Trader Joe's 72% Chocolate Bars...
Posted in: Opinion
I recently ended my job at TJ's. An excellent company to work for, but I had a better offer. If anyone ever has any questions about TJ chocolate, let me know. The Terra Nostra tag is correct for the organic bars. People that don't have allergies don't notice, but there is no soy lecithin in the bars. Those bars are probably the best value (for chocolate) in the store. I can accurately tell you it is Terra Nostra, because every once and a while we got in boxes that had that logo (with the sun and name) printed on the bulk packaging. For anyone who is familiar with the "discontinued" statement that employees give you when you can't find what you're looking for - If you like something, buy lots of it and convince other to do the same. TJ's bases there products on the sales (for the most part). Case-in-point: The sorely missed Ocumare bars disapeared because most customers are [sadly] there for the discount rather than the quality.On the flipside, if you want to be able to decode what product origins are (what company makes them), GOOD LUCK. Sometimes it will be obvious. Such as the TJ's Salt & and Pepper chips that are Kettle brand chips. If you have been a shopper for a while you will have noticed that the Kettle brand chips disappeared from the store and the TJ's equivalent magically appeared. Once a brand name product becomes popular, the TJ buyers will try to negotiate a deal so that they may control the price (usually a lower price) under their own label. Unfortunately, for the sleuths out there, TJ's sometimes asks that the manufacturer change something in the product (such as take out food coloring, trans fat, hydrogenated oil, high fructose corn syrup, etc.). This makes matching up the TJ's product with another brand name product difficult. Happy detective work.