Harris Farm Markets has opened its biggest store in the country in Sydney’s Leichhardt. And it has a distinctly Italian flavour, says Harris Farm, in keeping with Leichhardt’s heritage.
The new and expanded Norton Plaza address has doubled in size and showcases a “unique Italian-inspired mercato experience”.
Harris Farm says Leichhardt “continues its commitment to offering the inner-west community high-quality fruit and veggies – including locally grown and organic options – and premium gourmet groceries”.
Blessed are the cheesemakers
The new store has the brand’s first on-site cheesemaking facilities, alongside its boutique departments. Sydney-based La Stella produces live cheese daily using cow’s milk from the local Leppington Pastoral Company in Bringelly, NSW. It also uses buffalo milk that it imports from Campania.
Sharing the space with La Stella are craft-cured, fermented and aged meats from Byron Bay’s Salumi. Harris Farm describes Salumi as “a cellar door specialising in boutique Australian producers curated by certified sommelier Tamara Ellison”. Also on site is Bourke Street Bakery’s social-enterprise bakery, The Bread & Butter Project.
Harris Farm has revamped the original Norton St Grocer design to incorporate bespoke local artwork, such as large-scale murals. These include a “flagship piece” by Leichhardt Public School at the entrance. There are also ornate tiles, a Harris Farm-first concept of a Great Wall of Pasta (offering more than 220 pasta products) and a customer-favourite, Vegie Patch.
Italian roots
“We recognised that the link between our brand and the Italian heritage of the neighbourhood is the family dinner table,” Harris Farm Markets co-CEO Tristan Harris said.
“We’re a family with Italian roots and run a family business. So we’ve combined our ethos for sourcing and supplying the best ingredients with beautiful Italian hard-to-find imports to cater to all family gatherings.
“Leichhardt features all the items we know our Drummoyne customers love and more, with a nod to the story and history of the area.”
In line with its sustainable and minimal-waste philosophy, Harris Farm says, its Leichhardt store is plastic-bag free.