And the supposedly generic pretzel crisps are nearly identical to Snack Factory’s pretzel crisps, while the dark chocolate-covered varieties are exactly the same. Trader Joe’s gluten-free chocolate chip cookie thins are nearly identical to Tate’s Bake Shop cookies. Trader Joe’s dark chocolate pretzels are identical to Snack Factory’s dark chocolate pretzels. In many cases, Trader Joe’s may be the primary or even sole private label selling a manufacturer’s food, “so there are some truly unique products,” Gardiner says. “ Trader Joe’s loves to have exclusive relationships with suppliers,” Gardiner says. Of the dozens of manufacturers unveiled through recall documents, most are smaller companies with which shoppers may not be familiar. Of course, not all the suppliers are well-known labels.
In fact, ingredients for the various Trader Joe’s flavors of pistachios, hummus, and smoothies that Eater analyzed are almost identical to their Wonderful, Tribe, and Naked counterparts - but more on that later. A ConAgra recall in 2016 resulted in organic sweet corn being taken off Trader Joe’s shelves.Ĭhances are, these companies supplied the chain with other flavors and varieties, and still might. Other Trader Joe’s products come from huge manufacturers like ConAgra, the company behind household brands like Hunt’s canned tomatoes and Marie Callender's microwave dinners. subsidiary and leader in bottled smoothies, supplied the grocer with protein fruit smoothies, recalling them in 2008 over yeast and lactic acid bacteria. A year prior, the makers of Tribe hummus recalled a brand of Trader Joe’s tahini-free hummus because it may have contained sesame seeds. In March 2016, Wonderful Pistachios & Almonds LLC, which produces the Wonderful Pistachio brand, issued a recall for three types of pistachios sold at Trader Joe’s, including the dry-roasted and salted variety. Trader Joe’s mango smoothie has the same ingredients as Naked’s mango smoothie, and FOIA requests show Naked has supplied Trader Joe’s with beverages. The requests revealed dozens of companies that have, at least at one point, supplied Trader Joe’s with food. When a product is recalled or flagged by the Food and Drug Administration or United States Department of Agriculture, the product manufacturers generally publish all the stores and brand labels under which that item is sold.Įater used Freedom of Information Act requests to obtain FDA and USDA recalls and alerts that mentioned Trader Joe’s in the last 10 years. One trick is to look at recall information. In fact, there are a few sneaky ways to unmask them. That hasn’t stopped many from speculating and trying to sniff out Trader Joe’s suppliers (last year, Eater SF identified La Boulangerie as a supplier after getting a behind-the-scenes look at its factory). Requests for details, especially about manufacturers, are generally declined. On top of that, Trader Joe’s executives and owners are notoriously tight-lipped about operations and hardly speak to the press about the business. "Suppliers aren’t allowed to say they supply Trader Joe’s products,” Gardiner says, “and Trader Joe’s never willingly talks about who their suppliers are.” The catch is that Trader Joe’s and its suppliers all but swear to keep the agreement secret. Many of these brands sell the same or similar products under their own names for a higher price. and Snyder’s-Lance), which agree to sell some of their items under the Trader Joe’s label. But even from the inside, Gardiner could not unveil Trader Joe’s biggest and best-kept secret: the hush-hush identities of the companies that produce the grocer’s beloved products.Īs a private brand, the California-based Trader Joe’s orders most of its products from third-party manufacturers (including giants like PepsiCo. In the end, he walked away with enough intel to write a book revealing some of the business’s branding tactics. Despite being a bit overqualified, he had an agenda: a personal mission to uncover the secrets behind the grocery chain’s huge success. Mark Gardiner was a former VP of marketing and an advertising consultant before taking a job as a crew member at a Trader Joe’s store in Kansas City six years ago.
0 kommentar(er)
