The Apple Market
Some years ago, after we moved from the east end of Toronto to the west end, We started to shop at a family owned fruit and grocery store called the Apple Market.
We got a recommendation from an uncle of ours who said the Apple Market had the best fresh produce in town. Our first contact with the Apple Market was driving over to pick up fresh fruit for our uncle.
The recommendation was right on, and the store was homey and quaint — not like the big, faceless supermarkets — and the produce really was fresh. When I first started going there, growing up through the fruit section of the store was this funny old Apple tree. This turned out to be from the original orchard. (Sadly, this rustic old tree has gone.)
Back story
I was delighted to find out that the store was, in fact, family owned. Back in 1950 Joseph Tiveron purchased 15 acres of farmland on the south-east corner of Camilla and the Queensway. Joseph was a farmer who specialized in Apples, Onion, Carrots, Tomatoes and Rhubarb and this location seemed perfect for his purposes.
Early in 1972, Joseph’s enterprising son, Dave, started up a small fruit stand in the barn. Things went well over the Summer, but sadly, that Fall, there was a fire that destroyed the barn and Dave’s little fruit stand with it. However, wanting to support his entrepreneurial son, Joseph constructed a new building for Dave to use.
Never one to let the grass grow under his feet, soon, Dave and his wife Paula opened The Apple Market / Tiverton Farms as a fruit stand and garden centre. This was to be a seasonal venture. Their claim to fame was that they sold only the freshest and best fruit, vegetables and plants available. It was open from Spring until Fall and operated in this manner until 1989.
The Tiveron family was growing and with it, the Apple Market. Now it was open all year around, and they began adding new sections to the store. They now carried a variety of groceries and dry goods, and soon a meat section would be added. On weekends and after school, Dave and Paula’s children, Jennifer, Ashley and James, helped out at the store.
Fast forward to 2018, and we find James (Jamie) Tiveron running the whole nine yards.
Although they are still very much involved, Dave and Paula Tiverton have stepped back from the day to day running of the Apple Market, leaving the actual operation and management to their hard-working and personable son, James.
James is the one who goes to the Food Terminal (* see footnote) every morning to source out the best fruits and vegetables he can find. The sellers there know James well, and they are totally aware that he cannot be fobbed off with second best!
The Apple Market boasts an amazing takeout kitchen, where you can pick up a selection of delicious foods, with friendly cook Barb, at the helm: ribs that melt in your mouth, Lasagna that our Italian brother-in-law loves, roast chickens that taste incredible and a great selection of other cooked goodies to make your day-to-day living easier — all at reasonable prices.
What I love about getting food at the takeout counter is how pleasant the service always is. Barb is always ready to take a custom order, and has saved me on a number of social occasions when I had a need for some of her special roasted potatoes, or an family sized lasagna.
The meat department is run by a real, honest-to-goodness, old-fashioned butcher, and the hormone-free meat is aged for 18 days to ensure it is tender.
If you buy a cut there, the staff will tell you the best way to cook it and give you various serving suggestions. They always have a great array of prepared items such as stuffed veal, stuffed chicken breasts, marinated shish kebabs and more — all you have to do is take them home and cook them. The meat department has recently taken to making their own roast beef, corned beef and Pastrami all of which is sold in the deli section. This is great since it is not filled with the usual preservatives.
I can honestly say that the meat we have bought at The Apple market is the best we have ever had. And, again, the service is always great.
Then there is the Deli section. The deli section has an excellent assortment of the usual deli meats, and of course, the previously mentioned house specials of roast beef, Pastrami and Montreal Smoked. They have an assortment of cheeses which are sold sliced. They have ready-to-go- fresh made potato and and pasta salads, smoked sausages, cabbage rolls and more. This is tended by the friendly ladies in the deli section.
At the Apple Market, it is about the friendly service. The ladies that work in the deli are all really nice — Regina, Olga, and my two special friends — Edith and Mary. Edith is Portuguese and it’s always fun to get my order using my rapidly lapsing Portuguese language skills. Mary, who is Italian, used to work at her familys’ plant store, and we exchange tales of our favorite landscaping plants.
There is also a cake and dessert counter, right beside the deli section. They have a great selection of their own fresh baked desserts, as well as some they bring in from various reputable bakeries, including the amazing Portuguese custard tarts (Pasteis de Nata) from a local Portuguese bakery. The display is enough to make me want to go off our diet.
The produce sections are by far the largest, and include a section dedicated to organic produce. In answer to the increasing requests for it, they began to feature organic produce in 2006. It got off to a slow start, James told me. He feels that it was in its infancy then, and now more and more people are aware of it, and are looking for and buying it. He says that sellers have to stock organic produce in response to the market demand. He feels that demand will continue to increase, and he plans to ride the crest of that wave.
I cannot say it too often: I love the people that work at the Apple Market. No matter which department you visit, the staff are friendly, and knowledgeable, and very helpful. Even the people that stock the shelves (Lan) and make the orders (Heather) are friendly and helpful. And, the Apple Market staff remember who you are and your name (unlike the vapid, self-absorbed kids that one finds at supermarkets), What could be nicer than that? It makes a huge difference to me.
The Apple Market is a breath of fresh air compared to the usual Big Name grocery stores. It’s nice to know that everything is fresh, and the biggest surprise is that the prices are very competetive.
Another thing that I really like is that the Apple Market has an embedded health food and supplements store in one corner.
You can find a wide variety of health supplements and natural products here, at the Health Store, and should you wish to get some expert nutritional advice, you can book an appointment with Marilyn or Frank and they will help steer you to a much healthier lifestyle. (My partner has managed to lose 18 Lbs under their dietary guidance).
I like to support family owned and run businesses, and when the experience is enhanced by the really nice people working at such a place, it is a win win for all concerned.
I hope that The Apple Market stays where it is for many years to come.
Footnote: * The Food Terminal is a huge food terminal in south Toronto. People from all different businesses go there very early in the morning to try to obtain the best produce, meat, fish or even plants. James does not get caught cat-napping!
