Michael, the inference that ALDI and TJs are owned by the same conglomerate (“Aldi”) in your first post is not correct. I posted this as robert was also correcting the inference with the article cited. It is confusing. I want to make sure anyone who reads your post understands, they are SEPARATE, even competing companies.
I am not changing context. Sorry if this offended you, but it’s worth clarifying because even if you didn’t mean it that way, it could be misconstrued.
TJs is still the little guy (and locally based I might add) with about 10,000 employees compared to Sprouts (30k), Whole Foods (91k), and Costco (214k). I’m grateful for all of these retailers no matter how big or small. They serve an essential purpose.
I feel that the larger benefit of this spreadsheet is to help clarify the difference in these companies. Sure, Trader Joe’s is smaller compared to publicly traded businesses like Costco and Whole Foods (Amazon owned). I love TJ’s and spent most of my grocery dollars there, but I am not as concerned with them as I am with other markets.
You are smart to spend much of your grocery $ at TJs. Their standards are high for private label and the ingredients are very clean. 365 also has high standards at least pre-Amazon acquisition. Kroger & Costco, as long as it’s legal, you can use it.
My experience with small markets is that they’re pretty busy. Maybe that’s just in my neck of the woods.
I know some who’ve lost their income source and/or jobs have found jobs at supermarkets and fast casual chains. Grateful for that. I’m all for the mom and pops, though!
Great news!! Surfas has “re-opened” for pick up or delivery within 10 miles of the store in West Adams! I was heartbroken when they closed up because I had been told they would be open and I ran down there and the gates were slammed SHUT. I have been looking whistfully at the one last frozen baguette I have not knowing when they might be open again… now… They are available for pick up! HURRAH!
Why is it smart to spend the money at TJ - they sell a lot of prepared food/convenience food, have lousy quality cheese, produce etc. Just because something is smaller (but in no way local as a national chain) doesn’t mean it is better to support them compared to other chains which often have higher quality items.
I shop at Trader Joe’s regularly because they have some first-rate products at competitive prices. I regularly buy their house-brand coffee, peanut butter, Kalamata olive oil, canned beans, nuts, stoneground wheat crackers, nuts, toothpaste, dish soap, dishwasher detergent, and bar soap.
Their cheese selection is limited but the quality is mostly high and I don’t know that anyplace other than Costco beats their prices.
I’m also not a big Trader Joe’s fan. I guess it depends on what you like to eat. The prepared food at Trader Joe’s are high calorie bombs – look at the calorie count on the label for even the “healthy” stuff and it’s frightening. I rarely eat nuts which I think Trader Joe’s is known for; the store is chock full of junk carbs; as @honkman indicates the produce is low quality and the wine and cheese suck (although in fairness I have to say that I prefer to Israeli feta that TJ sells to more expensive Greek and French feta).
Anyway, maybe TJ’s outside of my neighborhood are nicer, but in addition to not being impressed with their offerings, pre-pandemic I always hated the crowded parking lots and the crowded aisles.
Same. You do have to sort through a lot and it helps to have kinda a TJ’s guide. One of my favorite things on Chowhound was the Yays and Nays post which always alerted me to some great products I may have overlooked as well as some traps I might have fallen into.
I used to go to Trader Joes at least weekly (especially for flowers and snacks) but since for me they don’t have ‘everything’ I have spaced out my visits by WEEKS. I do my weekly shopping at Whole Foods or an Ethnic Market (This week was Middle Eastern)
When I do go I get Butter (Best price outside of Grocery Outlet), Eggs (They carry my preferred brand for cheaper) Cheese (Love the Petit Young Brie), Chili Crisp and Tortellinis. And yes, still flowers…
To me, Trader Joe’s produce looks about the same as what I see in any chain supermarket. I don’t think I ever bought any until the other week. I got some organic gold potatoes that were good.
Which cheeses do you think suck? I buy the 1000-day Gouda, Mini Basque, Manchego, and Le Gruyere regularly. The Reggiano is good though Costco’s is cheaper.
FWIW, there’s a downside if any supermarket closes, even a large chain supermarket; for example the ralphs in altadena closed a while back, and all those workers who elected to stay with ralphs got farmed out to other local ralphs locations which in pasadena would be the one on lake south of the 210, the one west of old town on colorado and the one in hastings ranch, which in all likelihood resulted in each of those locations having more employees but the same hours of hours to assign. and it’s my understanding that it’s a common grocery practice to assign up to a weekly max of 38 hours anyway because you get additional benefits conferred at 40 hours (FT) but i imagine some workers got fewer hours when their location had to absorb the excess workers. the same thing happened when the vons in alhambra became a ranch 99. i shopped there regularly in the 90’s and a lot of their cashiers went to locations in pasadena where i began seeing them after i moved to pasadena. the bottom line: any place closing is going hurt somebody.
I can get coffee, cheese, nuts, peanut butter etc. at so much better quality but not much more expensive prices around here that TJ isn’t really a caring useful option.
What I think money can be wisely spent at TJs on is there is often solid QPR for product and we know from a food manufacturing POV, the quality standards are very high (eg. no bisphenol a, non-GMO if you believe in that). I agree just because it’s smaller, doesn’t mean it’s better, but from an insider’s POV knowing what goes into the products and how it’s produced, I have no reservations serving most of their products (prepared or not) to my family.
I have no problems shopping for quality product from chains too. I think they all serve a purpose.
I think you’re kidding yourself about cheeses as far as some of their European AOC / DOP / PDO cheeses.
The other stuff, it’s a matter of taste. I tried every dark roast coffee I could find around here and some I had to mail-order, and found that the only beans I liked slightly better than TJ’s Bay Blend cost more than twice as much. Their organic crunchy salted Valencia peanut better is the best I’ve had.
On the other hand, their tortilla chips are the worst.
I am living very close-by to one of the best cheese shops I have yet experienced (and it pops up on many lists) and TJ cheese is rather sad compared to it.
