Unfortunately Trader Joe’s Traditional CARNITAS (Mexican roasted pork) went Missing In Action not long ago. Now as we all know Trader Joe’s products can go MIA. Many eventually come back as stock comes in.
Then a reader here reported left a Comment that the Carnitas Discontinued. My heart sank as I have loved that product ever since I had first tried it years ago. Its just the best roast pork cooked in a certain way one could never do yourself. So yesterday when I was at Trader Joe’s I tried to investigate. I spoke with a manager at the Front Desk who looked up the Carnitas on the computer. She told me something interesting which I thought I would pass along as it reveals a little bit not just about Trader Joe’s products but their suppliers they work with.
She showed me the Product page for the Carnitas. It says “Not Orderable” – meaning they did not actually discontinue it – however stores can not order it. The product page explained why: “supplier went out of business“. Yikes!
The page adds that they looking for new supplier for the item. Hopefully they will find one, eventually. But unfortunately for the time being we can’t buy Carnitas anymore at Trader Joe’s. I for one am quite Bummed as I loved it. I could even came up with a hack to make Cha Siu with the Roasted Pork.
Anyway if you don’t see something on the shelf, ask the Front Desk if they could check it for you as thats always the best way I’ve found to get actual info.
This new Trader Joe’s item is kind of good news if you are a ORANGE MARMALADE fan. Again, “kind of”
Trader Joe’s used to sell a really good marmalade. Their SEVILLE ORANGE MARMALADE was terrific. Outstanding. A proper marmalade made with Seville Oranges. It was one of the best orange marmalades I ever had. I loved it. Unfortunately Trader Joe’s famously discontinued it (back in 2019). Argh!!.
My review of that marmalade plus the fact that they had discontinued an outstanding product, happens to be one of the most Commented posts on this entire site. One of the biggest RANTS here. Everyone who loved it and used to buy it was pissed as hell that they discontinued it. People were shocked, aghast, angry and dismayed that an excellent product got the ax, and wrote in the Comments here to voice that anger. Over 80 people took the time and effort to Comment and complain.
Well guess what? About 5 years after they discontinued it, Trader Joe’s has just come out with this NEW ITEM. Trader Joe’s Seville Orange Marmalade Fruit Spread (ok, its “marmalade fruit spread”) Frankly I was pretty surprised to see it . I had to try it and review it. While not exactly the same, it is orange marmalade and I do find it very tasty. But! Its a “fruit spread” (meaning not as thick and tight)
The new marmalade fruit spread is a product of Belgium. That older (true) marmalade was from Canada.
So how is it? Its a bit of a mixed bag. It is orange marmalade made from Seville oranges and actually tasty. Is it as good as the old one? There are some obvious differences, the first being the added words “fruit spread”.
A) VISCOSITY: This is looser than that original marmalade. A “fruit spread” is not as tight / thick as jam or marmalade. This contains apple juice concentrate for one thing. It is much less viscous (thick) Runnier than a true marmalade.
B) SIZE. The original Seville Orange marmalade came in a big jar of about 17 ounces. This jar is just 7.5 ounces. Less than half the size of that old marmalade. Yet it costs about the same. So twice the price of the old one, and as less thick so will you use a bit more?
The ingredients on the old one (pictured below with a yellow green label) were: SUGAR, SEVILLE ORANGE PEEL, SEVILLE ORANGE JUICE. Plus pectin , the natural gelling agent in fruit.
(this is the label on the old jar of marmalade from 2019)(label of the new version, marmalade fruit spread)
This version lists sugar and Seville oranges but alsoapple juice from concentrate as the ingredient after Seville oranges. Which is why I assume this is described as ORANGE MARMALADE FRUIT SPREAD and not simply “Marmalade”. Now Trader Joe’s says something about this, and even puts a positive spin on it….
