I came across this recently so am sharing it; It does give us insight into Trader Joe’s business workings direct from the Source. Actually there are a lot of interesting nuggets of information in the podcast.
guest: Mitch Heeger, Executive Vice President for Marketing and Merchandising. (Wow; he’s been with TJ’s for 42 years! They must take good care of employees there.)
Q: How do you get to know what customers want?
A: It’s a good question. And you know, we pride ourselves on listening to our customers and we always say that, you know customer votes with their dollars. We’re always looking at you know, products that sell really well. We’re always looking at products that may not sell as well. So if something’s not selling as well, we’ll discontinue that product
THAT’S PRETTY CLEAR, so the next time you are wondering why they dropped your favorite item, the answer is it’s nothing personal, “It’s just business”! Sales. Numbers. Period.
Q: Is it possible to get advanced notice if a product’s going to be discontinued?” Mitch: We have tried that before. And it seems like every time we try, we fail. Either the product is in some areas really successful, so stores just jump all over it and it goes to one area. Or stores see that, “Oh, that’s gonna be discontinued. And it’s kind of a bad seller anyway,” so they don’t order it, and it sits in a warehouse
Wait – Trader Joe’s used to make custom sandwiches?!? (In the Mid 80’s it seems)
Q: We know early on you offered made-to-order sandwiches. Is that something you’ll consider bringing back in the future?
Trade Joe’s new product: THAI SWEET GINGER SAUCE. It seems to be flying off the shelves, people seem to love it. I am guessing mostly for all the frozen DUMPLINGS they buy?
I tried it and I can say it’s pretty good (though I do like my homemade dipping sauce). This sauce is quite thick and garlic-y. Ingredients include pickled garlic, coconut sugar, and coriander. Personally I think it needs even more ginger. I added some fresh grated ginger, and I found it very improved. I also found it good with something spicy added (Bomba or Peri-Peri) However even just poured out of the bottle this stuff is good. Serve this with all of your frozen dumplings obviously, either fried or steamed/boiled ones. Its quite good on sautéed tofu. Grilled chicken of course! Grilled shrimp? Perfect for shrimp or any fish for that matter. Even just try this on top of rice or just grilled veggies. It will add flavor.
THAI SWEET GINGER Sauce is $2.49 for a 10 oz bottle.
Yesterday it was out of stock. It’s popular and people are really buying up this stuff!
Is this replacing the red bottle of SWEET CHILI SAUCE? I am afraid thats gone now. I like both sauces and the chili sauce has been a must have item for me for ever. Sigh. I will have to go back to getting CHILI SAUCE in Chinatown. Its a staple condiment in Asian cuisine.
Upset about a discontinued product? Why don’t you let Trader Joe’s know how you feel? I found the area on the TRADER JOES website that seems to let one do that (see link) Give them your feedback and who knows? Just maybe if enough people complain about something. Would they reconsider about a discontinued item IF they see there is enough potential demand? Now of course I have no idea if these will have any affect. Maybe it’s a waste of time. Still I wonder if there’s some number which might get someone at Corporate’s attention….. If they see 25 message probably nothing, but if they saw hundreds and hundred of complaints I wonder ….?
UPDATE (Sep 2022) REPORTS ARE PRODUCT WAS DISCONTINUED ($#$%!)
It’s not very hard to make this yourself…see below for an easy recipe
Turkey Bolognese sauce – You can serve this sauce with PAPPARDELLE noodles (best) but it would work with any pasta. or gnocchi. This is “just sauce” as opposed to another frozen version TJ’s has which comes with noodles and sauce. It’s a “Bolognese” style tomato based sauce (ragu) made with ground turkey instead of pork or beef. $3.29 (12 oz). You can have a dinner for two for about five bucks with this sauce and the Pappardelle noodles ($2) or for about four bucks if you just buy regular pasta ($1).
I tried this making this TJ’s “Just Sauce” along with TJ’s PAPPARDELLE noodles (which BTW are really good). Now as I am a pretty good cook on occasion I’ll make a homemade Bolognese sauce. So for comparison, lets be fair and say my own homemade turkey bolognese sauce is better that this. Not that’s out of the way, TJ’s Turkey Bolognese sauce is not bad. It’s OK, if nothing special. Obviously this is convenient and easy which is it’s main selling point. Its a bit bland for me for one thing. So if you get this sauce you can – and should, fix this sauce up a little bit with adding a few things to it: some garlic and Italian herbs and spices, good olive oil and of course some Parmesan or Pecorino, after defrosting. Simmer it for a few minutes with the additions. Oh and be sure to finish cooking the noodles in the sauce for the last minute or two so they can absorb the sauce a bit. This translates into if the package says “cook 7 minutes or till al dente” you pull it one or two minutes before, toss in a pan with maybe a ladle or two of this sauce and cook it on low until the noodles are done till al dente or to your preferred liking. Then top with a little sauce and cheese. As shown below you can see the pappardelle have absorbed some of the sauce.
