Short answer: natto, water kefir, rye flour, Baja Gold salt and wild Alaskan salmon are all stocked at Unique Wholefood in Leichhardt and Crows Nest, with Sydney delivery and click and collect from both stores. The long answer is below — brands, sizes, and what to check on the label so you don't buy the wrong thing.
Every product named here was in stock when this was written. We have also put in the bits that usually catch people out: the mirin that isn't really mirin, the salmon that isn't really wild, the kefir that has been pasteurised after fermenting so the cultures are gone.
On this page
- Kefir — milk, coconut and water
- Natto
- Rye flour and real rye bread
- Wild Alaskan salmon
- Baja Gold sea salt
- Bone broth
- Fibre — psyllium, chia, flax
- Miso, mirin and the Japanese pantry
- Sauerkraut, kimchi and tempeh
- Teff, ghee, manuka and biltong
- Common questions
Kefir — milk, coconut and water
Kefir is milk, or sugar water, fermented with kefir grains — a live culture of bacteria and yeasts. It is tarter and thinner than yoghurt. The word covers three quite different drinks, and people often buy the wrong one.
| Type | Base | Texture | Dairy? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Milk kefir | Cow or goat milk | Pourable, tart, like thin yoghurt | Yes |
| Coconut kefir | Coconut milk | Thick and spoonable | No |
| Water kefir | Sugar water | Light, fizzy, like a soft drink | No |
Milk kefir. Babushka's Organic Kefir Natural 500g and the 750g tub. If cow's milk doesn't suit, Jannei Goat's Milk Kefir 1L is made in the Southern Highlands.
Coconut kefir. Living Coconut Coconut Kefir 500ml, also in cacao and raspberry. Amphore Coconut Milk Kefir 400g is two ingredients — organic coconut milk and a live vegan culture — and it is cultured here in Sydney.
Water kefir. Peace Love Vegetables Kefir Berry Mandarin 360ml, fermented with an eleven-strain culture.
What to check: if it is on a shelf rather than in a fridge, the cultures are almost certainly not live. Heat-treating after fermentation gives a long shelf life and kills the thing you are paying for. Ours are refrigerated for that reason.
Natto
Natto is whole soybeans fermented with Bacillus subtilis. Sticky, stringy, powerfully savoury, eaten in Japan over hot rice with mustard and soy — usually at breakfast. It is one of the genuinely hard things to buy in Sydney.
We stock Dai's Natto, made in Australia:
- Kotsubu 70g — small bean, milder, the one to start on
- Chu/Ootsubu 70g — larger bean, firmer bite
- Kotsubu 220g and Chu/Ootsubu 220g — family sizes
- Frozen Organic Chu/Ootsubu 80g
What to check: natto keeps fermenting in the fridge and gets stronger with age. Buy the small bean first. If you want to slow it down, freeze it — the texture holds up fine.
Rye flour and real rye bread
Rye is the grain most often missing from a supermarket baking aisle. We carry 21 rye lines across flour, flakes and bread.
Flour — Lotus Rye Flour 1kg, Ceres Organics Wholemeal Rye Flour 600g, Chef's Choice Organic Wholegrain Rye Flour 500g and Bob's Red Mill Dark Rye Flour 567g.
Flakes — Lotus Rolled Rye Flakes 450g, for porridge and muesli.
Bread — Healthybake Wholemeal Rye 800g, Farmhouse Rye 600g and Rye Grid 700g; Ancient Grains Rye Grid Sourdough 700g, Rye Devon Port 900g and Rye Roasted Seed 680g.
What to check: rye contains gluten. A rye sourdough is not a gluten free bread, whatever else is said about it. Long-fermented rye sourdough is a different thing from a fast commercial loaf, but it is not coeliac-safe.
Wild Alaskan salmon
Almost all salmon on a supermarket shelf is farmed Atlantic. Wild-caught Pacific salmon is a different fish — leaner, deeper in colour, and sold mostly tinned or jarred.
- Good Fish Alaskan Salmon Fillets in Extra Virgin Olive Oil, 195g jar
- Good Fish Alaskan Salmon in Olive Oil, 120g tin
- Good Fish Alaskan Salmon in Brine, 120g tin
- Fish4Ever Pacific Red Salmon 170g and Pink Salmon Fillets 160g
- Smoked, from the fridge — Harris Smokehouse Wild Smoked Salmon 100g and Hot Smoked Wild Salmon 140g
What to check: if the tin doesn't say wild, or doesn't name the species — sockeye, pink, red, coho, king — assume it is farmed. "Atlantic salmon" is farmed by definition; there is no meaningful wild Atlantic fishery left.
Baja Gold sea salt
Harvested from a tidal estuary in Baja California Sur, Mexico, and dried in the sun rather than washed and refined. It has a soft, slightly damp texture and a rounder, more mineral flavour than standard table salt.
Baja Gold Sea Salt Fine 454g for cooking and baking. Baja Gold Mineral Salt Grain 454g for a grinder or for finishing a dish.
What to check: unrefined salt clumps. That is normal and it is the point — refined salt stays free-flowing because an anti-caking agent has been added.
Bone broth
We keep around 99 broth and stock lines — more than most grocers carry in total. Concentrates keep in the fridge for weeks and go further than a carton.
