Blossom Pure
Located at 714 Lakeshore E, just east of Lakeshore & Cawthra in Mississauga, owned by a Syrian arab.
I have just discovered this place yesterday. Will be visiting in a couple of days to get a feel of it. Online reviews are positive and encouraging especially about service and price.
Re: Organic halal meat and produce in Mississauga
Thank you Decent6Chora for reminding me to update this thread :)
So i've been to this place a couple of times already. Here's my feel of it so far.
About
The owner's name is Fahim. He has established a network of amish, mennonite and just organic farms around Ontario. Himself and people hired by him travel to these farms to zabihah (slaughter) animals.
Prices
Prices of meat are, as expected for organic, 2-3x more than prices at regular desi stores. Boneless chicken breast for example is $15 / lb as opposed to $5 / lb at a regular desi meat shop. Chicken leg piece is $5 / lb as opposed to $1.75 / lb at a regular meat shop. Ground beef is $5 / lb as opposed to $2.25 / lb elsewhere (lean ground beef is like $8-$9 / lb).
Hygeine
The shop is very well maintained and very clean. Julia, the girl at the counter is very informative and very happy to explain everything. If there is a question that she doesn't know the answer to she will not just make up an answer but will promise to find out for you.
Customer Experience
Since there is not much traffic at the store they are able to give more time to every customer. They portioned off the meat i got (per approximate meal serving) and vaccum sealed it.
ETC
Since this is organic meat it is not always in ready supply. If there is anything specific you want it is always best to call ahead and find out if they have it.
You have to really know your meats and how you want to have it cut. I found a bit of a learning curve in how to order the meat. Maybe it's because i'm used to the desi type of buying meat and this shop has nothing desi about it.
Apart from meat and dairy they have a range of other organic products such as honey, dried fruit, lentils and a lot more products.
So damn expensive!
Yes, it is. But that is the price of real, un-fillered, un-hormoned, un-injected, un-antibiotic'd all natural honest to goodness meat. This is the real price of food. What we are used to right now is garbage and so we pay rock bottom prices for garbage.
50 years ago a chicken dinner was a big deal which not everyone could afford. Now chicken is cheap and accessible to everyone. Not because things have gotten better and magically chicken has become cheap for everyone. But because what we eat today is less chicken than the chicken that was available 50 years ago.
Prices of gas are going up and we're having to ration our budgets to afford the high prices. This can be considered similarly. This is not impossible to afford, but you have to ration your budget and ration consumption.
This is all i can think of right now, more coming later!
Re: Organic halal meat and produce in Mississauga
**thank you for the info.
i'm always skeptical about those vendors who claim what they sell labeled as organic is 'really' organic. i watched a show on TVOnatario which talked about these claims. the bottom line, according to them, is that since this industry is NOT regulated by Government or any of it's agencies so one who buys these products must be aware of some of the unscrupulous vendors.**
Re: Organic halal meat and produce in Mississauga
Do they feed the animals with growth hormones? i.e. egg one day, chick 2nd day, chicken 3rd day?
Re: Organic halal meat and produce in Mississauga
True this isn't a regulated industry yet. But this is one of those things that there's people, the amish for example, who have been doing already regardless of the process being regulated or not. Halal meat isn't fully regulated by the government either yet we stuff our faces with meat from shops that simply slap a halal sticker on their window.
Even the strictest regulations won't ensure you're getting what you're told you're getting. You have to do your homework always. The good news in this case is that this is a one-off operation run by one man who is very accessible in person or by phone. You have questions you pick up the phone and call him. From my experience talking to him he is more than willing to answer any and all questions you may have.
Re: Organic halal meat and produce in Mississauga
Cheegum,
Thanks for the review. I am planning to stop by at the place on Friday on my way back home.
Re: Organic halal meat and produce in Mississauga
I have friends and family who have purchased from Blossom Pure and they say the meat tastes like real meat! Very fresh tasting. I've also heard that it comes fresh on Tuesday and then they freeze what they have. You may want to double check with them when their fresh meat arrives before going down.