![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Review: Trader Joe's, part II
Dec. 24th, 2013 04:25 pmIn the three months that have passed since my last review of Trader Joe's, I have accumulated more data.
At one point I was wondering how such a small store could have so many things I like. There are only five (or maybe six) aisles, and they are not so long that they are cut in half so you can cut through the middle of them. Yet they have some version of almost everything I look for in a grocery store.
The answer is that they have only one or two versions of each product. Usually they have their own store brand, sometimes they have a different brand instead (such as Dr. Bronner's soap), and occasionally they have one of each. So whether you like Trader Joe's or not depends whether or not you would make the same choices as they do.
From their website: "Trader Joe’s brand products share the following attributes: they contain NO synthetic colors, NO artificial flavors, NO artificial preservatives, NO MSG, NO added Trans Fats, and NO genetically modified ingredients."
I also prefer no trans fats and no GMO ingredients; and I don't feel deprived not having those other items available.
Here is my review of the different food groups.
Grains
I want my stuff to be whole-grain. They have both white and whole-grained bread products available, and the whole-grain products are a good price.
Produce
I want some things to be organic and they do have some organic things. I like to get potatoes there, but they don't have grape juice. They also have all kinds of heirloom tomatoes. And they have good prices on bagged salads. But many items are priced by the piece at higher prices than other stores.
Dairy
I like to get dairy products with no growth hormones in them. In most stores, this means I have to go with organic for most products, but as far as I can tell, all of their dairy products are free of growth hormones. So this is a big win for me. They do have only a few organic options but all the milk is pasteurized.
Also they have shelf-stable cream. Since I often decide I'm going to make pumpkin pie with whipped cream long before I ever get around to actually doing so, this seems like it might be good for me. I haven't actually tasted it yet, though.
Protein
I rarely buy meat anymore. I know most animals are raised inhumanely, plus most of the yummy meats (to my childish taste buds) are full of nitrates. However, they do have nitrate-free pastrami and other meats, "natural" hamburger that is free of some of the worst abuses, though the animals are probably still packed like sardines, and some organic meats. I still prefer hamburger from Whole Foods (where you can get it both semi-humane AND low-fat). And I get my hotdogs from HEB (which carries the Oscar-Meyer nitrate-free hotdogs).
They also have good prices on nuts, though I haven't yet checked if they have organic peanut butter.
Empty Calories
As mentioned before, most of their chocolate is not advertised as shade-grown (either directly or as organic, fair-trade, or rainforest-certified). So I still get my chocolate chips and cocoa powder elsewhere.
For sugar, I prefer minimal processing--not sure how their prices compare.
For corn-based chips, though, this is my favorite. Most corn is GMO these days, which I am trying not to buy. I haven't actually tried their corn chips, but they are the only place I've seen that has GMO-free corn chips. As mentioned before, their cheese puffs are yummy. And they also have tortilla chips of course, but I haven't "needed" those in a while.
Overall
Overall, it's my favorite place for almost all dairy products (milk, cream, butter, sour cream, plain yogurt, cream cheese, bricks of sharp cheddar, and slices of various cheese), bagged lettuces, organic potatoes, cheese puffs, corn chips, crackers, and probably some bread products. I still prefer other places for bananas, hamburger, hotdogs, chocolate chips, cocoa, ice cream, spices, nutritional supplements, and toilet paper and other toiletries.
At one point I was wondering how such a small store could have so many things I like. There are only five (or maybe six) aisles, and they are not so long that they are cut in half so you can cut through the middle of them. Yet they have some version of almost everything I look for in a grocery store.
The answer is that they have only one or two versions of each product. Usually they have their own store brand, sometimes they have a different brand instead (such as Dr. Bronner's soap), and occasionally they have one of each. So whether you like Trader Joe's or not depends whether or not you would make the same choices as they do.
From their website: "Trader Joe’s brand products share the following attributes: they contain NO synthetic colors, NO artificial flavors, NO artificial preservatives, NO MSG, NO added Trans Fats, and NO genetically modified ingredients."
I also prefer no trans fats and no GMO ingredients; and I don't feel deprived not having those other items available.
Here is my review of the different food groups.
Grains
I want my stuff to be whole-grain. They have both white and whole-grained bread products available, and the whole-grain products are a good price.
Produce
I want some things to be organic and they do have some organic things. I like to get potatoes there, but they don't have grape juice. They also have all kinds of heirloom tomatoes. And they have good prices on bagged salads. But many items are priced by the piece at higher prices than other stores.
Dairy
I like to get dairy products with no growth hormones in them. In most stores, this means I have to go with organic for most products, but as far as I can tell, all of their dairy products are free of growth hormones. So this is a big win for me. They do have only a few organic options but all the milk is pasteurized.
Also they have shelf-stable cream. Since I often decide I'm going to make pumpkin pie with whipped cream long before I ever get around to actually doing so, this seems like it might be good for me. I haven't actually tasted it yet, though.
Protein
I rarely buy meat anymore. I know most animals are raised inhumanely, plus most of the yummy meats (to my childish taste buds) are full of nitrates. However, they do have nitrate-free pastrami and other meats, "natural" hamburger that is free of some of the worst abuses, though the animals are probably still packed like sardines, and some organic meats. I still prefer hamburger from Whole Foods (where you can get it both semi-humane AND low-fat). And I get my hotdogs from HEB (which carries the Oscar-Meyer nitrate-free hotdogs).
They also have good prices on nuts, though I haven't yet checked if they have organic peanut butter.
Empty Calories
As mentioned before, most of their chocolate is not advertised as shade-grown (either directly or as organic, fair-trade, or rainforest-certified). So I still get my chocolate chips and cocoa powder elsewhere.
For sugar, I prefer minimal processing--not sure how their prices compare.
For corn-based chips, though, this is my favorite. Most corn is GMO these days, which I am trying not to buy. I haven't actually tried their corn chips, but they are the only place I've seen that has GMO-free corn chips. As mentioned before, their cheese puffs are yummy. And they also have tortilla chips of course, but I haven't "needed" those in a while.
Overall
Overall, it's my favorite place for almost all dairy products (milk, cream, butter, sour cream, plain yogurt, cream cheese, bricks of sharp cheddar, and slices of various cheese), bagged lettuces, organic potatoes, cheese puffs, corn chips, crackers, and probably some bread products. I still prefer other places for bananas, hamburger, hotdogs, chocolate chips, cocoa, ice cream, spices, nutritional supplements, and toilet paper and other toiletries.