“A great marmalade is a bit of a balancing act. First, you’ve got to balance the sweetness of the fruit juice and sugar involved with the tartness of the citrus and bitterness of the orange rind. Then, you’ve got to find just the right balance of fruit and rind within the physical makeup of the marmalade—too much fruit, and it’s more like a jelly, too much rind, and it’s an overly-chewy mess. Luckily, when we decided to bring in a seasonal Seville Orange Marmalade Fruit Spread to our shelves, we had some real experts in our corner. Made by the same supplier in Belgium who previously demonstrated their mastery of balance with our Apricot Cardamom and Green Tea Yuzu spreads, this sweet, citric, and properly proportioned Marmalade is a triumph of harmonious flavors and textures on the palate.” – Trader Joe’s
So while I I like the taste of TJ’s new “orange marmalade fruit spread” of course as a fruit spread it’s not as thick as it would be called just “orange marmalade”. I’m glad I can buy something akin to orange marmalade at Trader Joe’s again, period. But. Its a tiny jar. My jar went fast. Again, so a bit of a mixed bag.
Cost: This small 7.5 oz jar will go much faster than the 17 oz one of course especially as its not as thick and concentrated. The new marmalade costs more than double what the old one cost. Granted it was 2019 but the old bigger jar went for $3.50.
Some people might actually like this “marmalade fruit spread” who may not like the (thicker) more intense versions of marmalade they might have tried in the past. There is a whole “thick cut” versus “thin cut” camp. I suspect TJ’s is trying to please more people with this version? If you are a marmalade lover, at least this is worth trying, even if not “ideal” for the true English marmalade lover.
I discovered this link on Trader Joe’s website and just want to share it to make sure every one knows about how to contact them and voice your opinion.
Now of course who knows if it will have any effect? But if they get enough complaints and feedback about some product they got rid of, perhaps they might even reconsider. It may be worth a try, you have nothing to lose and at the very least you get to have your say.
As they say, one catches more flies with honey than with vinegar, so probably best to be a bit polite.
(Update Jan 2025: M.I.A. for some time. Are they Out of stock or possibly Discontinued?) March 2025L Well its official from Trader Joe’s. UNFORTUNATELY THIS PRODUCT WAS DISCONTINUED ) Too bad as these were really good!
Trade Joe’s has quite a few, cooked, ready to eat, chicken items in the refrigerated section. Some of those are chicken breasts that have been already sliced . These however are whole cooked boneless chicken breasts, plain and simple, ready to use how ever you like. “All Natural, Minimally Processed…”
So convenient when you don’t feel like cooking but want a fast, easy protein. My review of these is that these boneless breast are super tasty. They are as juicy as possible, as they have not already been cut up, plus they are sealed up with the cooking juices. These are of course super convenient to have in the fridge. They will last at least a week, maybe more. For longer term storage you can freeze them and leave them overnight in the fridge to defrost.
Of course you are paying a bit more here per pound for boneless breasts as naturally one pays for the convenience of having it prepped and cooked. However the taste and quality is quite high. I even am pretty sure too these have been cooked Sous Vide (more on this later) Inside the package are four vacuum sealed pouches containing one perfect looking 4 ounce boneless breasts of chicken like you can see here. They even have grill marks on them, meaning they got some time over a grill.
Some people look down on boneless chicken breast, and think of them as dry and flavorless, but I promise you the way this is cooked proves otherwise. These are perfectly juicy.
My hunch how they make these: I believe these are cooked two ways: First they grill the outside a tiny bit to get those attractive grill marks but then they vacuum seal the breasts and cook them Sous Vide.Naturally I am just guessing but these kinds of pouches look exactly like how sous vide food looks. I also say this especially at how perfect the cook is on these boneless breasts. These are perfectly cooked. Juicy, tender, flavorful. If you are in the food game, let us know in the Comments if you too think these are cooked sous vide.
I gave one of these to my neighbor to taste. She thought they were delicious and immediately said she would be sure to buy them the next time she goes to TJ’s.
“Fully Cooked” – To me this is cooked just perfectly a point. In French cooking “à point” means “exactly right” meaning being “ideally cooked, no more, no less”. These breasts are just cooked just like that. Not overcooked. They are plump and juicy and there is a bit of natural cooking juices in the pouch – which you should be sure to save! This little bit of juice/stock can go over the chicken.
I sliced up a breast and ate it right out of the package as again, these are “fully cooked”. The cook on this is what you might call “medium rare”. If you’re someone who says they like chicken breast cooked until its “well done” you may not find it . Trust me it is. Its Perfect and is done like this so you can reheat it as they state. I put the sliced breast meat on top of a salad and it was delicious. Especially with some Magnificsauce on top. The package states you can “Reheat” this by simmering the pouch in water (or microwaving it). They suggest “simmering for 10-12 minutes”. It comes cooked “a point” so honestly I wonder if simmering this for 12 minutes might ruin it by overcooking it. I would simmer for 5 minutes tops ! Maybe if this is actually sous vide, 12 minutes might be OK. But once again it is already fully cooked. Though “just cooked” in the center which is personally the way I make boneless breasts. Your call on this point.
