesses and purchasing from shops dedicated to whatever it is I am wanting to buy. That I am also able to do that with shops that cater to gluten and dairy free options, and not just one shop or even one chain, makes my life so much easier!

One of the first shops I ever found and then turned to after having changed everything over was Aliments Merci. Open since 1995, they are dedicated to bringing healthy foods and products from both local and global sources to their clients, with an outlook on health and well being for both humans and the planet we are on.

The website says that they only have 4 shops plus the warehouse (which is open to the public) but I don't think that they've updated it in a while (and it is only in French) because one of the 2 shops I go to regularly isn't listed. Both the Jean Talon and the Atwater markets have outlets, though the Jean Talon is a larger retail space and carries more products. NOTE: I have recently learned that the place I visit in the Atwater market is Not an Aliments Merci, but Le Marche du Vrac. Sorry for any confusion, and it looks like I'll get to talk about them a bit, later!

I prefer to purchase my flours in bulk when I can, and while they carry bags already measured out, you can order larger (!) quantities from the warehouse which you can then pick up either directly or from one of the shops. They have a fairly impressive selection of dairy free alternatives, as well as meat-free choices, spices, cereals, dried legumes and bean, oils, vinegars, teas, snacks, pastas..... Really, the list is fairly extensive! They also carry a nice aray of cleaning supplies as well as beauty products and they also bring in new products fairly regularly, or at least it seems so to me with the little one at the Atwater Market, which seems to have a somewhat larger selection of higher ticket items (like imported oils and vinegars, spices and gourmet treats).

 

Aliments Merci is able to offer to its clients a wide range of products, for those with and without food restrictions alike, at pretty reasonable prices. Even though I now know of many other shops where I can find what I am looking for, I still go back every time I hit up the market, if only to go look at all the pretty packages, and just to see what I can find.