It’s true. We’ll admit it. Trader Joe’s is our happy place. The food is cheap, delicious, and for the most part, healthy. And because we’re so attached to all the Trader Joe’s goodies, we feel a real loss when something gets discontinued.
Fortunately, a Manhattan-based employee took to Reddit to spill the tea on our favorite Trader Joe’s discontinued products, and gave us a little insight into the inner workings of TJ’s.
“I work at the largest Trader Joe’s in America. AMA!” the March 24th Reddit post was titled. The employee wrote, “I’ve been with the company for three years now and I’m now at my fourth store, which is absolutely massive. I cant give away too much, but if you have any questions about inner workings of the store, what the company culture is like, and why we cycle through products so quickly!”
Needless to say, the Trader Joe’s-related questions flooded in. As of today, March 28th, the post has over 120 comments.
“I’ll bite,” one Reddit user wrote. “Why do you go through products so quickly?”
According to the employee, there are a few reasons why certain products disappear from the stores.
“If you’re asking why we run out sometimes, that has to do with ordering and warehouse,” they explained.
I work at the largest Trader Joe’s in America. AMA!
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Basically, in order to prevent food waste, Trader Joe’s locations prefer to order less rather than more. This also helps keep prices low.
With that being said, “Warehouse issues also arise occasionally,” the TJ’s employee added. “That could be that they sent us the wrong thing, or too little, or that they’re out too. The warehouses usually supply anywhere from 5 to 10 stores in the region.”
“If one store orders too much, that could leave another store with too little.”
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Stores could also be low in stock on a specific product if they run into a quality assurance or production delay problem.
Sometimes farmers can’t grow enough of a certain fruit or veg. Or other times, certain products can become contaminated with an allergen.
“If you’re asking about seasonal items and discontinuation, that has a lot to do with driving sales and trying to keep things fresh,” the employee continued.
“We don’t do sales (we can’t, our prices are already too low) and we don’t advertise. So seasonal and special items keep people coming back.”
If those seasonal items don’t perform well, then they don’t get brought back.
And sometimes products are discontinued temporarily because a TJ’s producer changed a product price, or because the team wants to alter the recipe or packaging of a certain item.
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But if something you love disappears from Trader Joe’s shelves, it’s definitely worth asking your location if they can restock it in the future.
Like the mango black tea, for example:
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We have the power to get what we want back in our Trader Joe’s location. Just ask!
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However, some other foods are probably banished for good. *Cries.*
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But hey — it could be worth a phone call to corporate.
If demand exists, they may sell a similar product in the future.
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One Reddit user asked if their local Trader Joe’s was simply bad at restocking popular items.
“Why do you sell out of things that people would obviously buy?” they asked.
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“It’s possible that they do suck,” the employee responded. But there may be something else going on behind the scenes — like an “order cap.”
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And product variation may depend on the store you’re shopping at.
“Do bigger stores have a greater variety of products?” one person asked.
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“Sometimes!” the employee responded. “There are stores like Back Bay in Boston, Center City in Philly, and Murray Hill in NYC are smaller and sometimes don’t have the same variety.”
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And you may have to put your faith in luck to find some of your favorite foods.
Those “deeply discounted steaks” are a rare, hot-ticket item.
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If you’ve been hunting for a certain food for weeks, it’s probably best to ask an employee at your local TJ’s for assistance.
They might give you an idea as to when the item will be back in store.
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This Trader Joe’s employee is seriously an angel sent from discount grocery store heaven. We thank them for giving us the deets about discontinued products (and then some).
Check out the entire Reddit AMA thread to learn all the TJ’s tricks of the trade.
So next time you go grocery shopping, you’ll know all the secrets.
