Mario Fiorucci and Real Food Toronto

Mario Fiorucci is very proud of his van. Fiorucci and his wife Tara Longo fled Bay Street jobs a few years ago to found The Healthy Butcher. Their first shop on Queen West was pioneering because it combined whole animal butchery and nose to tail eating with highest standards of production: the food they sold was organic and sustainably raised. By the time the couple opened their second location, in a big space on Eglinton at Avenue Road, Fiorucci and Longo had managed to get their entire store certified organic and sold all manner of the highest quality food from Hooked Inc.’s Ocean Wise certified fish to Pfennings Organics produce, and stocked their shelves and fridges with all kinds artisan foods from small producers who made or grew their food with love.

RFT Screen ShotOne difference Fiorucci noticed between the downtown and the midtown stores was that his Eglinton customers began to ask if he delivered. Pretty soon The Healthy Butcher was delivering food to its customers’ doors and he realized that Toronto must be one of the only large North American cities without a premium quality grocery delivery service. So, he and Longo turned The Healthy Butcher’s delivery service into its own business, and bought that van he’s so proud of. The letters on the side of that van read: Real Food Toronto.

I caught up Fiorucci for the the Good Food Fighter profile video below and asked him about Real Food Toronto. His new service features everything The Healthy Butcher sells from cuts of meat to prepared meals and more, including sustainably made wines from Le Sommelier and The Living Vine agencies. I asked him how it all worked and what his customers can expect.


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