So I found these breasts very good and very tasty. The downside is of course the price is $9.99 for 1 pound of chicken however of course you don’t have to lift a finger to cook or prep it. You are paying for the convenience of having it ready to use, plus lets face it in a nice deli that sells cooked boneless breasts I’m sure would pay that much a pound if not more for cooked boneless breasts of this quality: perfect.
So when you want a perfect breast of chicken all ready this is very convenient.
The nutrition label says one breast is 150 calories with a whopping 27 Grams Protein and only 4.5 gr of fat. Sounds pretty healthy, no?
This was a really good product but sadly Trader Joe’s stopped carrying them (was discontinued)! Unfortunately. Many people aren’t happy about that
For Archival Purposes…… the original post about these
“SAVE PAPER, REDUCE WASTE”
These cleaning cloths are strong and quite absorbent. We’ve tested these out in our kitchen and are finding them to be pretty useful. They seem to me a bit like those orange “Chamois” cloths one finds at the dollar store? The good ones that is. These Trader Joe’s viscose cloths are convenient to buy and are not out of line priced at $2.99 for two cloths in the package (though I wish they were a little bigger). We’re mainly using them for kitchen counters and the like. They do absorb a lot even when wet. You just wring them out till damp and they absorb a ton of liquid again. These are useful and “eco”, saving some paper towel usage. I would buy these again.
UPDATE – Everyone complains about these being DISCONTINUED! (Argh!!!) I haven’t tried these but Amazon has some kind of general cleaning cloths fairly cheap that might work for this usage : https://amzn.to/3DIHmJy
This is not really a review, because I never tried this. Personally I would never, ever buy something named “Pumpkin Spice Hummus” as I consider even the name a crime against nature. In Arabic the word “hummus” means “chick peas”. Hummus has garlic, lemon and tahini – and yes spices (like Salt, Pepper, Cumin or Allepo Pepper) Certainly not Chocolate and not these “flavors of pumpkin and warm Fall spices, vanilla and a touch of maple syrup“. If you want pumpkin pie filling, buy that. Don’t dishonor “Hummus” by making it into pumpkin pie filling with some chickpeas thrown in. So I can’t believe they make and sell this stuff, while at the same time deciding to pull many great Trader Joe’s products (too many to list) which are discontinued to make room for new products – like the Pumpkin Spice Hummus.
There. Having ranted enough about this and getting it off my chest, guess what? I saw the case today in TJ’s where this is sold and ….It was all sold out! It’s popular. People do dig this stuff – and I am clearly in the minority as a “hummus purist”. Give me the Roasted Garlic Hummus anyday; that’s the humus I will stick with.
Why Americans Go Crazy For Pumpkin Flavored Stuff is an interesting and fun read!
I came across these two links here recently and want to share them for the insight into Trader Joe’s and discontinued products. Now to we consumers, it may be “my favorite item” at Trader Joe’s. But to Trader Joe’s “its just business”. You may think of Trader Joe’s as a supermarket but it is not a “supermarket”. Think of them as a specialty food vendor. Compared to a regular supermarket, which may stock 40,000 items, an average Trader Joe’s store only stocks 4,000 items. So limited shelf space. If a item doesn’t sell enough Units, to the decision makers at Trader Joe’s, that is a found to be a “slow sales item”. These items will likely be discontinued and be replaced with some other product. We, the consumer have little or nothing to do with it, other than the sales numbers. Read the transcript below of the INSIDE TRADER JOE’S podcast to get insight into how they decide these things.
Its not happy news for us consumers. Unfortunate that’s the way it is. Pretty much “don’t take it personal, it’s just business”. This is why even when I love an item, I know in the back of my mind “don’t fall in love”… because it may dissapear one day. Or if I really like it, I may buy a few of them if they can last….
“What can you do if your favorite TJ’s item is discontinued? Honestly, there’s not much you can do to bring your favorite groceries back once they’re gone. However, if you want to talk about it, there’s the Trader Joe’s Discontinued 🙁 Facebook group (and yes, the sad face is part of the group’s name).”
