The Real Canadian Wholesale Club

[Peter the eater]

I finally made it to The Real Canadian Wholesale Club here in Halifax. It's a big box retail store from Loblaw Companies Limited, much like Costco but more focused on food. There appears to be several dozen stores across Canada, and they try to appeal to small businesses, large families, community groups, sports clubs, etc. Consumers are rewarded with a lower unit price if they buy multiples of whatever product -- like 10% off for 3, or 20% off for a dozen. There's no membership fee.

The highlight of my first visit was finding beef tenderloin for $4.99/lb in 4-6 lb vac bags. Too good to be true? Maybe. The beef was frozen and the label had words like "random" and "ungraded". What does that mean? There were no butchers on hand to answer my questions, so I didn't get any. And they don't take VISA.

Comments? Experiences?

[Pam R]

I've been shopping there for years. Originally, it was just other business members, but I see more civilians shopping there all the time.

The funny thing is, you really have to know your prices. It's not uncommon to find an item priced higher at the wholesale club than at their grocery stores (Superstore in Winnipeg).

[Peter the eater]

The funny thing is, you really have to know your prices.  It's not uncommon to find an item priced higher at the wholesale club than at their grocery stores (Superstore in Winnipeg).

I agree. Dairy and produce were no deal, but the meat was well-priced. Frozen lamb, ducks and turkeys were a few bucks less per kilogram than the SuperStore. I also liked the restaurant equipment -- not high quality but way affordable. A 12" chef's knife with poly handle is $4.99. At that price you wouldn't be upset if you lost it catering or something.

[prasantrin]

I've been shopping there for years.  Originally, it was just other business members, but I see more civilians shopping there all the time.

The funny thing is, you really have to know your prices.  It's not uncommon to find an item priced higher at the wholesale club than at their grocery stores (Superstore in Winnipeg).

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You also have to know how to read expiration dates. I've found many an item that was past it's expiration date, but was still on the shelves.

(I have no problem eating food within a reasonable time past its prime, but if I'm buying it, it had better be discounted.)

[Pam R]

I agree. Dairy and produce were no deal, but the meat was well-priced. Frozen lamb, ducks and turkeys were a few bucks less per kilogram than the SuperStore. I also liked the restaurant equipment -- not high quality but way affordable. A 12" chef's knife with poly handle is $4.99. At that price you wouldn't be upset if you lost it catering or something.

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Yeah, it bugs me that I can get a 10# bag of potatoes at Superstore for less per pound than the per pound price of the 50# bags at the wholesale.

I have noticed that they're starting to carry more of the restaurant stuff - it used to be the same stuff they sell at the grocery stores, but now they're going a little more 'pro'.

[Peter the eater]

The highlight of my first visit was finding beef tenderloin for $4.99/lb in 4-6 lb vac bags. Too good to be true? Maybe. The beef was frozen and the label had words like "random" and "ungraded". What does that mean?

I got an answer:

Ungraded beef is white cow meat at which time there is no Canadian grading system therefore it must be labeled by Canadian Inspection Agency standards as ungraded or unclassified. Ungraded product offers a very similar eating experience to Grade AA meat for cuts like tenderloin. This product is often used in the foodservice industry.

[Edward J]

Used to have one hee in Vancouver, closed down about a year ago though...

I do a fair amount of shopping at Superstore though. Dairy is cheap--on par with Costco, but they have serious problems with maintaining par levels.

Really gotta watch your prices though. Pre-packaged stuff, say walnuts or almonds in 1 or 2 kg bags are cheaper than the stuff in the bulk bins, alot of the specialty baking items are marked up waaay to high, and stuff like OJ concentrate juices are cheaper as individuals than by buying a case of 12--go figure.

[eatrustic]

Used to have one here in Vancouver, closed down about a year ago though...

They still have one in nearby Burnaby (on Kingsway). I usually shop there for packaging items like bags etc. Most of the prices are the same as Superstore on items they both carry.

I like the 20k. bags of sugar which are a decent price if you buy two.

Costco, which has better prices for items like nuts, eggs and dried fruit only sells 40k bags of sugar which, although cheaper, is a guaranteed back injury as well as a space hassle.

[Peter the eater]

The highlight of my first visit was finding beef tenderloin for $4.99/lb in 4-6 lb vac bags. Too good to be true? Maybe. The beef was frozen and the label had words like "random" and "ungraded". What does that mean?

I got an answer:

Ungraded beef is white cow meat at which time there is no Canadian grading system therefore it must be labeled by Canadian Inspection Agency standards as ungraded or unclassified. Ungraded product offers a very similar eating experience to Grade AA meat for cuts like tenderloin. This product is often used in the foodservice industry.

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I've been obsessed with these tenderloins for 2 weeks now, so I went back and got a small one. I also got the $4.99 12" chef's knife, it weighs 150g less than my 10" Grohman but WOW it cuts -- and it's over $100 less.

The beef is extremely tender, but would lose to a AAA beef tenderloin in a taste/flavor test.

[CaliPoutine]

Looks like the price went up to 5.31lb. There isnt a store in London. Too bad, the knife sounds good.

[Peter the eater]

The price for 4 litres of milk from a sampling of stores, all of them on my way home from work:

$5.19 The Real Canadian Wholesale Club

$5.49 Atlantic SuperStore - Bayer's Lake

$5.69 Shoppers Drug Mart

$5.99 Walmart - Bayer's Lake

$6.89 Atlantic SuperStore - Joe Howe

$7.29 Irving Gas Station/Couche-Tarde

$8.25 Prospect Foods Convenience

(I don't do Costco anymore, but they'd be top three.)

[CaliPoutine]

Wow, expensive milk. When we were in "the Hawk". I noticed milk was 7.49 @ the IGA.

Shoppers has a 4l bag of milk in Ontario for 3.99. Its usually the only thing I run in for. Its 1$ cheaper than the grocery store.

[Peter the eater]

Wow, expensive milk.  When we were in "the Hawk". I noticed milk was 7.49 @ the IGA. 

Shoppers has a 4l bag of milk in Ontario for 3.99.  Its usually the only thing I run in for.  Its 1$ cheaper than the grocery store.

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What really bugs me is that Atlantic Superstore (Loblaws) ranges from $5.50 to $7.50 depending on which one you go to -- and they're all within a few km of each other. It depends how close the competition is, according to the milk guy that fills the shelves.

Compared to Ontario, NS has expensive dairy, cheese, beef and fruit. Chicken and pork are similar, but the seafood here is excellent and affordable if it's local. In Newfoundland & Labrador, these trends are even more so. And gas is an extra $0.10/L in NL&L.

[Peter the eater]

Bought a large cryopack of beef today, 3 kg of prime rib for 20 dollars. Doesn't look like a regular boneless rib, but it looks good, think I'll dry-age it in the fridge for a few days.

The label says "federally inspected ungraded beef". Maybe it's from dairy cattle? I'll get back to you-all.