Cioffi's Grocery
Every great chef needs a well stocked pantry of high quality ingredients to create amazing meals. We have everything you could ever think of; local handcrafted jams, fresh breads, handcrafted maple syrups, wildflower honeys, San Marzano tomatoes, Turkish olives, organic pesto sauce, the finest olive oils, fresh yeast, Italian flour, organic Madagascar vanilla beans, truffle sea salt, and oh so much more!
Pantry
What do you need in your pantry to create mouth watering meals?
Why not have everything? We have jarred olives, antipasti, beans, peppers, organic nutella, handcrafted jams, Canadian maple syrup, wild honeys, dried Turkish figs, artichoke pâté, European mayonnaise, dried porcini mushrooms and so much more. We also have a variety of condiments to choose from, such as flavoured gourmet mustards, Italian ketchup, flavoured sea salts, truffle salts, and spicy dips, such as La Bomba or the The Bomb from Italy.
One of the hottest and newest items are Peruvian Sweety Drop peppers that are sweet and crunchy with a bit of zing. Find them in our deli.
Snacks
We have a ton of crackers, cookies, pastries, chocolates, breadsticks, dried fruits, and nuts to snack on when you have a snack attack. We have traditional amaretti and biscotti from Italy along with locally handmade breadsticks from our friend and neighbour Chez Christophe Patisserie. These breadsticks along with Italian taralli or Raincoast Crisps go great on a charcuterie board when paired with our finest meats and cheeses. Yum!
Dairy and Eggs
You can find the dairy section in Cioffi’s Meat Market. We carry Island Farms, Avalon Organic Milk, and Liberté. Cioffi’s stocks organic milks, chocolate milk, goat milk, cream, as well as organic cream cheeses, sour creams, and cottage cheeses. We have a multitude of organic yogurts, regular yogurts, goat yogurts, and kefir. Some of our favourites are the banana caramel yogurt and mango white chocolate yogurt.
Everything is better with butter! Cioffi’s carries butter for the discerning chef and health nut. We have organic grass fed butter that is locally made by Golden Ears Cheesecrafters and is to die for. It may be made locally, but it tastes like you’ve flown to Europe. Divine! We also carry Avalon and Liberté organic butter. A good option for those who are lactose intolerant is the Liberté goat butter. It has a very smooth and light taste. Try it for a change on your toast!
Shop at your local farm when you shop at Cioffi’s! Cioffi’s is proud to offer fresh local eggs from Maple Hill Farms. We offer Free Range and Organic eggs. Maple Hill Farms is a local Abbotsford farm run by the Regehr family. Their chickens are hormone and medication free, roam freely, and are fed a vegetable based diet. For the more adventurous foodie, we also offer fresh local Quail eggs. Delicious when poached and served on top of fresh pappardelle noodles with truffle mushrooms!
Pasta, Rice, Grains & Dough
Pasta is a favourite staple food for many people. With the dozens of pasta cuts we carry you will never get bored! Some brands we love are DeCecco, Grano Armando, Divella, Dal Raccolto and more. We have many gluten free pastas and whole grain pastas to suit your preference. Our best selling gluten free pasta is called LaRosa and can be found in our meat market. It’s simply the best we’ve ever tasted and nobody would know that it was gluten free. Another hot item are the kid’s organic pastas from Italy, such as Hello Kitty, Bob the Builder, and Scooby Doo. These delightfully shaped pastas will thrill even the pickiest of eaters!
Cioffi’s carries many fresh pastas and stuffed pastas as well. The handmade gnocchi in our freezer section is one of our best sellers along with the prosciutto and brie ravioli! Our fresh lasagna sheets in the refrigerator section of the deli will save you hours when making homemade lasagna.
We stock plenty of rices, risottos, & grains to create unique and delicious meals for your family, such as couscous, quinoa, farro, barley, carnaroli and arborio risotto. For good tips on how to make a delicious risotto check out our blog!
Cioffi’s carries many types of flours, such as Semolina, flour, and more which are ideal when making pizza or polenta. Even better is when you don’t have to make the dough yourself…we have frozen pizza dough balls along with thin-crust pizza shells that are ready to bake. So easy! One of the hottest new sellers is called “Proof” frozen pizza dough that is made with 100{eb6f4c980279cad0ca3bbbb44b42f5e8e9ad3f294a0327395785910893f7b1a9} organic Canadian milled flour. Find those in the freezer section of the deli.
