Farro Fresh

Farro provides a good alternative to the chain supermarkets, especially for seasonal produce and meats and fish. If you stray too far from the «specials» though your bill can be pricey as the range of products is fantastic but at the high end of the price spectrum. The flowers from Boudicca are reasonably priced and I have found let quite well — not Vida Flores but pretty good.
It is one of the places where you can regularly get fresh duck — whole and jointed so it is a real treat.
They also offer other services — knife sharpening once a month and the kitchen utensils area is always a diversion.
Overall a good place to visit when the self control button is fully pushed in

This is my go-​to for ingredients you can’t find In the supermarket and my visual food fix. I took two lots of out of town visitors last weekend so they could wander around the food tasting stations and be impressed with the great selection of locally produced food and all the imported items. I like browsing through the cookbooks and trying to find something new of the shelves. Have also picked up some good wine & champagne. My baguettes this time were piping hot, fresh out of the oven. Wanted to stay another 20 mins until the macaron man started his tasting, but sadly had to go…

Before you shop here, take 5 minutes to go online and register for their «Friends of Farro» loyalty program. You’ll need to register an email address and also the bank card you use regularly (or will use to shop here — unfortunately you can’t collect points on cash transactions). If you spend $ 400 in one calendar month (which is easy enough to do if this is youre regular grocery stop) you will receive a $ 10 voucher to use. They also give you 50pts for signing up, and 100 bonus pts if you fill in your profile details (name, contact phone number etc.).
Any way — enough about the freebies — more about the store. This is one of 3 Farro’s I regularly visit. Farro is fantastic for fresh, organic and usually local produce — they have a wide range of fish and meat — with many free range options, and also a huge selection of specialty products that can be hard to find in regular supermarkets. The seasonal produce is usually well priced and can be on par with market place rates.
People with food intolerance’s will love the ease you can find products — the staff are all very knowledgeable and helpful, and will quickly find anything you can’t see on the shelves. They had alot of imported products, but will usually have a local alternative offered as well for the food mile conscious.
Farro is a beautiful place that any foodie or kitchen lover will enjoy — I regularly visit just to peruse the shelves of interesting new items to add to my pantry. My latest picks have been some local vanilla bean paste (a stronger flavour than the usual vanilla essence or pods), some kelp noodles (seaweed/​raw vege noodles) and spelt flour (I had to buy a rather oversized bag for $ 14, so will be looking for more recipes to use it up as the dish I bought it for only used 1 tablespoon #facepalm).

Yes, Farro is expensive but their array of artisanal products is second to none (ok, so perhaps their on par with Sabato). I particularly love their charcuterie and cheese sections complete with tastings and fabulous staff to help you nudge you in the right direction.
They also have a wonderful range of cookbooks — our latest purchase was Ottolenghi’s vegetable cookbook, ‘Plenty’ — as well as cooking and baking utensils.
Don’t miss their fabulous chocolate selection (new Wellington producer, The Wellington Company’s salted caramel chocolate is out of this world) and of course the, Harney & Sons teas.

Came in here for their Christmas Market night and it was AMAZING getting to taste everything here. Great place to do your groceries. Staff are ever friendly.

Before Nosh arrived on the North Shore, we had Farro’s. Now Farro’s is a bit bigger than the Nosh, and it does offer a wider range of items, but at Farro’s the veggie department is almost always a disappointment. Bad quality and over ripe vegetables are not going to make you want to come back, and it offers a bad first impression.
Fortunately for them by the time you leave, you’ve gone past the deli section, the bakery and the butchery. Also you get to try samples at my reason for returning, the chocolate shop. They stock chocolates of all types and flavours, and other little delicacies, such as their homemade marshmallows. It is heavenly.

You can probably tell from most of my reviews that I’m a bargain hunter and can be particularly cautious with my money. Basically if there is a cheaper option I’d usually take it. With that in mind I wasn’t so sure about Farro. I was thinking «I’d be better off going to my local supermarket than fishing through this upper class gourmet one». In a way I was right. There were lots of things out of my price range and a limited supply of things within it. Having said that… there is something at Farro that keeps me coming back again and again. And that is the ready to eat muesli. These pottles of pure gold come ready to rock with muesli and yogurt. When I was busing into work I would pop in every day and buy my muesli to devour at work. It was only $ 4.50 and it tasted like heaven! Considering you pay around $ 10 for muesli at a sit down café this is an absolute bargain! Try it out from the deli section. and if you can’t see it there ask someone to check out back or see if they can make it up for you! Delicious!

Everyone loves a farmer’s market right? Well if you don’t, then you haven’t been to a good one. Farro Fresh is what would happen if a supermarket and the Matakana Market had a baby. And boy is it a cute baby.
There are a couple of these around Auckland now, but I have only been to this one and I love it. Walking in, it’s really clean, smells fresh and is jam-​packed with goodies. There are different areas for things like fresh produce, seafood, fine wine, boutique chocolates, cheeses, deli and filled rolls. You’re never far from a helpful staff member who can always help you find what you need.
You would think that a place like this would be really expensive, but it ain’t. There are definitely expensive things, but they also have really great specials on every day so it’s very common to be able to pick up a little bit of luxury for less.
Don’t be scared off by the fanciness — you’ll be surprised by how similar the pricing is to your local supermarket, and yet how the quality at Farro is better.

When I first returned to NZ after living overseas, I was shocked at the cost of food and living. So then, it was a great surprise to find that a speciality store, such as Farro Fresh, could actually be cheaper than my local Countdown or New World!
If you’re buying seasonal produce (which we all should be doing anyway) then you can guarantee you’ll find cheaper deals at Farro than at your supermarket. Yes, it doesn’t have the convenience factor of being able to buy everything in one place, like your toiletries and cleaning products, but the food is fresh, delicious and you can even sample a few yummies as you work your way around :)
Your bill will spike if you find yourself spending too much time in the aisles full of gourmet sauces and meats, but who said a treat now and again doesn’t hurt?!
The fresh flowers are a beautiful and affordable alternative to florists and/​or your supermarket too.