Distribution Alimentaire Aubut

Distribution Alimentaire aubut
3975, rue Saint-Ambroise
Montreal, QC

This place makes me uneasy. It’s a big warehouse, open to the public, but mostly serving restaurants, caterers and other food service industry people. For the most part things come in bulk, like the huge containers of pickled peppers you see at Shawarma places (or hot dog carts, for all you Torontonians). My least favourite company has its products everywhere in this store; CLIC canned and dried beans are everywhere. This is a representation of what this entire store is to me. Nothing is particularly good, but it’s all very, very convenient and relatively affordable. There aren’t really sales. Things might be priced slightly lower than retail, and when you buy in bulk that may make a difference for a restaurant, but this place is not about quality. There is actually a section of the store that sells only specialty products. A small selection of organics, honeys, mustards, paté, cutely wrapped up in Grandma-style packaging. But you turn around and there’s 10 times as much powdered soup base. I’m thinking those get bought a whole lot more often. There is also absolutely zero mark-down on any specialty items.

It gives me the creeps. Like walking into a place where food goes to die. To think that all these enormous packages of processed junk goes into people’s stomachs, and they pay for it! Okay, so you can get enormous blocks of cheese, imports, frozen fish and meat at the lowest prices in town, but that blue marlin someone just bought is endangered, and the duck legs were pulled from an overfed, extremely reluctant duck.

On the one hand, this is a magical store; it forms the beginning of delicious recipes at many of the city’s respected establishments. On the other hand, I never want to eat anything pickled that comes in a jar or can or plastic container again. Ever. I will walk to my neighbourhood Atwater Market with a re-usable grocery bag, instead of driving up to the warehouse, placing a bulk order, and having it packed promptly into my gas-guzzler. Keep your spreads, your sauces, and your preservative-laden fake food. Keep, even, your pesticide-sprayed ‘fresh’ produce. There are greater evils, and lots of other places are just as bad, but when you get slapped in the face with a place like this, you don’t just stand there and not react. This place is the best justification for the entire local food movement. It should go the way of the blue marlin. See how it feels to be bullied.

Distribution Alimentaire Aubut

514-933-0939