I would encourage you to try your hand sometime at making this sauce yourself. Here’s an “easy version” I came up with. I do mean EASY, cheaper, will taste way better of course, and you can freeze some and have it in your waiting for you.
RECIPE – EASY TURKEY BOLOGNESE: Brown a pound of ground turkey (optionally you can use ground beef, or mix of 1/2 pound each ground beef and pork. (Vegetarian? Use Impossible burger). Sauté the meat on high heat in a tablespoon of EVOO. Once the meat is well browned. very seared, add 4 cloves of garlic (crushed), 1/2 a chopped onion (optional: a grated carrot) and turn down to medium heat. Add a spoon of wine, balsamico, stock or just water and a pinch of vinegar to deglaze the bottom of the pan scraping up any brown bits. Saute on low covered for about 3 minutes then add a can of ROASTED TOMATOES (with or without chiles). Rinse out the the can 1/2 way full with milk, and add it. Add a tablespoon of TOMATO PASTE if you have it. Season to taste with salt, pepper and Italian herbs. Simmer on low for 20 minutes. Serve the sauce with a hearty noodle like Pappardelle.
“Pappardelle is a hearty noodle with many uses. Traditionally this hearty noodle is served with high-flavor chunky sauces made from game or pork… We like it with a robust Bolognese. It’s perfect for soaking up the flavorful juices of a pot roast and an ideal noodle for soups…”
Trader Joe’s Pappardelle noodles are good, hearty Italian egg noodles. These are especially perfect with robust chunky sauces, like a ragu Bolognese. A bag is $1.99 (8 oz). Here’s what I learned from making these a few times. To bring out the best of these noodles I suggest you don’t just cook them and put them on a plate and top with sauce. If you are just serving these with butter and cheese that’s OK to do. But if you are serving with a sauce (Bolognese maybe?) these will taste best if you finish cooking them in the sauce for a minute or two at the very end. Meaning pull them out of the water at about 4 or 5 minutes, drain (but not too thoroughly) and finish cooking them with 1/2 your sauce till they are al dente (save a little of the cooking water, which you can add to get the sauce consistency you want). Again grab them after about 4 minutes of boiling, throw them into a pan with about 1/2 cup of sauce per portion, cook and toss gently for a minute or two, until the noodles are cooked to your liking. The noodles will absorb the sauce and all the flavors, and make for a very hearty dish (see my dish, served with some asparagus as a side). Top with a bit more of your (reserved) sauce and a little grating of Parmesan.
Pappardelle with Bolognese sauce is made for each other so that’s definitely a combo you should think of for these noodles. If not a homemade ragu Bolognese you can easily use Trader Joe’s TURKEY BOLOGNESE “just sauce”. I can’t say it’s great, but it’s decent if you don’t want to make your own (see my easy turkey ragu bolognese recipe below)
RECIPE – FAST & EASY TURKEY BOLOGNESE: Brown up a pound of ground turkey (optionally you can use ground beef, or mix of 1/2 pound each ground beef and pork, or Impossible meat for that matter). Sauté on high heat in a tablespoon of EVOO. Once the meat is browned nicely add 4 cloves of crushed fresh garlic, 1/2 a chopped onion (optional: a grated carrot) and turn down to medium heat. Add a spoon of wine, balsamico or just water to deglaze the bottom of the pan scraping up any bits. Saute on low covered for about 3 minutes then add a can of ROASTED TOMATOES (with or without chiles). Rinse out the the can 1/4 to 1/2 way full with milk. Add that in. Season to taste with salt, pepper and Italian herbs. Simmer on low for 20 minutes. Serve the sauce with a hearty noodle like Pappardelle.
Trader Joe’s Sriracha and Roasted Garlic BBQ Sauce
“It’s the new ‘IT’ thing in BBQ sauce. You’re welcome”
It’s exactly as described on the label, “It’s got tang, it’s got heat, it has garlic and it has sweet.”
There is a little heat in this tomato based Organic BBQ sauce and for me the level is just right as well as the the little sweetness balancing out the heat. It’s spicyness would be from the organic red jalapeno pepper puree they use, and the Sweet would be from organic molasses. It has a little bit of hickory smoke flavor but not too much. Reading the label you see things like allspice, clove and habanero. So some complex flavors going on there. To me, everything is perfectly balanced to make a very tangy, tasty BBQ sauce. I really love this stuff. I think this is absolutely perfect for grilled chicken – or grilled tofu for that matter. Put it on at the end for a glaze. It was perfect to make the Pulled Jackfruit Sliders on Aloha Buns (see link below for recipe)
Trader Joe’s Sriracha and Roasted Garlic BBQ Sauce
Trader Joe’s sells this beer which they call “Simpler Times”. It may be one of the most inexpensive beers one can buy, anywhere. $10 bucks for a 12 pack…$5 for a six pack! It tastes like more. This beer is actually quite good.