Tomatoes & Sauces
An Italian pantry is not complete, unless it is stocked with tomatoes and tomato paste at all times. Keeping a case of passata (strained tomatoes in a glass jar), canned whole San Marzano tomatoes, and a few tubes of tomato paste makes for easy meal prep when you’ve run out of fresh ingredients. Our favourite brands include Strianese, Mutti, Emma, and La Molisana. Try some jarred cherry tomato sauce for something different.
When you don’t want to make your own, our very own Mamma Cioffi still comes in to the store to make her famous tomato sauce and meat sauce. Find it in the freezer section.
We also have plenty of jarred pestos from Italy if pesto sauce is your thing? However, our favourite is the handmade organic pesto sauce from the Okanagan in our freezer section of the deli. Give it a try on prawns or linguine!
On the weekends, Cioffi’s stocks homemade Mexican style salsa and fresh guacamole made by our one and only Elena. Goes great with the gluten free tortilla chips from El Comal in the deli. This may not be very Italian, but Elena isn’t Italian either – she’s Mexican – and her salsa and guac is the best we’ve tried north of the border! We don’t only eat pasta!
Oils & Vinegars
Cioffi’s is stocked with literally dozens of different types of oils that are great for salads, dressings, marinades, sauces, or just for dipping!
We specialize in high-quality Extra Virgin Olive Oils and Balsamic Vinegars mostly from Italy and the Mediterranean. We carry organic oils, cooking oils, and many types of vegetable oils, such as pumpkin seed oil, grape seed oil, camelina oil, and organic coconut oil.
Our vinegar lineup is just as diverse, with dozens of balsamic, wine, sherry, glazes, and fruit vinegars. You must try some of the delicious vin cotto and flavoured balsamic glazes in the deli department!
Fresh Breads & Baked Goods
In both our deli and meat market you’ll find an array of fresh baked breads that are delivered daily from such local bakeries as Terra Breads, Pane e Formaggio, Olivier, The Cake & the Giraffe, Calabria Bakery, First Avenue Bakery, and many more. You can find spelt breads, whole wheat, sourdough, Portuguese buns, cornetti della nonna buns, and more. One of our favourite cookies are the spelt, oatmeal, chocolate chip cookies from the Artisan Bake Shoppe….healthy and so delicious.
Of course, we also have fresh baking offered daily in our Cucina, such as homemade muffins, cinnamon buns, nutella stuffed brioche, and salted caramel donuts. Check out our Cucina for more of our mouthwatering daily meals here.
Sweets, Treats & Frozen Foods
For those with a sweet tooth, Cioffi’s carries too many tempting sweets everywhere you turn. There’s chocolates from Italy, torrone nougat, giandiuia hazelnut chocolate, bulk Italian candies, and other European sweets, such as German stollen and marzipan. A popular item are the confetti almonds that are given to guests at traditional events, such as weddings and baptisms. We have these in many different colours and flavours. One of our favourite chocolates are the dark sea salt caramels and also the non-GMO, fair trade, ethical Theobroma chocolate from Quebec.
We have an entire aisle dedicated to boxed cookies and treats, mostly Italian and European, such as soft amaretti cookies, crunchy biscotti, pizzelle, traditional ladyfinger cookies for Tiramisu, nutella filled wafer cookies and much more. We have fresh spelt, oatmeal and cranberry cookies in the bakery aisle in the deli as well as fresh made crostata, which is an Italian style jam pie. The front of the meat department also has an aisle of delicious handmade cookies, such as walnut crescents, jam thumbprint, and Kifli cookies.
In the freezer section of our meat department, we sell Mario’s Gelati in many different flavours and individual ice cream portions that are beautiful to serve when hosting a dinner party. We carry frozen local Krause Berry Farms pies which are a huge hit. These are a frozen take-and-bake pie, such as apple or strawberry rhubarb that are made with fresh fruit from their farm in Langley. Their fresh pumpkin pies at Thanksgiving and Christmas are truly delicious and decadent. Another hot new item from the freezer section are the take-and-bake cookies from The Cake and the Giraffe…their toffee dark chocolate chip cookie is to die for and makes your kitchen smell divine while baking. A must-try!
