Trader Joe's Customers Learn The Real Brands Behind Their Favorite Items

This entry will actually be a great moneysaver for the many yogurt connoisseurs out there on the East Coast. You see, according to Fortune magazine, the Trader Joe’s Organic Yogurt that people love so much is actually supplied by New Hampshire’s Stonyfield Farm, which is owned by Danone. Interestingly, this very same foodstuff is usually a buck or so cheaper at Trader Joe’s.

Now, if you’re a Stonyfield devotee, you’ll probably still want to buy their full range of yogurts, milk, smoothies, and frozen yogurts. But if you’re just in the market for a simple plain organic yogurt, you could do worse than getting the Trader Joe’s branded tub. Think of everything you could spend that saved dollar on! Probably more yogurt, come to think of it.

In 2010 journalists from Fortune dived deep into the murky world of Trader Joe’s in order to find out who actually makes many of its products. It found that, for example, the Pita Chips with Sea Salt were not locally made by artisan bakers. Instead, they were supplied by Stacy’s, which is a division of Frito-Lay, which is itself a division of PepsiCo.

Food website Eater then took another angle in its investigation in 2017 — it simply compared ingredients! According to Eater, the ingredients for Stacy’s Simply Naked Pita Chips are virtually identical to those of Trader Joe’s Pita Chips with Sea Salt. It even commissioned a taste test, and the subjects could barely distinguish between the two different types of chip. Case closed!

On March 4, 2021, a glowing review of Trader Joe’s Grainless Granola was posted to the blog Trader Joe’s Rants & Raves. The blogger wrote, “This stuff is amazing!” and added, “I started just popping a few clusters into my mouth and they are delicious just like this, as a snack. I could have eaten the whole bag if I didn’t stop myself.”

Do you think the blogger would have been quite as excited if they’d known Joe’s Grainless Granola is the exact same product as Wildway’s Grain-Free Granola, though? At $4 per bag, the Joe’s version is certainly cheaper, so that’s a positive. But it does take away from the perceived uniqueness of the product, which most people assume they can only get at Joe’s.

It was revealed in 2016 that the Trader Joe’s branded pistachios and those produced by Wonderful Pistachios were actually one-and-the-same. How was this revealed? Well, a salmonella outbreak was linked to the pistachio company, and it left 11 people sick — and two in hospital. WP recalled its products in multiple states, and the Trader Joe’s pistachios also disappeared off shelves in the process. 

This — obviously — gave the game away that Wonderful Pistachios was actually supplying the tasty nuts in the Trader Joe’s bags. The recall even extended to all three variations of Trader Joe’s pistachios — Dry Roasted & Unsalted, Dry Roasted & Salted, and 50 percent Less Salt Roasted & Salted. Thankfully, in the end Trader Joe’s didn’t actually receive any reports of customers getting salmonella.

When you’re chowing down on a cranberry twist baguette from Trader Joe’s, you’re actually eating bread made by La Boulangerie. As per Eater, the company — started by genius French baker Pascal Rigo — has been supplying Trader Joe’s and Starbucks with delicious bread products from as far back as the early ’90s. Heck, when he started supplying Joe’s, he hadn’t even opened a retail location yet!

While speaking at the Europain conference in Paris in 2018, Rigo said, “We decided to introduce Pain Pascal to Trader Joe’s, and it is still sold today at Trader Joe’s 460 locations.” At this point in 1991, Joe’s only had 40 stores, and it would take Rigo until 1999 to open his first La Boulange location — the brand later morphing into La Boulangerie. It’s obvious that the relationship had worked wonders for both parties over the years.

If you’ve ever sampled the delights of Mann’s uniquely-named Caulilini, then you may have noticed a similarity to Trader Joe’s Baby Cauliflower florets. Though Mann’s trademarked its spellcheck nightmare of a brand name to give the impression of a unique product, Caulilini is baby cauliflower. It’s also not just similar to Joe’s baby cauliflower, it’s exactly the same, because Mann’s supplies Joe’s with the stuff!

This was unveiled to the world via — you guessed it — a product recall in 2019. It was of particular interest to industry observers because Mann’s isn’t a small supplier — it’s one of the biggest vegetable producers in the U.S. It’s even able to sell Caulilini under the Mann’s banner for a buck more per bag than Joe’s, too, despite it being the same product.

It’s not everybody’s choice to buy sushi from a supermarket. But because fresh sushi is so expensive, people will still regularly take the plunge at the likes of Trader Joe’s. Less than four bucks for some California rolls? Why not! Well, besides the possibility that it might not be to your taste, it’s also not made by Trader Joe’s at all!

