About Us
“Kosher Food Warehouse brings superb quality and an unmatched variety of goods and kosher food services to your community.”
What is the Kosher Food Warehouse?
The Kosher Food Warehouse, or KFW as it is known in the local Toronto Jewish community, is a high quality, natural bulk food store that has been serving this community for almost 30 years. It was started in the spring of 1991 by Tony Lipsey, whose family had been involved in the Jewish food business in Britain for many years.
How did Kosher Food Warehouse come to be?
At the beginning of the 20th century, Baruch Lipsey, the great grandfather of Tony Lipsey, left Russia during the pogroms to hopefully start a new life in America. Little did he know, when he stepped off the boat, that he had arrived in Scotland instead of the United States. Baruch made a living by starting a kosher bakery and grocery store for the Glasgow Jewish community and he became a fixture in this community, being known for his stock of fresh challahs every Friday for Shabbat. After finishing baking the challahs, he would leave the oven on all Shabbat and the store open so that the Jewish housewives in the area could leave their cholent pots in it to keep warm for Shabbat day.
Years later, when Tony was a young boy, he used to accompany his mother in the suburbs of Glasgow as she delivered by baby carriage fresh cream gateauxs and other homemade cakes to customers in the Glasgow Jewish community. His mother then started her own kosher catering business called the ‘Simcha Catering Company’.
After moving to Canada, Tony decided to follow in his families’ footsteps and opened the first kosher bulk food store in Canada, here in Toronto, and named it The Kosher Food Warehouse. It was located at 75 Doncaster Avenue in Thornhill, Ontario and was the place people would go to when in need of kosher bulk food items such as:
- Dried fruit
- Nuts
- Grains
- Candy
- Baking products
This was a very niche business, bringing in kosher natural foods from across the world to the Toronto Jewish community. Not only did KFW bring in world wide products during the year, but it was also the first kosher bulk food store to bring in top quality bulk ‘Kosher for Pesach’ items, including unique products, at the time, like quinoa for Passover.
In 2015, with the next Lipsey generation having taken over the business, a decision was made to move from Doncaster to a storefront on Centre Street. Being closer to the heart of the Jewish community was thought to be better for business as it was more central and convenient for customers to get to. Five years after moving to the new store, COVID-19 struck, which forced KFW to close their storefront like many other retail establishments. They had to figure out if they could survive as a bricks and mortar establishment given the prohibitive rules of operation that the government was forced to bring in.
The decision was made to move everything online which is how kfwarehouse.com was ‘re-born’.
Despite the challenges, the effort to launch an e-commerce entity has begun to prove that the decision was a correct one. By putting Kosher Food Warehouse online, it now makes it easier for customers to order the specific bulk and natural food items that they need and get them delivered right to their door. It also gives KFW the opportunity to ship products all across Canada and to scour the globe to bring the very best quality kosher bulk products to Canada. Whether it is Spanish gummies, Israeli candy, South African dried fruit, North American nuts or local grains and baking products, Kosher Food Warehouse has it all!
Kosher Food Warehouse is looking forward to continuing to serve the Jewish community for many more years to come!
How to place an order:
Ordering through kfwarehouse.com is very easy and only takes 3 simple steps:
- Choose the products and quantity you want
- Add the items to your cart
- Place your order and get free delivery to your door*
* Free delivery on orders over $36. Guaranteed delivery on Monday, Tuesday and Thursdays. Orders must be received no later than 2pm on the day prior to the delivery days.
Follow us on social media:
Facebook @kosherfoodwarehouse
Instagram @kosherfoodwarehouse