4.5 stars I think. It only fails to make 5 stars because that's what I've given its neighbour, Tutti Frutti which kind of wins on price in general. Essence of Life is seriously good though. It has everything! Fresh food, bulk bins, bars, tea, coffee, baking ingredients, nut butters, every type of natural sweetener, chocolate... The list goes on! They have a particularly well stocked and nicely organized supplement section and actually seem to know about their stock. I've priced some of the Vega stuff and they are miles under the prices at Loblaws, Whole Foods etc. I also love it that they have lots of single sachets of the protein powders/greens mixes etc at the cash register. You get to try before committing to a big tub!
Staff are nice and helpful and it definitely feels less cramped than Tutti Frutti; however the aisles are still pretty tight and it tends to be busy so be prepared to suck in your stomach to let people pass by. It's also cramped because it's so jam-packed full of everything you could want. Between TF and here there is absolutely no need to pay Whole Paycheque (Foods) prices. And this feels like a community too. Love it!