I had a request come in on the Where to Buy Quinoa Facebook page last night, Can anyone tell me where to buy quinoa in Sydney, Australia? I took the question to Twitter, and by morning, I had three leads for finding quinoa in Sydney grocery stores and online.

@Keenonquinoa quinoa is available at most coles/woolworths(safeway) in the healthfood section – coles does their own brand and everything

— Carla (@easyasveganpie) June 12, 2012

Carla recommended two local grocers who carry quinoa.

Coles

Coles lists four Sydney locations on its website as I write this. Carla mentioned in her tweet that Coles has a house brand quinoa in the health foods section.

Woolworths

The site for Woolworths shows 5 stores in Sydney proper, but as it is the largest retailer in the country, I expect it has stores all over New South Wales.

@Keenonquinoa We get our quinoa from santostrading.com.au and it’s all organic!

— Tom Stevens (@fromtomstevens) June 12, 2012

Tom Stevens buys his Australian quinoa online.

Santos Trading

Santos Trading is an online store that sells organic quinoa grown on the Kindred Organics farm in Northern Tasmania.

I am encouraged when I hear of efforts to grow quinoa outside its home in the Andes mountains. Quinoa demand continues to rise as more people worldwide are introduced to this tiny seed with an enormous nutrition profile. This demand is pushing quinoa prices ever higher and causing shortages. I believe as more countries source some of their quinoa at home, prices and availability will stabilize.

Of course, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, and Peru will remain the standard bearers, and buyers with means will continue pay more for authentic and fair trade commodities. However, domestic quinoa will ensure that people at all income levels can afford to benefit from quinoa’s nutrition.

Thank you to magician Tom Stevens, Carla from the Easy As Vegan Pie blog, and Len Zatavsky for their contributions to this post.

Tammi Kibler is a freelance writer and blogger who tweets under the handle @Keenonquinoa and shares easy quinoa recipes for healthy living at the How Do You Cook Quinoa? blog.

Let us know in the comments where you buy your quinoa in Sydney, Australia.

photo courtesy of Chromolux-Transgenic