I’ve been having a wonderful time here in Greece so far this summer and one of the aspects I love about my vacation is that everywhere I go, there’s fresh, local Greek food products available. I eventually will have to go back to Canada and as reality sets in, so to will the fact that I can’t get all this Greek food items back in Canada. However, I can get most of them and here’s when you an get them too!
Earlier this summer I was invited to take a tour of the Krinos Canada facility, located in Vaughn, just outside of Toronto. Krinos is an affiliate of Krinos Foods of the US and now they have facilities in New York, Chicago, Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver.
This company began fifty years ago from importing olives to the US and it’s now North America’s largest producers and distributors of Greek specialty products. Life here in Canada wouldn’t be the same for Greek families such as mine without Krinos.
Us Greeks want our olive oil, our cheeses, our sea salt, herbs, pasta, legumes, pickled/preserved vegetables and fruits, jarred grape leaves and of course, our phyllo pastry. People used to have to go to a Greek grocer to buy these specialty or ethnic items but Greek and Mediterranean cuisine has entered the mainstream and these same goods are now often found in your neighborhood supermarkets!
My tour consisted of visiting the warehouse where the vast array of products are stored, the adjoining facility where phyllo pastry is made and Krino’s many ready to bake products are assembled (by hand). Then we visited the cold-cold warehouse where the cheeses and yogurts were kept.
Krinos also brings in products from Greece that are household staples like Kyknos tomato paste, Melissa and Misko pasta, Athena sea salt, Minerva extra-virgin olive oil, award winning Attiki honey, Loumidis Greek coffee, Blaxa trahana and Pittas Halloumi from Cyprus.
Krinos’ website has links to most of their products they currently stock and that’s because customer’s demands are ever changing but I can assure you, there are lots to choose from and I’m relieved knowing that so many products are available here so that I can create Greek dishes I grew up on.
The obvious purchase is Krinos’ cheeses from Greece. They have barrel aged Feta from Parnassos…the gold standard for Feta. Then there’s the Kefalgraviera, Vlahotyri, Mizithra, Manouri, Kasseri and Kefalotyri cheeses and one must not forget Saganaki cheese…OPA!
My family still likes to make their own phyllo but we also always stock the commercial variety and Krinos’ brand has been very consistent. They also sell Kataifi pastry.
Krinos also distributes one of Greece’s largest olive brands, Minerva and once again, a good Greek salad begins with using good Greek olive oil, like Minerva.
Do you use Krino’s products? At which stores have you seen them? What are some of your favourite products from Krinos? Me…I love Manouri cheese!
Below is a slide show featuring many of the products I saw during my tour of the Krinos facility in Toronto. If you can’t find them, Krinos will be more than happy to direct you to a store near you.
Your reports on Greek products are always insightful. Thank you for sharing your experience of visiting one of the leading Greek Product wholesalers.
Great article!
Krinos – best grape leaves!
Through it’s partnership with Krinos Foods, they visited many dairy plants in Greece and met with many renowned local cheese makers. This hands-on experience to the fine art and the secrets of feta cheese making had a very positive impact on the quality of the Shepherd Gourmet products. Today, its products are enjoyed all across Canada as a tasty ingredient to innovative dishes and salads, or enjoyed – the Greek way – with fresh baked bread, dipped in fine olive oil!
I was persuaded by the super-nice cheese expert at the lovely little Sobey’s in Stittsville to try the barrel-aged feta, and it’s absolutely delicious. I often serve it as an after-dinner cheese, along with a brie and maybe a Stilton, and it’s a consistent favourite, and now I buy it all the time!
Love your Greek blogs, Peter, and the recipes – yummy.
Hi, Peter. Great photos, as usual of course.
I can’t wait to visit Krinos stores once I’m in Canada. I know now that I won’t be missing the “patrida”.
Take care.
Thanks for the tour Peter. How great it is to have that facility right near you. Your Greek salad looks so inviting, I wish I had some for lunch today.
Hi
I have been eating your green cracked olives for over a year and I love them. However the olives have recently become smaller, soggy and they no longer have the pepperoncini. However your labels show that it includes this but it does not. Is this a mistake or something that will be the new norm for your company?