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

Trader Joe’s caught red-handed SHRINKING SOME ITEMS ! (Shrinkflation / Inflation)

I’ve been hearing a lot about how stores are shrinking items as opposed to an outright price increase to try to disguise price increases from us consumers. This is known as “ShrinkFlation”

Look carefully at the sign. The sign says the jar of this (very good!) marinara sauce contains “26 ounces”. They hadn’t gotten to fixing the sign yet because you may notice the label on the jar, says “24 oz“. Clearly this marinara use to contain 2 more oz. Trader Joe’s shrunk the amount instead of a price raise?

Shrinking packages and the amounts in them is one way vendors try to hide a price increase – by giving you less even thought they didn’t raise the price hoping you won’t notice. This is referred to as SHRINKFLATION. Someone clearly goofed up at my TJ’s and forgot to change the sign but no doubt they will soon lest you know what really happened to the missing 2 ounces of sauce!

Have your parents ever said, “I remember when you could make the kids three sandwiches from a can of tuna”? Its true. Cans of tuna are famous for shrinking and shrinking and shrinking over the years….

UPDATE: Another one – a reader reports TJ’s Orange Juice is now 52 oz, less than it used to have.

Trader Joe’s CHICKEN SAUSAGES (Smoked Apple Chardonay…)

Trader Joe’s carries a number of different kinds of chicken sausages, all of which are pretty good. The ones I especially like are the Smoked Andouille, Spicy Jalapeno and these, “Smoked Apple Chardonnay” Chicken Sausages. If you’ve never tried any of the many chicken sausages TJ’s has, these might be good to try first as they are mildly sweet with a general kind of middle of the road flavor that most people might like. I find them convenient to have on hand to get a quick dinner ready. You can use the chicken sausages in a variety of ways. You can grill, sauté or roast them. They are already fully cooked. Still for flavor I think you want to get a nice sear on them.

Pictured below is a dish I made using these sausages (two) of pan fried gnocchi and green beans. I just sautéed everything in olive oil with lots of garlic until lightly browned and then tossed in some French Green Beans at the end. Grate a little Parmesan on top. Easy, yummy dinner.

There are no artificial ingredients listed (no nitrates for example). Ingredients include: chicken, dehydrated apples, celery juice, onion, pepper, nutmeg, thyme, ginger, chardonnay, rosemary. The TJ Chicken Sausages come in a 12 oz package of 4 for $3.99. Trader Joe’s has a few varieties of other chicken sausage flavors too, so try them all and see which you like best. I liked this one, Roasted Garlic and Andouille….

And the latest Unexpected Cheddar Chicken Sausage

This is a recipe for the Andouille Chicken Sausage with TJ’s Southern Greens (you might use these sausages but the Andouille ones would be a bit more Southern)