In 2019 Fuji Foods was forced to recall a host of the ready-to-eat sushi products it supplies to supermarkets due to a listeria scare. The recall included Joe’s California rolls, Bahn Mi style salad, salmon Poke bowls, and shrimp spring rolls. In Joe’s defense, Walgreens and 7-Eleven were also affected by the recall: they all got their sushi from Fuji.

“If you purchased any of the Gluten Free Battered Halibut and have an allergy or sensitivity to wheat and/or milk, please do not eat it,” posted Trader Joe’s on its website in 2020. “We urge you to discard the product or return it to any Trader Joe’s for a full refund.” Interestingly, a product recall for the same fish had also been issued by Orca Bay Foods LLC. The plot thickens!

You see, Orca Bay sells its own Gluten-Free Battered Halibut, but this announcement lifted the lid on the partnership it also has with Trader Joe’s. The big issue was the discovery that 356 cases of halibut may have contained milk and wheat allergens. For a supposedly gluten-free product, this was a big no-no — it could have actually killed someone with a gluten intolerance.

A creamy hummus is a lovely treat, especially with some bread sticks or chips to dip into it. Delicious! Prices of hummus can vary wildly, though, especially if you’re looking at the fancier brands. For instance, you may be tempted to push the boat out for a Tribe Mediterranean-style hummus. But here’s the thing: you mightn’t actually be getting a better-quality product for your increased spend.

You see, the $1.99 Trader Joe’s Mediterranean hummus is made by Tribe Mediterranean Foods and is the same product it sells for a higher price! The connection was revealed in 2015 when Tribe had to recall a Tahini-free hummus variation which it had made for Trader Joe’s. Then Eater checked into the ingredients of its regular Mediterranean hummus, and they were virtually identical.

In 2021 Trader Joe’s issued a notice saying, “If you purchased any Trader Joe’s Dark Chocolate Almond Butter Cups (Two-Pack) with the affected date codes — APR 05 2022, APR 06 2022, or APR 07 2022 — and have a peanut allergy, please do not eat it. We urge you to discard the product or return it to any Trader Joe’s for a full refund.” Uh-oh!

It was all a consequence of Bazzini LLC of Allentown, Pennsylvania, issuing a recall notice for its own Dark Chocolate Almond Butter Cups. There had been some allergic reactions to them, and traces of peanuts were feared to have been the culprit. By doing this, though, the company exposed that it was the supplier of Joe’s Almond Butter Cups too. D’oh!

This entry is the rare case of the Trader Joe’s version of a product being more expensive than the original supplier’s version. You see, a pack of Trader Joe’s Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies costs a full $1 more than a pack of Tate’s Bake Shop cookies. Yet, in reality, Tate’s cookies are pretty much exactly what you will find in that Trader Joe’s pack! 

Even worse, according to Eater and its taste-testers, the cookies are so close in taste and ingredients that they might well be identical. The only real difference the website noted was that the Tate’s cookies are made with slightly more brown sugar, but the impact made on taste is apparently negligible. So, in future, be sure to buy the Tate’s packs if you can.

If you are drinking a Trader Joe’s Mighty Mango Smoothie or Very Green Juice, it’s highly likely that you’re actually drinking a Naked Mango or Green Machine Smoothie. You see, Naked Juice — a division of PepsiCo — was known to supply Joe’s with fruit juices and smoothies as far back as 2008. What revealed the connection? A yeast and lactic acid bacteria product recall, of course!

In case you think the connection might have ended in 2008, Eater did a more recent ingredient investigation in 2017. It found that Joe’s Might Mango Smoothie had identical ingredients to the Naked Mango Smoothie. Yes, that’s right — the exact same. It also discovered that the only differences in Naked’s Green Machine were a lack of kale and chlorella, as well as less banana puree.

A potential listeria contamination led to Trader Joe’s Organic Super Sweet Cut Corn being whisked off shelves in 2016. This in-turn revealed the corn was made by ConAgra Foods. How? Well, because that conglomerate — which is behind Chef Boyardee and Duncan Hines — was also recalling its Watts Brothers Farms sweetcorn and peas at the same time. It’s all connected, people!

In truth, it’s fascinating that even a huge outfit like ConAgra agreed to buy into Trader Joe’s secrecy. As Mark Gardiner — a former Trader Joe’s employee — told Eater, “Suppliers aren’t allowed to say they supply Trader Joe’s products and Trader Joe’s never willingly talks about who their suppliers are.” We can only assume that Joe’s makes very enticing offers to these suppliers to partner up.

