And it is exceedingly attractive on your icon if I may say so…
I learn new things all the time here. Not to belabor the thing, but I’m in that kindof mood… the little onion is almost invisible on my iPhone 5s.
I, for one, welcome our new onion stamped overlords…
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Sheesh. Did I suggest I DON’T?
I have to say that I much preferred Trader Joe’s 30 years ago when it was less of a prepared food store (I think the only prepared item in the freezer case back then was cheese enchiladas).
It was always fun to go there because they were buying out odds and ends from different little European suppliers (400 cases only), so it was an adventure to see what they had. Also if it was good you had to hurry back or else it was gone forever. The French paté de Campagne for example in odd sizes, the California Cheddar in odd sizes, the Gallo salami, the frozen French baked goods, etc. Those are some of the products I remember.
The increase in standardized products from store to store and the great increase in prepared foods for the chain as a whole, while useful for young professionals who can’t cook, have taken a lot of the fun out of the TJ’s experience for me personally.
Finally any TJ’s list of best selling all time priducts that does not begin and end with TWO BUCK CHUCK, just has to be plain wrong.
They have sold an ocean of that stuff, maybe two oceans.
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I would just add that the Fearless Flyer used to be an eagerly anticipated announcement of what was new and exciting based on recent purchases by their buyers (400 cases only !).
If something was good in there you hustled you butt down to the store to get it, because otherwise it was gone.
The Fearless Flyer is now a piece of unabashed shilling junk mail pushing the processed food priducts of the month, nothing newsworthy there.
It would be no better than the rest of the junk mail except it’s still printed on newsprint and therefore more easily recyclable.
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Good question.
In this months edition of the Fearless Flypaper we have such staples as Organic Siracha & Roasted Garlic BBQ sauce, Peanut Butter Pretzels, and I kid you not, Organic Purple Maize Flakes.
The maize thing kinda reminds me of screaming yellow zonkers, except that name was intentionally crazy.
The interior further features gluten free cheese pizza with an organic cauliflower crust, matcha green tea lemonade, and spatchcocked (!) chicken, all things you gotta have everyday.
I too have noticed the traditional Mexican staples like the tamales, the chili rellenos, and enchiladas are getting less shelf space these days and are sometimes missing, but what is the poor shopper to do?
Except come back next week when the truck is in according to the dude in the flowered shirt…
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This sounds like Aldi’s model (I haven’t visited but what I’ve heard, more unique buy out products). I actually didn’t visit Trader Joe’s for years because it seemed like all it was was prepared food. I finally visited a few years ago and still go weekly but it fulfills a specific niche for me and few of the new products are ever relevant to me as I don’t many prepared foods so I go weekly for cheese, some veggies, yogurt and some meat. I wish more of the new products weren’t of the type you mention.
This has also changed in recent years. When I first started shopping there which wasn’t too long ago the FF had exciting new products, now it announces run of the mill products that have been on shelves for months.
Trader Joes started out as an independent retailer in Pasadena, and for the first 25 years or so was mostly a California thing.
Trader Joes was bought out by one of the Aldi brothers in 1979, while the other brother owns the ALDI chain in the US, so both chains operate on similar concepts.
TJ’s have really expanded in the last ten years or so, the number of US stores has quintupled in that time frame.
As they have introduced more stores, the independent quirky nature of the place has kind of been ironed out of it.
You know I took a look at that list again, and whoever wrote that article is an idiot.
The 50 products listed are the 50 products in the flyer this month.
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If that’s true I’d suggest that a mod delete this whole topic since it seems to be based on fake news.
Yeah, it’s not just that site. It’s Trader Joe’s themselves. They released the list and many different sites reported it. I’m not sure if they get paid or not. A quick google search shows headlines like “Trader Joe’s shares its top 50 products” and “The Best Trader Joe’s Products, According to the Brand Itself”
Kind of shady on TJ’s part. Shady or smart, I’m not sure.
Their pita bread seriously sucks.
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Yes it does. Dry awful stuff.
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I don’t know if you can find this on the west coast, but it is worth looking for:
I assume this is not their Middle Eastern Flat Bread. It looks like Pita, comes in a 6 pack, but has never been dry (or sucked) in our experience with it.
I think ours look something like this:
They may not fit exactly the same use (they’re not pockets), but these are always pliable and taste good.
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Yep. That’s it.
