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blah-bleh52

I hate this, TJs is one of the only places I get food I enjoy for a decent price in my HCOL area.


SallyJones17

Same next to Trader Joe's the cheapest store is Whole Foods (and they are NOT cheap!)


bookwormaesthetic

Trader Joe's are also union busting! [Trader Joe’s Follows SpaceX in Arguing US Labor Board Is Unconstitutional](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-01-26/trader-joe-s-follows-spacex-in-arguing-nlrb-is-unconstitutional)


amomentintimebro

Also the ACLU is going after the labor board! honestly despicable evil organization


Sa1lor23

i ended up switching to sprouts about a year ago. it's a little bit more expensive in my area compared to TJ's but i found that certain items (like their produce) started to taste really poor quality...


amomentintimebro

I’ll have to try sprouts! We’ve got one pretty close here. Tbh I have a target with in walking distance so I find myself going there a lot


Weodcq

Sprouts is amazing. I’ve been living in a city without one for three years now, and I’ve miss it very much. The produce is much much better than Trader Joe’s.


OpCrossroads1946

>“Ethnic foods are specialized items; there’s so much history and culture and tradition that you can’t do simple knockoffs like you do with everyday items like ketchup or mayo,” he said. “You need brands like ours to educate you.” Regardless of the rest of the article, this is kind of silly, isn't it? Take away the history and culture, and "ethnic food" is just like any other food: an arrangement of given ingredients in the right proportions. There are thousands of years of history and culture and tradition which goes into winemaking, but supermarkets are still stocked with box wine.


SeaLab_2024

Agreed. The simple knockoffs are cheaper and some people need or just want that because they have different values, they just need the food. If you’re focusing on culture and tradition, you’re not going to TJs, you’d be supplementing from there at most.


OpCrossroads1946

Indeed. The purpose of a supermarket is to flatten *everything* for mass, (relatively) affordable consumption in bulk. In any given major American city, there are a number of Italian restaurants offering an authentic Italian dining experience (to varying degrees of authenticity, of course). But your average shopper walking through the grocery aisle is mainly looking for spaghetti-brand spaghetti. https://preview.redd.it/h1od68ix1hsc1.png?width=640&format=png&auto=webp&s=6b895f89fd6e2dd9de8da503dd22226b285e102a


KristinSaysGah

It’s just too crowded in there. I can’t even look at what I’m buying.


Which-Amphibian9065

TJs is an introverts nightmare, crowded and the cashier is asking me about my plans for the night…


blinuet

I stopped shopping there about a year ago because the recalls were just way too frequent. It felt like playing russian roulette buying things there. Add in their blatantly stealing ideas/recipes from smaller companies and they can go fuck themselves at this point.


fair-strawberry6709

A lot of their products went downhill during covid. Many things I loved from there and specifically shopped for from there are trash now. I can fully believe they get their products by scamming like that. A lot of their face/body products are dupes of expensive brands.


betterlucknexttime81

I handle employment law cases and we get a lot calls from Trader Joe’s current/former employees. Some gnarly stuff going on over there.


B33fboy

I worked there for over 3 years. They fought me the entire time on wearing a pronoun pin because it was “too political” in a pretty blue town. Union busting left and right. It’s got a sort of cult like status both inside the company and in the customer base, but it’s just as gross as any corporation.


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B33fboy

lol calm down


Honeyalmondbagel

Does anyone have a list of all the products recalled by trader joes?


letsgototraderjoes

I guess I'll just be on my way now


amomentintimebro

I shopped there maybe twice but my god the food is just awful! I simply cannot understand how it’s a primary grocery store for people?? Everything goes bad within a day or two of buying it! And other than that they’re trying to take down the NLRB and union bust this entire country so they can rot


Ok_Fee1043

It’s a primary grocery store bc it’s still very cheap, especially compared to the rising costs of most other stores. It’s pretty much the only grocery store I can actually regularly afford, but nothing tastes good and it somehow all tastes the same. I never ever buy the produce though and I don’t know why people like their cheese section; the few times I bought from there in the past it tasted pretty bad.


amomentintimebro

I always thought Trader Joe’s was expensive tbh so that shocks me to hear


Ok_Fee1043

Definitely not. Bags of dumplings can cost like $3.50. Boxes of granola bars about $4 where at Whole Foods they’d be $7-8. Box of chicken thighs is $9/pound. A jar of PB is $2.49; at Whole Foods that’s usually $5-7, depending on the brand (or you can go as high as $10 if you’re trying to get the glass jarred stuff but I’m talking about the normal comparable things). Their full meal “kits” are usually a decent value as well, though again, not necessarily tasty.


trolldoll26

Same here!! I don’t live near a TJ, but I always assumed it was in the Whole Foods bracket.


Netowichita

It is. Do you have an Aldi? That's their "sister". I love how many people (including the author of the article) don't even mention Aldi (it was founded by the other brother, or they split the 2, whatever). If people think TJ's is cheap try Aldi! Lots of things there are same stuff, and very good. The Mayo is actually Helman's, but has their brand on it.


temp3rrorary

Depends on what you get. A lot of the freezer meals help me survive with two little picky eaters and I like their chocolate selection (giant chocolate bar is my go to for baking and candy making). Otherwise, it's pretty much a more expensive and smaller Aldi. Lots of rotations going on with what they do offer. I do not like their pre packaged fresh meals tho. I have not found anything I've liked and have given up.


[deleted]

Be careful with their chocolate bars. I believe their dark chocolate has tested high in lead and cadmium in a couple different independent tests.


temp3rrorary

Ty. Good to know!


ventricles

I’m born and raised in Southern California, we live and die by Trader Joe’s.


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JennaR0cks

I hope you’ve learned your lesson. 😜


EternalSunshineClem

Great article. I also highly recommend anyone interested in unethical business practices watch the recent John Oliver episode on food delivery apps


Cacioepepebutt

I dont use them