Tara: Hey, Matt, what happened to the Peach Salsa? Matt: In case you missed it, Trader Joe’s Spicy, Smoky Peach Salsa, it was discontinued. Tara: Yeah, I noticed cuz it’s my favorite salsa of all time and now I can’t buy it. This is a good topic for another I-C-Y-M-I Edition of Inside Trader Joe’s. Matt: I-C-Y-M-I, in case you missed it. Tara: These mini-episodes give us an opportunity to address some of the questions our crew members hear from customers most often. Matt: And keep asking. The crew loves to answer questions. Matt: Thinking about getting rid of products, discontinuing products. More often than not, it’s not an indictment of the product itself. Tara: What gives? Matt: Well, you know, oftentimes we’ll use a phrase and we probably overly rely on it, slow sales. What does that really mean? What it means is that there weren’t enough customers interested in buying the Peach Salsa to have it continue to make sense. Because if you don’t have high volume or growing volume, the costs of producing and handling a slow selling product are such that it doesn’t make business sense for us. And if you think about how small our stores are, and on a relative basis, they’re smaller than most grocery stores. And how few products we have? On a comparative basis, we have a lot fewer products than other grocery stores. We just physically don’t have room to carry things that aren’t popular, as disappointing as that is to hear and experience. Tara: So there’s another piece of this, Matt, that I think is kind of important. And it’s what we don’t do to put products on our shelves. Matt: How so? Tara: So a lot of retailers work with the companies that make their products, the Consumer Packaged Goods Companies, to put products on shelves using something called slotting fees. So the Consumer Packaged Goods, the CPG Companies pay the retailer, the grocery store for shelf space. So even if a product doesn’t sell very well, and even if you see it in the store and it’s covered with dust, it’s not going anywhere until the Consumer Packaged Goods Company decides it doesn’t make sense to produce that product anymore. Matt: Ah, now I get it. It’s the classical play of making money anywhere other than with a customer buying something at the cash register. Tara: Right. And at Trader Joe’s, the only way we make money is when the customer buys something at the cash register. So apparently I didn’t buy enough Peach Salsa. But that means that that product hasn’t earned its place on our shelves. We’re not getting paid by the producer of that product to keep it on the shelves. And our business model says let’s develop something new that might sell better and make more customers happy. Matt: And that approach can feel and sound so cold-hearted, and yet it’s important that we maintain our objectivity about what really is or isn’t working, what really isn’t selling because ultimately customers do let us know if they like something or not. Tara: Yeah, and I’ll be honest, when I went to buy it that one day a few weeks ago, I was just so sad standing there in front of the salsa selection in the store. And then I thought, okay, I’ll try something new. The great thing about discontinued products is it almost always means there’s something new coming soon. You can always find new things on our shelves. A lot of our stores have like a new product section where they’ll highlight a whole bunch of things that have recently shown up in the stores. It’s kind of fun to try something new. Matt: So I see why I, and maybe this is the missing salsa edition, but if you’re looking for the Double Roasted Salsa, which was one of my favorites, which was sadly discontinued, you might consider trying the Guajillo Salsa, which I find to be a nice albeit slightly spicier replacement. Tara: And I also have taken to the Pineapple Salsa to replace the Peach Salsa if I’m in the mood for something that has a little sweetness to it. So, there are options. We, you know, we don’t have every product in the world, but we do have some good options. Matt: We work hard, the product development team, the tasting panel group, they work on things by tasting them. They think these things make sense. They think that they’re delicious. They think they’re worth customers’ time and attention. And if that doesn’t pan out in that way, well, we’ve gotta move on. Of course, there can be reasons other than slow sales. Um, if there are quality issues or that we determined that the value that we once had is no longer as strong. If we are facing different competitive pressures on a given product. And yet, overwhelmingly, the reason for things to be discontinued at Trader Joe’s is a lack of interest, slow sales. Tara: Yeah. Tara: I’m Tara Miller. Matt: And I’m Matt Sloan. Tara: In case you missed it. That’s why your favorite product might have been discontinued it. Thanks for listening.
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 ….?
