Trader Joe’s Rants & Raves (mostly raves, a few rants)

PRICE INCREASES AT TRADER JOE’S

First let me focus on a single item, Trader Joe’s Mandarin Orange Chicken which, year after year is historically Trader Joe’s most popular selling item. The price on this has been $4.99 for as long as I can think of.

The other day, I overhead a customer complaining to a Trader Joe’s employee about the fact the price went up. It’s now $5.49 as of this writing (up 10%). The employee replied to the customer that he was seeing many increases of late on quite a few items and told the customer they would probably be seeing more increases soon. He said he didn’t like it either. The company’s raising prices all over the store it seemed. This shouldn’t surprise anyone. You’ve probably noticed, especially when you hit the register and get the total, some sticker shock

There have been quite a few increases, slowly introduced bit by bit, as food items have continued to creep up for the last two, three years or more, but especially now. The increases have spead up this last year (new tarrifs for sure for one thing).

Just one more example? A package of scallions at TJ’s has been 99 cents for as long as I can remember, then yesterday I got them and saw the sign had changed and scallions had gone up to $1.29 (thats about a 30 percent increase) Not 10-20 percent. Percentage wise it seems steep. I am wondering about ICE raids on farms and farm workers picking our produce?!

The little CINNAMON BROOM that has been 99 cents, again for as long as I can think of, went up to now $1.29. Yet another increase on a low priced item raised now about 30 percent (!)

Cottage cheese in a 2 lb tub was $3.99 – forever – for years – then recently they raised the price to $4.29. That price lasted a just for a month or so. Then Trader Joe’s raised the price again. It’s now $4.49!! A 50 cents (25% increase) in just a few months on something which was the same price for years.

Dark chocolate peanut butter cups – The small pack you see on the check out line which you can’t resist? 99 cents for years. Then they went up to 1.19 for a few months. Then 1.29 for a few months. Yesterday I see they are $1.49 now. Up 50% from when they were 99 cents. And yes, the chocolate manufacturers have had prices go way up due to a record bad crop due to bad weather and harvest for cacao for the last year or two.

Coffee?! Again. Market driven increases due coffee prices worldwide going way up due to yield down from same terrible weather conditions this past year or so. Reality? Trader Joe’s DARK ROASTED ground coffee which was five bucks forever and which my wife has bought for years. She was shocked that it now costs $7.50 – another 50 percent jump.

I could go on forever. I don’t have to tell you. Every time you check out you get some sticker shock.

In addition to “normal” inflation, there are now tariffs that have to be taken into account. Trader Joe’s sources many products from overseas. Of course, they will pass those costs along to us, the customers.

None of us are happy. So I added my Rant. Feel free to add your Rant or comments here in Comments (I just ask you to keep it PG! so I can publish them all)

In some case, some food items (like Chocolate & Coffee) have been going through price increases for external market reasons due to bad weather and crop diseases have for example, affected output of cacao and cacao beans in many parts of Africa and elsewhere, so there are market forces affecting the prices – supply is down, and prices have gone way up on Cacao Beans….. But there is a feeling they are really upping prices as much as they feel they can.