Organic grocer Terra Madre opens second, supersized store in Brunswick

There are those who buy toilet paper in bulk and those who stock up on chickpeas. If you're among the latter, good things are in store at the new Brunswick location of Terra Madre, Melbourne's favourite organic grocer.

Opening on the first day of lockdown 4.0, the additional store on Sydney Road has plenty of firepower for home cooks. Alongside two-kilogram cans of chickpeas, there's baker's flour galore, several types of dhal, certified organic fruit and vegetables, and freezers stocked with Byron Bay Gourmet Pies, Mrs Tran's dumplings and Linda MCartney plant-based meat.

The original Westgarth store, open since 1996, has become a magnet for Melburnians seeking affordable organic goods, with the narrow aisles resembling a traffic jam some weekends.

At 2000 square metres, the Brunswick store is four times larger, allowing socially distant browsing of Pana's dairy-free chocolate, Gamze Smokehouse charcuterie, and kraut and kombucha from The Fermentary, with bulk bins offering the essential and the esoteric (dried lingonberries, anyone?).

Still to come: bike racks, a car park, extra registers and a plastic recycling drop-off, says owner-director Ryan O'Connor.

Open daily 8.30am-7.30pm at 775 Sydney Road, Brunswick, terramadre.com.au