Buying organic food is often a challenge. It costs a lot. It’s sometimes not easy to find. Often, you settle for a peach sporting blemishes or a head of lettuce with a wilt on.

But Digs Dorfman, 40, makes shopping organic an inexpensive joy. His new, very much larger location of The Sweet Potato on Vine Ave. (nestled behind Dundas Ave. W. near Keele St.) has realistic prices, bright colours, a retro vibe and a whole lot of customers.

This isn’t the high-end food emporium that is Whole Foods. Nor is it a mainstream grocery store with rock-bottom deals. Or a retailer selling discount organics that look it. “I want to be in the middle,” he says.

“Produce is where we really shine,” says owner Dorfman of his 18,000-square-foot store, which is not all organic wares, but mostly. It opened last September and stocks its namesake sweet potatoes for a reasonable $1.99 a pound.

Organic avocados, on a delicious-looking display, go for three for $5.

On the produce side, Dorfman favours organic, but will also bring in hydroponics and non-organic local items. The rest of the store similarly offers organic, sustainable or just generally high quality items.

So there’s a vast dairy fridge — which overflows with milk products and many vegan ones too — organic and grass-fed meats, sustainable seafood, a nicely curated cheese selection (again, vegan options show up here), frozen stuff, practical essentials like paper products and even pet food.

The store’s bulk section has an abundant 260 items.

A behind-the-scenes kitchen keeps busy making fresh salsa and salads and the like for a fresh food-to-go fridge. The store also has an ample health and beauty section. Attached to the store is an apothecary loaded with top quality vitamins.

Dorfman’s commitment to low prices and his contacts in the food business keep his prices reasonable. “I like the idea of making organic food not just a privilege of the wealthy,” he says.

Dorman grew up not so wealthy himself. He was raised by a single mother devoted to organic food long before it was in fashion, and travelled far to get such foods on their table. As a Type 1 diabetic, Dorfman learned young that eating right was essential.

The Torontonian studied at Concordia, then did some work in the music business back in Toronto. He needed a bit more to do so, in 2005, he took over a little seasonal market in High Park called the High Park Organic Market, and flourished.

“I was good at it. I have a degree in music, I had no idea I’d be good at selling broccoli,” says Dorfman. (But his grandfather did own the Sunnybrook Supermarket chain, so it is in his blood.)

One couple who were particularly loyal suggested he get into the grocery business more formally, so they could get organic goods year-round. He thought that sounded like a fine idea and opened up The Sweet Potato in 2008 on Dundas St. W.

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The 3,500-square-foot store thrived from the get-go. Dorfman was able to keep his prices low and quality high by tapping into his sources in the food industry — since many individual farmers can’t grow enough for a big store, directly supplying a small operation works better.

Dorfman also credits the store’s success to the arrival of C.J. Chiddy, who started in the office as a temp soon after the store opened and soon rose to office manager, and then store manager.

Chiddy also became the business partner Dorfman never knew he needed. He offered his employee a partnership stake in the company a few years ago “because he deserved it.” Dorfman focuses heavily on the food and marketing while Chiddy devotes himself more to the books and human resources.

By that point, expansion plans were already underway — the place was bursting at the seams. The partners located this old steel pressing plant not far from their Junction location. It had, as a major bonus, a parking lot.

Permits took longer than expected, but now that the food emporium is open, the partners are hatching plans for a second store somewhere in the city — they won’t say where. Another chance to offer tidy-looking produce and “sweet deals” (sales) and generally make organic look easy.