By Katie Hurley
For many, the term “Bulk Foods” indicates large quantities. It is for that reason that many people don’t consider checking the Bulk Foods aisle when they are looking for specific foods and seasonings. In fact, the Bulk Foods aisle is a place where you can buy any quantity that suits your needs, often at a much lower price than the pre-packaged version of the same food.
When you find that interesting recipe that calls for spices and ingredients you don’t have, rather than buying jars of spices you might not use again (or skipping the recipe precisely so you don’t have to buy the spices), consider checking the Bulk Foods Aisle at locally owned Bayview Thriftway. Need cardamom pods? My recent check of 3 local grocery stores was fruitless. But there, in the Bulk Spice section at Bayview was a huge jar of cardamom pods. I was able to scoop and purchase exactly what I needed for my recipe.
Want to try baking with alternatives to wheat flour? Start with the Bulk Foods aisle where you’ll find coconut flour, low-gluten Shepherd’s Grain flour and rice flour, just to name a few. No matter what you’re baking, it’s a great place to start. Bayview offers 3 different varieties of sugar, just about every kind of nut you can imagine, and at least 5 different varieties of baking chocolate including 3 Callebaut varieties imported from Belgium, Theo organic cocoa nibs from Seattle and Hershey’s chocolate chips.
One notable new product in Bayview’s Bulk Foods is freekeh, a high fiber, high protein wheat that is often used in Middle Eastern countries as the main ingredient in pilaf or added to soups. Freekeh is harvested when the grain is very young so the nutrient content is more concentrated than in mature wheat. The outer hulls are charred and then rubbed off the grain so it has a slightly smoky flavor. Here is a great Freekeh and Garbanzo Pilaf recipe that calls for multiple ingredients that are available in Bulk Foods including freekeh, dried garbanzos and a few spices.
The snack options are endless… peanut butter pretzels, wasabi peas, colorful vegetable chips, rice crackers and even 2 flavors of gluten-free fig bars. Regular and organic popcorn kernels, gummy bears with or without chocolate coating, Skittles, gummy sharks, and huge toffee-coated almonds will tempt you from their sparkling bins.
The Bulk Foods section is also a great place to find everyday staples like granola (19 varieties!), pasta and rice, soup mixes, and all kinds of beans and lentils. Organic and gluten-free versions are clearly labeled and often priced well below comparable packaged products. For as-fresh-as-it-gets peanut butter or almond butter with no added ingredients, step up to one of the 2 grinders, place a tub beneath the spout and push the button to grind as much as you’d like.
While variety is a great reason to buy Bulk Foods, there are other reasons that one might find even more compelling. Buying in bulk reduces the amount of packaging required for many of the products. Rather than a bag-within-a-box, you’ll be bringing home a plastic bag that can be repurposed. You can also bring in your own containers to fill, and the weight of those containers will be credited so you only pay for the bulk foods inside them.
Even if you aren’t concerned with the packaging, there’s one major benefit to shopping in the Bulk Aisle that is hard to ignore, and that’s price. Demerara sugar (raw sugar) in the Bulk Aisle is $1.99/lb. Packaged Demerara sugar is $6.49/lb. Coconut flour is $1.99/lb. in the Bulk Aisle and the packaged version $8.39/lb. If those don’t convince you, how about this… organic ground cinnamon is $8.69/lb. in the Bulk Aisle, and $57.89/lb. in a 1.9 oz. jar. And while not all of these comparisons are for the same brands as the packaged versions, you’ll find that Bayview’s Bulk Foods of a high quality.
Those cardamom pods I finally found at Bayview? I used them, along with some other Bulk Foods spices, to a delicious batch of Slow Cooker Indian Butter Chicken that made my family very happy!
516 4th Ave East
Olympia, WA 98506