Ode to yet another discontinued Trader Joe’s product, a classic rant about an excellent TJ product, which they discontinued! Some people thought this was the best marinara sauce on the market. Many were bumbed to learn TJ’s Discontinued their favorite tomato sauce! So why am I writing about this now? Well the other day I happened to be clearing out my pantry and found I had a can of this Marinara way in the back. I opened it and tasted it and was pretty shocked to see how good it was. This marinara is, or should we say was, a terrific sauce. For one thing it’s not super smooth, it’s full of chunks of tomatoes like a homemade sauce you had put together. The current glass jars of Marinara sauce that Trader Joe’s replaced this with are smooth. I made a pasta dish using this Marinara and the dish turned out really well. I made a pizza with it a few days later which also turned out great. So yes, it’s a crime TJ’s got rid of this great and very useful sauce. Mind boggling. So just posting this Rant and sorry you won’t be able to find this really great product anymore . At least TJ’s still sells the 28 oz cans of crushed or diced tomatoes which will make you a great sauce with little effor. I always have cans of tomatoes in the pantry as well as tomato paste (can and/or tube) So if you are inclined to make your own sauce, which is not hard and I think is worth the little effort it takes. Here’s an EASY HOMEMADE MARINARA RECIPE from NatashasKitchen, link below.
TIP (1) IMO adding a tablespoon of tomato paste at the start will make it even better (2) My mom taught me useful advice: Just double up the recipe when you cook some things because for the same amount of effort you will have another meal. You can also freeze the extra batch.
Pizza from scratch; made using this terrific marinara sauce
(UPDATE: UNFORTUNATELY TRADER JOE’S DISCONTINUED THIS PRODUCT !)
I originally gave this product a RAVE when I reviewed it. Now I give TJ’s a RANT for another really good product they discontinued. See the Comments section below at how many people wrote in who are pissed at this being discontinued. Also look there as well how you can find almost this exact product if you really want it – though that will cost you (argh!) The reality I’ve observed is that Trader Joe’s has discontinued many kinds of rice and grains, they used to carry for just one example, the very good Stone Ground Grits they used to stock. Also the Calrose Rice. That was my Asian rice staple I now have to go pay twice as much for in Asian specialty stores….
(for archival purposes – product discontinued since writing this)
Trader Joe’s Brown Rice Medley – “A delicious blend of long grain brown rice, black barley and daikon seeds”
This is a tasty improvement over plain brown rice. A blend and tasty mix of parboiled brown rice plus two slightly unusual additions – black barley and daikon seeds. Who even knew you can eat daikon seeds? I didn’t until discovering this product.
When I cooked up this rice blend for the first time, it got a seal of approval from both myself and my wife as it made an interesting, nutty tasting rice side dish. However I found Trader Joe’s instructions need a tiny bit of modification regarding liquid amounts. I suggest less liquid than they say on the package. So instead of the 2 1/2 cups they state I say try 2 1/4 cups of water or stock (to 1 cup of rice). For a ratio of slightly more than 2:1. Also if using just water, you should add a bit a salt. Butter is a good idea. Letting it sit (without peeking!) at the end for 10 minutes is important so all the liquid gets fully absorbed. Fluff up with a fork when done. Hitting this with a little more butter is a good too. Possibly some chopped parsley? Serve with your favorite main. Its $1.99 for a 1 pound bag. Worth trying. PS If you find it a bit too cooked for your tastes or mushy, the next time you make it reduce the cooking to 30 minutes (instead of the 35 mins written on the package). The brown rice in this has been par-boiled. Normally regular brown rice needs about 45 minutes.
NB: This post has gotten more Comments then any other post! A lot of people have written in to complain about this item being discontinued. One reader found it available from another supplier online (though at a pretty steep price !). Read through the Comments for the details
Alternatives: TJ’s BROWN JASMINE RICE & BROWN BASMATI RICE– regular brown rice just takes 10 more minutes than this mix which had parboiled rice. Also consider TJ’s WILD RICE; you can cook some brown rice and blend it with cooked wild rice for another good rice blend. ALSO – They have an excellent rice blend called HARVEST GRAIN BLEND this is good on it’s own or blend some of that cooked with cooked brown rice.
I did locate “DAIKON SEEDS” on Amazon. I don’t see why you couldn’t mix these into brown rice? Here’s a link to the DAIKON SEEDS (Amazon)
Trader Joe’s Rants & Raves (mostly raves, a few rants) 
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