Gourmet grocer sprouts a massive location in Leaside

After months and months of delays, gourmet and natural food grocer, the Sweet Potato has finally opened its doors at 1678 Bayview Ave.

What’s sure to become the neighbourhood’s goto spot for natural foods, the Sweet Potato caters to all dietary restrictions by supplying dairy-free, vegan and gluten-free products, but its prices don’t reflect the astronomical costs usually associated with organic health foods.

Although this location has been in the works since 2020 and was meant to open back in November of 2022, according to the company’s Instagram post, the company hit several obstacles. “There have been all kinds of unexpected delays (including a pandemic, supply chain issues, inflation, and beyond),” reads the Instagram caption announcing the new location.

where the now-flagship location remains.

Now, the Sweet Potato caters to even more of the city with the opening of the massive Leaside location, which includes a produce section, butchery and bulk section.

Food Chain

Tonica Kombucha, Live on Chocolate and Greenbelt Organic Greens are just a few of the many local brands taking up shelf space. Like the flagship location, the Leaside store will also be encouraging the elimination of single-use plastics with a reusable container program.

The storefront includes a mural of a map that locates the Sweet Potato’s community of local farmers.

The expansion comes over a decade since the first store opened in the Junction in 2007. Owner Digs Dorfman opened the grocer after running the High Park Organic Market and noticing a demand for healthy food all year round. With consumers becoming only more conscious in the years since, the supermarket moved into a larger, 10,000-square-foot space down the street in 2017

Since the Sweet Potato believes it’s not only important to know how the food you're consuming grows, but where it grows as well, the storefront includes a mural of a map that locates the grocer’s “growing community of local farmers.” Shoppers can pinpoint exactly where their food is coming from!

“We thought a lot about where we wanted to expand to,” Dorfman said in June 2022 about the Sweet Potato’s expansion to Leaside. “And the reason we’re expanding there is because it has got the same really strong community that our original store in the Junction has.” —Megan Gallant