FreshWay Foodmart — Attraction in Markham

This is one of the several supermarkets I've been going to quite regularly whenever I'm on a grocery run in Markham and Scarborough. Since Full Fresh, Winco, and T&T are nearby, I don't usually fulfill all of my grocery needs at any one of them even though FreshWay indeed, has a very wide selection of products.

That said, here are my thoughts on this store:

1. They are brightly lit, spacious, organized, clean, and have a modern touch to their store.

2. Like many of the Chinese supermarkets these days, they have most to all of the ingredients you would need in your Chinese recipes and they also have Korean sauces and spices that can fulfill your needs for your Korean recipes (No need to go to Galleria unless you need something more than the most common sauces and spices such as Gochujang, Gochugaru, Doenjang, etc.).

3. Their vegetables and fruits are usually quite fresh (with some exceptions/bad days as I have seen sprouting shallots there before). I am usually VERY VERY VERY meticulous (even this is an understatement of my "OCD" XD) when I prep and wash vegetables so the fact that their vegetables are usually fresh with minimal issues (e.g. small black or brown dots on stems or leaves, yellowing leaves, wilting leaves and stems, lesions, bugs, mud, etc.) makes my job a lot easier believe me lol! They also carry the Fuzhou bok choy (福州小白菜) (as some like to call it... some places call it something else lol) that not every Chinese supermarket carries (some of the others that do also carry them are Full Fresh, Sunfood, etc.). Other than this, they carry the typical ones that most of the other Chinese supermarkets also carry, such as Yu Choy, Gai Lan (Chinese broccoli), Shanghai bok choy, bok choy, bok choy sum, short and long napa, A choy, green leaf lettuce, watercress, Chinese cauliflower, celtuce, fuzzy melon, wintermelon, and the list goes on and on that it would not be feasible for me to list them all out lol.

4. Other than the one time issue with the shallots, their aromatics (e.g. garlic, ginger, onions, green onions, galangal, etc.) are usually quite fresh. I would say that they as well as Walmart are my go to for garlic as they usually have fresher looking ones that are also sold at a cheaper price than some of the other supermarkets with worse looking garlic lol (I'm guessing it's partly due to a higher turnover?). I use a lot of garlic in my cooking so you can see why I usually have to make a stop at either Freshway or Walmart whenever I'm up in Markham lol. Even though they had that one bad batch of shallots that time, they carry the small shallots as well as the bigger ones even though many of the other supermarkets don't have such a selection. They also have a wide variety of herbs such as fresh pandan leaves, lemongrass, mint, Thai basil, thyme, oregano, etc. that are usually better quality and priced than some of the ones at Western supermarkets such as Metro, Loblaws, etc.

5. They have a wide selection of meat and seafood. This includes a wide selection of whole chickens, a wide selection of frozen seafood such as turbot, black cod, grouper, mackerel, yellow croaker, etc., and a wide selection of beef as they are one of the only Chinese supermarkets that carry Japanese and Australian Wagyu beef (at a very expensive price!). However, one of the problems is that they don't label which region the wagyu is from. I don't usually buy wagyu beef anyway so this doesn't really bother me but just giving a heads up to the people who do lol. Some of the other places (non Chinese supermarkets) that carry wagyu are J-Town and The Butcher Boutique.

TL;DR - I recommend this supermarket as they carry most to all of the ingredients you would need in your Chinese recipes and even your Korean recipes. Their produce is usually fresher compared to some of the other places. If you are someone who also cares about the atmosphere of the places you shop at for groceries, rest assured that you will have a positive experience shopping here since they are brightly lit, spacious, organized, clean, and...

Was once a loyal customer and often chose to come here over T&T until today, I was mistakenly confronted for being a shoplifter by an aggressive undercover security guard. After he chased me out of the store and grabbed me, he demanded that I show him all contents of my bag. To his surprise, everything matched with the receipt and proof of payment. He further insisted to dig through all my personal items like feminine sanitary pads and tampons for an inspection. He claimed that since I looked at the alleged shoplifted item (home fragrance diffuser) for a few minutes but didn’t see that item in the checkout line, that I must have stolen it. I told him I had put it back in its original place, while he was insistent that it was not there. He looked in the wrong place (makeup section; home fragrances were in another corner) as he was unfortunately unfamiliar with the store layout. Refused to apologize to me after being aggressive and labelling me as a shoplifter during the 8 pm store peak. I was utterly embarrassed as he had made a big scene; there were many Chinese aunties and uncles who looked at me with disgust for committing the alleged crime. Security guard refused to apologize and just walked away to the back corner. Unfortunately after reading the reviews here, my experience doesn’t seem to be the first. Very sad for the store to have lost a loyal customer who finds joy in spending money at the grocery...

We bought a To Fu Superior brand Sweeten Soya Drink from FreshWay Foodmart yesterday (April 01st, 2021) and it turned out to be spoiled. We brought it back to the store today and was very impressed by the great customer service from the lady at the customer service desk.

We were trying to find the item on the receipt, and she trusted our word and said we can just exchange for a new one before we found it on our receipt. She also kept on apologizing for the trouble and was very cordial throughout.

We are frequent shoppers at FreshWay Foodmart, and we are always impressed and satisfied with the friendly staff, well-stocked shelves, huge variety of products (including some premium products, and competitive pricing. Their produce and meats are very fresh.

You can tell that they are well managed with high standards, and the staff are happy to work there since the store is always clean and the items are placed neatly with labels all facing outwards on the shelves (just like a premium supermarket such as WholeFoods Market).

The cashier staff at checkout are always friendly, never rush you, and always very helpful – helping us pack our groceries and protecting glass bottles with foam wrappers or newspapers.

Great job to the management team and I hope they can keep up their high standards in the...