Trade supply
Supplier for Persian Restaurants — Toronto & the GTA
Persian restaurants across the GTA sourcing dried lime, herbs and spice staples that overlap their pantry can draw on our Levantine range without expecting a dedicated Persian grocery catalogue: lumi (dried black lime, loomi), mint, ground turmeric and cinnamon sticks are all stocked lines that show up in Persian kitchens about as often as Levantine ones.
Said plainly: we are not a saffron or rice house. Saffron threads, basmati rice and several other Persian-specific staples sit outside our catalogue, and we'd rather point that out here than let a Persian kitchen place an order expecting a full pantry match.
من الرفوف From the shelves
فلسطين · Jordan · Palestinian heritage — AbdulRahim Mills
Lumiلومي
فلسطين · Jordan · Palestinian heritage — AbdulRahim Mills
Mintنعنع
فلسطين · Jordan · Palestinian heritage — AbdulRahim Mills
Ground Turmericكركم مطحون
فلسطين · Jordan · Palestinian heritage — AbdulRahim Mills
Cinnamon sticksقرفة كبير
Where the two pantries genuinely overlap
- Lumi (dried black lime, loomi) — a Gulf and Levantine souring agent used whole or ground in stews and rice dishes; the same product under two regional names.
- Mint — dried mint sits in both cuisines' herb shelf, from tea to garnish to stew seasoning.
- Ground turmeric — a baseline spice across Persian rice dishes and Levantine spice blends alike.
- Cinnamon sticks — used in both traditions' warming spice mixes and rice preparations.
What we don't stock — said plainly
Saffron and basmati rice are the two most obvious gaps, and we're not going to substitute a lookalike and call it equivalent. If your kitchen uses safflower as a colour substitute in some preparations, it's worth knowing that safflower and true saffron are genuinely different plants at very different price points — see our note on telling them apart before assuming one covers for the other. For a supplier built specifically around the Persian grocery shelf rather than this overlap, our guide to where a Levantine catalogue overlaps the Persian pantry — and where it doesn't lays out that boundary for grocery buyers in more detail.
Ordering a mixed pantry inquiry
A single inquiry covering herbs, spices and dried lime together quotes and delivers as one order. Where a specific Persian-pantry item isn't in our catalogue, we can sometimes source it on request through our supplier network — worth asking rather than assuming, but not a guarantee.
Buying questions, answered
Do you stock saffron or basmati rice?
No. Those sit outside our catalogue and we won't substitute a lookalike product and present it as equivalent.
What Persian-Levantine pantry overlap exists?
Dried lime (lumi/loomi), mint, ground turmeric and cinnamon sticks are the clearest overlap — all stocked lines that show up in both cuisines.
Is lumi the same as loomi?
Yes — lumi and loomi both refer to dried black lime, the same product under different regional spellings.
Can specific Persian-pantry items be sourced on request?
Sometimes, through our supplier network — it's worth asking on your inquiry, though we can't guarantee every item outside our stocked catalogue.