Auntie’s Supply: Sauces, mixes and memories of home

Auntie’s Supply: Sauces, mixes and memories of home

Christina Pack of Auntie’s Supply (Photo supplied)

By Althea Manasan
The Philippine Reporter

Like many people during the pandemic, Christina Pack found herself cooking a lot more at home — especially Asian food. But living in downtown Toronto, she had to travel to ethnic grocery stores on the city’s outskirts just to find all the ingredients she wanted.

“I just noticed that I had to go to a lot of different grocery stores to make a dish, whether it was a Vietnamese dish or Filipino,” she said. She started to think about how she might be able to create a one-stop shopping experience for all her favourite products.

Pork & Egg Siopao by Siopao King
(Photo: auntiessupply.com)

Earlier this year, when she saw a retail space for lease at the trendy Stackt Market near Toronto’s Fashion District, just across the street from where she lives, she took it as a sign.

“There’s rarely a space that fits within my budget that’s open on such a busy street like Bathurst,” Pack said, “and so I might as well take a leap of faith.”

Last June, she officially opened her shop, Auntie’s Supply, a convenience store offering a curated selection of pantry goods you’ll find in any Asian kitchen — along with a few more novel products.

Familiar staples like Spam and Mang Tomas All Purpose Sauce sit on shelves alongside locally made micro-batch hot sauces from Mama Joo’s, created by a Korean-Canadian, and a chai concentrate from Spice Girl Eats, by Toronto entrepreneur Becca Pereira.

“I think the essence of Auntie’s Supply is we want the community to be where they feel like they can recreate their food memories and make new ones,” Pack said. “We’re using this store and our social media…as a channel for conversation about how we [can] reconnect with our immigrant family background and how we can preserve that.”

At the store, you’ll also find Saigon pancake mix from Micro Pharms, a Vietnamese-American-owned business; Fly by Jing Sichuan chili crisp, a popular condiment made by a Chinese-born chef based in Los Angeles; as well as a line of specialty wellness drinks from a company called Droplet, founded by a group of young Filipino-American women.

“One thing I noticed is that there are a lot of Asian millennials that might be vegan or care more about small-batch sauces or want a gluten-free sauce,” said Pack. “So I just wanted to create a space for the newer lifestyles, but also have a lot of the essentials that we grew up with.”

This blend of old world and new reflects Pack’s own diasporic upbringing. A child of immigrants, the 32-year-old was born in Oxnard, California, about two hours west of Los Angeles. Her father is originally from Tigbawan, Iloilo, while her mother is from Bocaue, Bulacan. The couple immigrated to the States because of her father’s work in the U.S. Navy.

“I grew up in a very stereotypical Catholic family, a big family. I have five older brothers, two are half-brothers, and so a lot of food was made in the house,” Pack said. “I would say it was a really big thing in my household…I got to try a lot of different dishes, very regional-based Filipino food as well as the standard dishes.”

Snack Attack Gift Set (Photo: auntiessupply.com)

Pack worked in Silicon Valley for eight years, before moving to Toronto with her husband, Anwar, in late 2019. She still works in tech — currently in cyber security for a software company — juggling her day job with the demands of the store.
She says her experiences managing partnerships in her tech career has helped her when it comes to developing relationships with local businesses in the city. Auntie’s Supply has become a sort of hub for Asian-owned small businesses, many of which exist mainly online. The store has given them an opportunity to offer their products in a retail space.

“I spend a lot of time networking and meeting a lot of Asian-owned businesses, because I know the biggest challenge they have when they sell their food online is that they don’t have a space, and they have to deliver their food to multiple locations during the weekend,” Pack said.

During the summer, Auntie’s Supply hosted pop-up events every weekend, featuring items like black sesame cream cakes from Soft Dough Co., kaya-glazed cinnamon rolls from Baker Rae, and matcha-flavoured silvanas from Tito Parley’s.

With winter setting in and foot traffic on the decline, the store now features a product from a local business every month. For December, they’re offering handcrafted steamed buns filled with pork and egg from Siopao King Good, a small business based in Scarborough. Pack says they’ve been having trouble keeping it on the shelves. “We try to make it last the whole week, but it just sells out so fast,” she said.

On Saturday, Dec. 18, Auntie’s Supply will be hosting their first Family Style Holiday Market at Toronto’s Parkdale Hall, where they’ll showcase about 35 Asian-owned and Asian-allied businesses. Among the vendors will be A1 Toronto, a Filipino-Canadian-owned vintage clothing and streetwear company; Apothegeri, a candle business based in Parkdale, featuring scents inspired by fresh pandesal and noche buena; and Asukal Desserts, which creates confections with Filipino and Canadian flavours.

“It’s basically a market for the Asian community to find a lot of the small businesses that they follow on Instagram all in one place, and just bring everyone together in the community,” said Pack.

As for the future of Auntie’s Supply, Pack says she hopes to eventually expand to a few more locations and wants to immerse herself in the brand full time. She also wants to help people explore different types of Asian cuisine, including ones that are not as familiar in Toronto, like Lao food.

“I would love to throw more events that educate people on the different cuisines, and also help expose these local businesses a little bit more.”

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(Photo: auntiessupply.com)