On the Bakkavor Foods website, the main page reads, “We’re the biggest name you’ve never heard of. You’ve probably eaten our food. You just didn’t realise it.” To be honest, we’re not sure we could’ve said it any better ourselves. Because if you’ve tasted Trader Joe’s Egg Salad or Old Fashioned Potato Salad then you have indeed eaten a Bakkavor Foods product — and you didn’t know it!

Once again, the connection between the two companies came out when a listeria scare in 2019 forced Bakkavor to issue a recall. Unluckily for Bakkavor, it wasn’t even its fault — supplier Almark Foods furnished it with broken egg whites which may have been contaminated, and these were what went into the salads. Come on, Almark, you’re blowing the whole deal!

Tasty Bite is a well-known brand that provides customers with quality Indian food all over the U.S. What it mightn’t want customers to know, though, is that if they pay $3.39 for a Tasty Bite Punjab Eggplant meal, they’re paying more than a dollar more than those buying the very same thing at Trader Joe’s. That’s right — Joe’s Punjab Eggplant is the very same product.

On one hand, it makes sense that a supplier would want an extra revenue stream, and Trader Joe’s provides that. Joe’s is also reportedly a dream to work with, as the company pays promptly and doesn’t overcomplicate things. But, on the other hand, there’s arguably something a little underhand in manufacturing something for one outlet, then selling it for an increased price under your own brand name.

The fact that Trader Joe’s delicious Tahini Sauce was not, in fact, made by the company itself should by now come as no surprise. The fact that Joe’s was rumbled yet again via a product recall due to a listeria scare should also come as no surprise. That seems to be the number-one way these things become public knowledge, after all! 

The tahini sauce is actually made by Yorgo’s Foods Inc., a family-run company from Manchester, New Hampshire. It makes all kinds of delightful Greek products — including the Trader Joe’s Cilantro & Chive Yogurt Dip — and was forced to recall a huge amount of its items in 2017. You can pick up a Yorgo’s brand tahini in some supermarkets, but Joe’s is — you guessed it — cheaper.

You’ve probably eaten many a Snak King product in your time — from the El Sabroso tortilla chips to its Whole Earth brand snacks, it covers a lot of bases. Its restaurant-style tortilla chips are so good, in fact, that Trader Joe’s sells them as its own! That’s right, Trader Joe’s Restaurant-Style White Corn Tortilla Chips are virtually the same ones you can buy from Snak King.

Interestingly, the Snak King website even has a section dedicated to their Private Label Co-Manufacturing services. It helps companies bring their products to the market, and offers services such as “generating new snack concepts to refining existing recipes.” In the case of Trader Joe’s though, it was more likely a case of “we like those as is. Let’s sell them with our branding!”

Eater’s investigation into Trader Joe’s products found that the Dark Chocolate Covered Pretzels are almost exactly the same as those made by Snack Factory. The only real difference is the price, as Snack Factory will set you back an extra couple bucks. It all begs a question, though — why do people place so much stock in the Trader Joe’s branding, when the products are often interchangeable?

Well, Gardiner told Eater, “People don’t think of this as generic. ‘It’s Trader Joe’s — that’s the brand,’ and it’s a special brand that you can only get here. The truth is that almost all of this is stuff that you can probably get at another store within a few miles of that Trader Joe’s in a different package with a different name.”

In 2015 a massive 59,203 pounds of chicken sausage was recalled by Kayem Foods because two consumers discovered small bits of plastic in their sausages. No adverse health effects were linked to the products, but the recall was ordered anyway. When the Sweet Apple Chicken Sausage disappeared from Trader Joe’s shelves while the huge recall was going on, the jig was well and truly up. 

Yes, it had been exposed to the world that Kayem Foods was actually the manufacturer of Trader Joe’s line of sausage products. In truth, it was just the latest in a line of “we don’t actually make this “ revelations that came about due to recalls from the companies making the products. If that hadn’t happened, sausage-lovers everywhere would’ve been none the wiser!

In 2013 the blog Eating at Joes ran a review of the Trader Joe’s Broccoli Slaw & Kale Salad with White Chicken Meat. It was very positive but it did have a bone to pick with the broccoli slaw. The blogger wrote, “The broccoli slaw on this salad is indisputably the same kind they’re peddling to me from the produce aisle three feet to my left.”

The blogger added, “I suppose it was a little naive of me to think that Trader Joe’s might have a separate storehouse of special ingredients they use to make their salads.” Little did the writer know, though, that this salad isn’t made by Joe’s at all — it’s supplied by Ghiringhelli Speciality Foods in Vallejo, California! So, technically, any bone to pick is with this pizzeria-turned-salad supplier!