Taking a taxi here is unlike taking a taxi just about anywhere else in the country. They charge a flat rate of $7 per person per trip, regardless of your destination (children under a certain age are free). The taxi will very promptly show up at your doorstep (usually in less than 3 minutes), then take you to your destination. But.....there's a catch. Sometimes you go directly to where you want to be dropped off. Regular old taxi drive, right? Sometimes the driver proceeds to drive around town picking up other people. Its always good to tell the dispatcher if the cab will be picking up 2 or more people so they can make sure they have space in the vehicle. Its not uncommon for a taxi to already have someone else in it when it arrives.
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| Caribou Cab. Your $7 fare may also include a free tour. |
At any rate, this particular day I decided to check out Northmart, one of the local grocery stores. I told the taxi driver where I was going, and he immediately offered his opinion of my destination. "Why are you going there? Its so expensive. You going for groceries?" I replied "Yes", as I was going to pick up some snacks for the apartment. "You know", he said sagely. "Most people just order their food online." I nodded politely. "I guess", he mused, "there are some things that are more convenient to buy here".
The idea of ordering groceries online was interesting, but I didn't think relevant. After all, a grocery store is a grocery store, and I've never been one to clip coupons or search excessively for food bargains. It seemed a little extreme to me.
Shortly after moving here in August we were invited to one of JJ's colleague's home for dinner. It was lovely, and the topic of conversation eventually turned to groceries (a frequent subject of discussion up north). The hostess raved about a service called "Northern Shopper". Again, I listened politely and thought, "We're only here for a year". The idea of ordering food online to be shipped via cargo seemed very complicated when there are two grocery stores right here in town.
The day we met one of our new neighbors, the conversation again turned to groceries. "Shopping online probably isn't any cheaper, once you factor in the cost of shipping, but at least you have selection", she said. She told us stories of some people buying bananas online, only to receive them black and mushy two weeks later because of shipping delays. She told us she orders online for frozen items, or dry goods. Again I listened, thinking "Man! What is it with these people ordering food online?"
Then one day last week, I went into the grocery store to find this:
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| There is supposed to be bread here, along with hot dog buns, english muffins, wraps, and other wheat products. |
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| No milk of any kind to be found in the store. No lactose-free, 1%, 2%, whole milk, chocolate milk, nothing. See those 2 green cartons? That's buttermilk. |
There had not been any natural disasters, or power outages, or anything else "out of the norm". I vainly tried to buy the items on my list: milk, bread, chicken breasts, ham, etc. The store was full of empty shelves. It felt very frustrating.
I came home from my grocery trip with a much better understanding of why people order online. Then I went to The Northern Shopper website, here.
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| Cute logo with sled dogs! |
The website was a bit tricky to navigate as you are not exactly "ordering online". You don't click items and add them to an online shopping basket, the way I'm used to online shopping. Instead, you need to create an online account, which allows you to download an excel spreadsheet. After opening the excel spreadsheet you can scroll down through a multitude of items listed by the store they are shopped from. The Northern Shopper regularly lists items from M&M meat shops, Farm to Fork (which has various meat packages available in bulk), and Costco.
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| Shopping via excel spreadsheet. |
Shopping via spreadsheet is a little tricky to get used to. There are many, many items to scroll through, with very short descriptions. I think I have ordered a fully cooked ham, but it may end up being ham slices. Is it bone-in, or boneless? Not sure. I could compile a list of questions and email or phone a customer service rep, but I prefer to live dangerously.
At the end of the list of goods regularly available, you can write in any "extras" that you want that are not on the list. If its not at Costco, or M&M, the staff at Northern Shopper will go somewhere else to buy for you. If they go to a grocery store and buy all your extras there, they will charge you a "go get it" fee of $7. Also, if there is an item at Costco that is NOT on the regular list, you can still list it below and they will buy it while they are there for no extra charge.
After you fill in the spreadsheet, you need to re-save it in a particular way so the company can fill your order (it must be saved yourname__date__community.xls). I did this, then emailed it back to the company. To set up my account they needed to get in touch with me to put a visa number on file, which has to happen over the phone. Staci, the rep who called me, was super friendly and helpful. This first foray into "groceries by freight" I decided to order frozen goods and some english muffins. I was nervous bread might get crushed, and refrigerated goods would go bad.
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| source |
Within 2 days my order was "shopped", then packaged and put on a First Air cargo flight. I got a waybill number so I could track my "mini freezer" of frozen goods. I wondered "will my frozen stuff still be frozen when it gets here?" The answer is, sort of. Everything arrived partially thawed, which was OK as it gave me a chance to separate the bulk meat into smaller portions in freezer bags.
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| Where I went to pick up my food. |
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| First Air cargo warehouse. |
Next time I'm going to order more dry goods, and maybe even some spinach leaves and stuff for salad. Note: I did this a few days later! My spinach arrived fresh and was great, but the asparagus got very wet and sloppy when I cooked it-- I suspect it froze during transport.
In the end, once you factor in the cost of shipping everything, I don't think its actually any cheaper than buying groceries here. However, they offer more selection and I now have a freezer full of meat. It takes the stress out of shopping here too: if I really want something on a regular basis, like chicken breasts, I can order them in bulk and store them until I want to use them.
Ordering food online is also a great way to alleviate home-sickness. One of Captain Jack Sparrow's favourite foods is a cheese noodle casserole from M&M meat shops (its called Four Cheese Pasta Bake). I ordered one from the Northern Shopper. When I served it for supper, CJS had tears in his eyes. I'll do it again for his birthday next month.
Up next: Thanksgiving
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