This Lager choice is surprisingly decent, very easy to drink, crisp and well-balanced and it pairs well with food. Not over hopped. Its more than fine just drunk on its own. Also surprising is it’s ABV of 6.2% alcohol.
It’s brewed by a “family-owned craft beer brewing company in Wisconsin, which has been brewing beer for 150 years”. We found it quite refreshing chilled, tasty and a super bargain for under a buck each even with tax and deposit.
There is also another version of Simpler Times which is a Pilsner which is crisp and light, maybe a bit less flavorful than the Lager but still pretty good. That one may been MIA though.
If you are looking for a decent beer at real bargain, TJ’s SIMPLER TIMES beers are worth trying.
One reader said this: “A very pleasant and enjoyable beer! A welcome relief from most over-hopped American beers. If you like Belgian/Octoberfest malt forward brews, try this one.” Another said, “For the price and quality, this frosty beer can’t be beat!”
They sell a 12 pack for $9.99 (meaning $5 for a six pack) and the price has stayed there – Will tariffs affect this? (aluminum cans). Stay tuned!
UPDATE: AUG 2023 – FYI Some folks have reported that TJ’s might have stopped selling this however I did check recently and saw the Simpler Times Lager was still being carried at my local TJ’s (NYC UWS 72St); I only saw the Lager, didn’t see any of the Pilsner version. These were however placed all the way on the bottom shelf, where they were even a bit hard to see. Price still was $9.99. Less than a buck a beer.
Interesting find at Trader Joe’s. Dwarf Banana Plant in Pot ($14.99)
Classify this in, “Now I’ve seen everything ?!” BTW those perfect yellow bananas you aren’t real, they are cardboard cutouts! Fakes! (or Aspirational) So realistic looking, the pictures even have some black spots!
Will these plants really grow (dwarf?) bananas? I’m curious…. Sign says “needs at least 8 hours direct sunlight/day”
These seem to be pretty popular so I checked them out. My take was they are super cute for one thing if you serve them to someone. Taste wise, they’re pretty good. The chocolate coating was good, the ice cream good, however the one in these is not quite as good as TJ’s “premium” coffee bean ice cream, COFFEE BEAN BLAST. The cones had a slightly stale texture especially at the bottom. So while OK, frankly these wouldn’t make me want to give up a scoop of TJ’s excellent “super premium” Coffee Bean Ice Cream instead of these if given a choice. So while really cute to serve to someone, personally I would prefer a scoop of the better ice cream. The MINI CONES come in a package of 8 for $3.79. If I had a choice of picking this product over a quart of ice cream which is almost the same price don’t think I would get these. I’d get the bigger ice cream, better taste and value, over the “cute factor”.
“Light nutty flavor that is great in oatmeal, smoothies, pancakes and waffles.”
RANT
Unfortunately Trader Joe’s discontinued their Whole Roasted Flax Seeds – a very good product, and replaced it with this: ORGANIC GROUND FLAXSEED MEAL. This is a bit of a bummer as I preferred to buy the whole flax seeds which I would grind myself. Not terribly hard to do. That way is was very fresh. Compared to flax seeds already ground up as in this product.
I ground the up with I a second coffee grinder, I use for grinding up things besides coffee up, like seeds and spices. So with those whole seeds (now gone) I would grind up the whole flax seeds myself. Which is ideal as they contain natural oils which are best fresh (flax seed oil) . I think Whole Foods might sell whole flax seeds?
For the time being, I got this new version that Trader Joe’s replaced that product with. I use flax seeds in a few ways, for mixing into my Kefir, and smoothies and or adding into baked goods or pancakes.
Sadly these pre-ground flax meal is not as good. The taste is off to me. I don’t know if they use Golden or Brown flax seeds. Just not as fresh for one things. I’m sure Trader Joe’s wanted to make it “easy” (as in, “what kind of customer is going to grind them themselves”?) Guess what, it’s doable and was preferable to me at least if you care about the flax meal being super fresh.
Refrigerate this after opening to keep as fresh as possible, maybe even keeping this in the freezer is best?
In short, that discontinued whole flax seed was a better product. Grinding them ourselves guaranteed freshness, which this does not. So another RANT!
One option might be to just buy whole flax seeds (AMAZON) These aren’t toasted but you could do that yourself pretty easily.
Trader Joe’s Rants & Raves (mostly raves, a few rants) 
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