Favorites at Trader Joe's?

I’m mad at trader joes for getting rid of my bacon and cheddar dip spread.

2 Likes

They got rid of the fridge-stable hollandaise and I’ve never fully recovered.

4 Likes

Reds? Espiral makes the Vinho Verde, which is white, and a rosé

I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a red Vinho Verde in California. If I have it was over ten years ago. I was asking about Boston / Rhode Island.

There are numerous items that I’m pissed at TJ’s for discontinuing – most recently, the Brittany cultured butter, those triangular wafer cookies, and that stellar chocolate pudding, but dating all the way back to the sun-dried tomato crostini they discontinued some 25-odd years ago.

1 Like

no! out of stock or never coming back??? I ended up buying Kerrygold last week since the French butter wasn’t in stock…not as good at all

Based on the number of NEW products they add constantly, I’m kindof surprised the percentage of items discontinued isn’t larger. Their stores are only so big.

I remember when TJ’s carried fresh fiddleheads. Those were the days…

1 Like

It was first missing from shelves a month or so ago, and I was told it was permanently discontinued. It showed up again a week later, and when I asked the manager, she told me “soon to be discontinued permanently”. I took that cue and bought several packages to freeze. The Kerrygold is good, but too salty IMO.

1 Like

this is very, very sad. that has been my go-to butter since they started to carry it. really great flavor and quality for the price.

I think I may have picked up the unsalted Kerrygold (can’t remember). It’s fine, but not as flavorful. The good thing about it, is that it comes up to room temp quicker which is better for spreading on toast or slicing off a chunk to cook with.

2 Likes

Nooo that butter was awesome!!

We served the vinho verde as an appetizer drink choice at our wedding and have always thoroughly enjoyed it on a hot summer day.

2 Likes

Not recommended. Low alcohol, low flavor. Drinkable but so bland that I made a spritzer with Bruce Cost ginger ale.

1 Like

image

@Ns1 was right on when he recommended this as a fabulous shortcut to weeknight ramen chasu. slice thin(ish), hit a medium high pan for a couple of minutes a side 'til you get a nice sear on both sides and away you go.

The whole package will break down into 8-10 slices, depending on how thick you go.

As an added bonus, once you’re done crisping them up, you will be left with a pan with a couple tablespoons of delicious liquid pork fat. Remove from heat and toss in a tsp or two of finely chopped green onion or garlic. Spoon onion/garlic lard over ramen. MMMMmmm. Extra porky goodness.

Behold, homemade ajitama, Sun Noodle Shoyu ramen kit, some scallion, and TJ porkbelly.

12 Likes

what a boss, great protip. your slices look great, way better than mine :smiley:

3 Likes

Seemed kind of wrong to celebrate Pi Day with a rectangular pizza, but this Organic Cheese & Tomato seemed like the best bet among what they had. Good flavor but I overcooked it, turned out like a crunchy cracker. The instructions say 12-15 minutes so I set the timer for 15 but it would probably have been better at 12.

I know margins on pizza are good but it seems incredible that they can import an organic, handmade, wood-fired pizza from Italy and price it at $6.

3 Likes

I saw a video recently that explained the Trader Joes does business in Europe in Euros and they pay upfront. So that gives it a bit more bargaining power when it comes to ease of doing business and profit for the manufacturer. When I was in CPG, this was not the case with us and most retailers we did business with. Like most of the bigguns, we had completely different product lines and production sites. One time I came to the office at our Petcare site and saw palettes upon palettes of our candies on our loading docks.

A real huge retailer, which you can probably guess which, had decided they no longer had the space in their warehouse for the product and just sent it back to the closest facility they could. They got a full refund and The 99 got an excellent deal that day and picked up two hours later. So many stories like this across retailers. TJs wasn’t a total joy to deal with either… but I can see how their strategy works very well for them and their partners.

3 Likes

= consumer products group?

Close! Consumer Packaged Goods. Basically anything you can get at Ralph’s.

1 Like

These were both very good, better than the rectangular one. How can they make money selling these for under $5? Highly recommended.

5 Likes