Whole Foods vs. Trader Joe's

[katopal]

Hi all

Comments

[merryone]

Trader Joe also tends to have alot of their own product line, and the one in my area doesn't really offer a great variety of anything. Just my opinion.

[atalanta0jess]

I have heard that TJ's own product line is really just made by conventional companies and packaged differently. Not sure if that's true or not.

[asetwoman]

It is. Trader Joe's doesn't make their own products. They do extensive research to find things they think are good and buy in extreme bulk to pass on savings to the consumer. It explains both the lack of huge variety and the price.

[rocza]

It depends on the product. My father did the life safety systems for a recent plant of theirs, and everything their is what they make, not anyone else.

[mirhanda]

Whole Foods has a much bigger selection. They can be pricey, but if you take your time and compare prices, they aren't too much worse than anywhere else.

[maynda]

Trader Joe's is sketchy. It's owned by the same people who own the discount grocery chain Aldo. It's a damn machine and a very secretive one at that. The owners are German billionaires making a fortune ($8 billion dollars last year) in America. Read up on the chain. There's no way to track down where their food actually comes from which terrifies me.

http://money.cnn.com/2010/08/20/news/companies/inside_trader_joes_full_version.fortune/index.htm

I refuse to shop there because there's no way to know from where their food comes and I won't eat it if I don't know the source. Buy local. At least Whole Foods carries local items.

[the_gersemi]

Aldi, not Aldo. :)

[maynda]

Oops! Yes, the Aldi grocery store chain. Food, not shoes.

[juryrig]

Wow, this was a really interesting read. Thanks for posting it.

[rasputin_fish]

It's encouraged to take bad stuff back to Trader Joe's. They'll either refund your money or swap out a new product for you and you never have to argue with them about it.

[katopal]

ahh I wish I knew that then

[cordelia_sue]

Trader Joe's kind of sucks. Their produce quality is laughable, it's all overpackaged, and they purchase large quantities at centralized locations then ship them out to their various stores. They NEVER buy local produce. I live in a city that produces bountiful quantities of delicious winter squash. I shook my head when I saw Trader Joe's trucking up large shipments of winter squash from California. Boo.

I have not been impressed with the quality of their dried fruits or nuts either. If you eat frozen meals, they have those, and if you use the toiletries/cleaning products they sell, that might be okay, but I would avoid them, for the most part.

Their products are all private branded, so they're very similar to what you'd get elsewhere.

I wouldn't shop at Whole Foods if given a choice either. I'm so glad that we have an independent and amazing food co-op where I live.

[mycologynerd]

Our trader joes has local dairy a well

[katopal]

What's wrong with Whole Foods?

I kind of don't like your last comment, seems like it's out to make others feel "bad" if they don't have other options available. ...especially since I think WF is a pretty decent option.