- Best of the Bone Broth Concentrate Original 390g
- Gevity RX Bone Broth Body Glue Natural 200g and Lemon & Herb
- Nutra Naturals Chicken Bone Broth Concentrate 250g
Ready-to-drink pouches and frozen broths sit alongside them.
Fibre — psyllium, chia, flax
The plain versions, in useful sizes, rather than flavoured sachets.
- Honest to Goodness Organic Psyllium Husks 400g, or the 3kg if you use it daily
- Mindful Foods Chia Seeds 350g and 700g, or Chef's Choice Organic Chia 1kg
- Qenda Fibre Original 450g, a blended option
What to check: psyllium thickens within about a minute. Stir it into water and drink it straight away, then follow with more water.
Miso, mirin and the Japanese pantry
Unpasteurised miso lives in the fridge and keeps for months. Ceres Brown Rice White Miso 300g is the mild one for dressings and soup. Red Miso 300g is saltier and deeper, better for braises and glazes. Rice Culture Organic Brown Rice Miso 220g is made in Australia.
Mirin is where most pantries go wrong. A lot of what is sold as mirin is aji-mirin — a seasoning built from glucose syrup, water and a little alcohol, sweetened to imitate the real thing. True mirin is brewed from glutinous rice, rice koji and shochu, and the ingredients list says so.
We stock Carwari Organic Mirin 250ml, Spiral Foods Mirin 250ml and 500ml, and Ceres Organics Mirin 250ml.
What to check: read the ingredients, not the front. If glucose or corn syrup is near the top, it is a seasoning, not mirin.
Sauerkraut, kimchi and tempeh
Raw, unpasteurised ferments, all from the fridge: Love Organics Ruby Kraut 440g, Fennel Kraut 440g, Achara Kraut 440g, and Kehoes Traditional Kimchi Juice 250ml.
Tempeh — whole soybeans bound by a culture, firmer and nuttier than tofu: Nutrisoy Tempeh Plain 300g, Tasty 300g, Mild Spice 300g, Tempeh Burgers 200g, and the Primasoy range including Japanese Tempeh Original 225g and Organic Tempeh Tamari 225g.
What to check: shelf-stable kraut in a jar on a dry shelf has been pasteurised. Live kraut is refrigerated, and the brine will fizz slightly when you open it.
Teff, ghee, manuka and biltong
Shorter lists, same principle — we carry them because nobody else nearby does.
Teff. Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Teff Flour 680g, Naturis Teff Bread 680g, and three teff-and-quinoa pastas from Pasta Natura — penne, fusilli and conchiglie.
Ghee. Fourteen lines. Sol Organics Grass Fed Ghee 1kg and 685g, Golden Ghee 325g, and Niulife Coconut Ghee if you want the dairy-free version.
Manuka honey. Sixty-four lines across MGO grades. The MGO number is a measured methylglyoxal concentration; a jar with no number on it is not telling you much. Honey →
Biltong and jerky. Twenty-nine lines — Barbell Foods, Chief Organic, Nativ Meats, Naked Jerky, Kooee, and DJ & A's shiitake jerky for a meat-free version. Jerky →
Where to find us
Leichhardt — 51–53 Flood St. Open 8am–7pm daily. The bigger store, with the wider range.
Crows Nest — 25 Falcon St. Open 8am–8pm daily. Set up for a full weekly shop in one place.
Both stores: (02) 9564 1679 — option 1 for Leichhardt, option 2 for Crows Nest.
Sydney home delivery is available, and click and collect runs from both stores. Store details and hours →
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Common questions
Where can I buy natto in Sydney?
At Unique Wholefood in Leichhardt and Crows Nest. We stock Dai's Natto, made in Australia, in 70g and 220g sizes plus a frozen organic 80g. Start with the small bean (Kotsubu) — it is milder.
What is the difference between milk kefir and water kefir?
Milk kefir is fermented dairy: tart, pourable, a little like thin yoghurt. Water kefir is fermented sugar water: light, fizzy and completely dairy free. Coconut kefir sits between them — no dairy, but thick like milk kefir.
Where can I buy rye flour in Sydney?
We carry wholegrain and dark rye flour from Lotus, Ceres Organics, Chef's Choice and Bob's Red Mill, plus rolled rye flakes and rye sourdough loaves from Healthybake and Ancient Grains.
Can you buy wild Alaskan salmon in Australia?
Yes, mostly tinned or jarred. We stock Good Fish Alaskan salmon in extra virgin olive oil and in brine, and Fish4Ever Pacific red and pink salmon. Wild smoked salmon from Harris Smokehouse is in the fridge.
How do I tell real mirin from imitation mirin?
Read the ingredients. True mirin lists glutinous rice, rice koji and shochu. Imitation mirin, sold as aji-mirin or mirin-style seasoning, is built on glucose or corn syrup with added alcohol and salt.
Is everything at Unique Wholefood organic?
No, and we would rather say so plainly. Our fresh produce is certified organic through grower certification. Across the rest of the range many individual products are certified organic and say so on the pack — but the store as a whole is not certified, and it is worth reading the label rather than assuming.
Do you deliver?
Yes, across Sydney. Click and collect is available from both Leichhardt and Crows Nest.