Baking Essentials
Coffee, Tea & Drinks
Rise and Shine…however you like to enjoy your morning cuppa, Cioffi’s will have a bean to suit your tastebuds. We specialize in espresso beans, mostly from Italy, but we also carry local, organic, and ethical beans. Some of our favourite brands are Lavazza, Illy, Guglielmo, Arcaffe, and 49th Parallel. You can also visit our Cucina for a smooth, hot Lavazza espresso or caffe latte.
For tea lovers, Cioffi’s stocks a variety of Italian camomiles, herbal teas, and infusions. We carry some British teas that are unbelievably flavourful too and are great for making iced teas at home.
Drinks
Cioffi’s stocks a large selection of Italian sodas, bitters, sparkling water, natural mineral water, and fruit juice pureés. Some of the most popular brands are of course San Pellegrino, San Benedetto, Acqua Panna, and more. A new notable drink that we recently began carrying is Canadian Birch Sap from 52 North. This lightly sweet tasting sap is full of electrolytes and a great post-workout drink. I highly recommend picking some up! Another fan favourite is the Gnubeez all-natural protein drinks for kids in squeezable containers. These yummy fruity yogurt drinks are great in kid’s lunches.
Kitchen Gadgets, Tools & Dishes
Throughout both the meat market and deli, Cioffi’s has a variety of small and large kitchen tools to help you be a master of the kitchen. Small tools include such items as cheese graters, pot scrubbers, wooden spoons, tongs, and more.
A big sell with our European customers is the stainless steel Italian coffee makers or Bialetti. These stove-top espresso makers make the easiest espresso coffee without the hefty price tag of an espresso machine. Other kitchen gadgets we carry are panini machines, pizzelle (Italian waffle cookie) makers, pasta machines, and more.
At Cioffi’s we have some beautiful hand-painted dishes from Italy along with simple white ceramic ones too. One of our favourites is the gorgeous cheese plates and white ceramic cake stands. These items make wonderful gifts and also go great in our Gourmet Gift Baskets.
Household Items & Cleaning Supplies
Many people don’t know that we carry household items in our deli department. Soaps, lotions, creams, and more from Italy are infused with olive oil to impart softness to the skin. A best-seller is the Olivella brand products that are infused with virgin olive oils. Their products are gentle, natural, hypoallergenic, and free of sulfates, colourants, parabens, and animal ingredients. Their facial cleansing wipes and lip balms are truly amazing.
Most of our cleaning items are also from Italy and they bring that fresh distinct scent of Europe to your home. Cioffi’s stocks a variety of cleaning supplies for washing tile, wooden floors, dishes, grease, general cleaning, and for laundry. Some of our favourites are Persil laundry detergent for its amazing smell. A must-try is the Bianco Puro washing powder that makes everything whiter than bleach could ever do without causing yellow stains. A Cioffi family secret for getting everything clean and white! A similar whitening product that works wonders on grout and white cupboards is Lemon Boy kitchen and bathroom cleanser. Another must-try!
Gourmet Gift Baskets
Cioffi’s is full of great gift baskets suitable for many occasions, from birthdays to Christmas to corporate gifting, and more. Gift baskets are perfect for the foodie in your life or for those people who have everything. What’s more practical and useful than giving a gift of good food? Gift baskets also make great host and hostess gifts. There’s no better way to someone’s heart than through their stomach. When someone passes away or even when someone has a baby, it’s nice to show that you care about their wellbeing by offering them good food to feed their soul.
Gift baskets can be custom made to your liking using either a basket, or rustic wooden crate, or many of the beautiful dishes that we sell. Fill your baskets with Italian delicacies, pastas, unique food items, gadgets, coffee, chocolates, and anything you wish. Most gift baskets start at $25 through $150 or more. An example of a unique gift basket is vacuum packed AAA Dry-Aged Prime steaks along with some rubs, seasonings, and olive oils.
Corporate gifting is very popular and a great way for businesses to thank clients, customers, or employees for their hard work.
Contact Giuseppina in the deli to inquire about custom and corporate gift baskets.