Welcome to another episode of the Trader Joe’s Wine Club, brought to you by Inside Trader Joe’s. In this sip-sized segment, we’re going all-in on super sippers for summertime soirees, with bottles you may have missed in our wine section; wines that are excellent for afternoon barbecues, evenings with friends, and weekends relaxing on a patio chair. Listen in for a quick introduction to our favorite Italian Vermentino and a classic Pacific Northwest Pinot Noir, then head to your neighborhood Trad...
Jun 30, 2025•13 min
Here comes summer! And Trader Joe’s is READY. There’s nothing summerier than watermelon, and we are wading in ‘em – the yellow variety, and the marshmallow variety. Have a listen, and this will make sense. A skincare set to give you a little summertime glow-up? Yes, please. A new Mini Sheet Cake? OMS – again, listen and ye shall understand. We have buns a-plenty, dogs for dressing, and did we mention an all-new mochi? Yes! Plus, a root beer float you can bring along in your backpack or purse. A ...
Jun 16, 2025•33 min•Season 19Ep. 91
We get a lot of questions at Trader Joe’s. And we really love answering them. Especially when it means we get to eat ice cream. For research. To all those who ask what makes Trader Joe’s ice cream so special, we say, all the things! It starts with high quality ingredients, and a dedication to making ice cream that over-delivers on all of your expectations – it’s rich, it’s creamy, it’s incredibly flavorful, and you may be surprised by how it stacks up next to other so-called “premium” ice creams...
Jun 02, 2025•9 min
Imagine a small town in western Italy, home to a family-owned company that got its start canning fresh fruits and veggies more than 80 years ago. Now imagine that company in 2025, still owned by the same family, and still preserving the flavors of the local produce – not just in canned fruits and veggies, but in supremely satisfying sauces, too. And now imagine you’re listening to a podcast… oh, wait, here’s where reality and imagination intersect. In this episode of Inside Trader Joe’s, we’re u...
May 19, 2025•25 min•Season 18Ep. 90
In this episode of Inside Trader Joe’s, we’re taking you inside our customers’ shopping carts to find out what keeps them coming back to Trader Joe’s again and again. For this edition of our Customer Cart Conversations, we go to Trader Joe’s number 691 in Chicago’s iconic Lincoln Park neighborhood. Captain Ken, a Chicago native – who may or may not have a favorite Chicago baseball team – gets up close and personal with the contents of customers’ carts, with questions about favorites. Along the w...
May 05, 2025•18 min•Season 18Ep. 89
Welcome to another episode of the Trader Joe’s Wine Club, brought to you by Inside Trader Joe’s. This sip-sized segment has us blushing a bit. Because, of course, we’re talking about Rosé. Contrary to the opinions of some, Rosé is a serious wine, and we sat down for a serious conversation about three of our favorite Rosé options in the wine section at your neighborhood Trader Joe’s. While all three share similar (yet different) pink-ish hues, each has its own story to tell and its own flavor pro...
Apr 21, 2025•14 min
There are certain foods that are synonymous with their place names. Parmigianno Reggiano. Kalamata Olives. And the focus of this episode, Balsamic Vinegar of Modena. A world-renowned product with a long and fascinating history, Balsamic Vinegar of Modena is produced exclusively in the Modena region of Italy. In this episode we sit down (and do a bunch of walking!) with one of Modena’s largest and most respected producers of this vigorous vinegar – they’ve been supplying Trader Joe’s for decades ...
Apr 07, 2025•26 min•Season 18Ep. 88
We get a lot of questions at Trader Joe’s. And we see things in the news that make us ask questions, too. Recently, we’ve seen a bunch of stories about so-called “Retail Media.” So what the heck is Retail Media, and does Trader Joe’s do it? In a nutshell, Retail Media is all about using screens and media and technology in retail stores, ostensibly to replace humans. That doesn’t make sense to us – instead of investing in technology and media resources to tell our stories, in our stores, we inves...
Mar 24, 2025•7 min
It’s nearly spring. And at Trader Joe’s, that means new products popping up like flower buds after an early thaw. In this episode of Inside Trader Joe’s, we’re getting up close and personal with a baker’s dozen of our favorite new (and returning) things for spring. Looking for Easter candy and treats? You’ll find them here, and you’ll be impressed not only with how they look, but how they taste. A new Mini Sheet Cake that happens to be gluten free? Oh. Yes. Potato chips made with Irish potatoes ...
Mar 10, 2025•29 min•Season 18Ep. 87
Welcome to another episode of the Trader Joe’s Wine Club, brought to you by Inside Trader Joe’s. In this sip-sized segment, we’re going grass-roots – or at the very least, grass-noted – with a conversation about New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc. More specifically, we’re highlighting Raorao Sauvignon Blanc from the Marlborough region, an area on the South Island renowned for this varietal (among others). This wine is an excellent expression of Marlborough Sauv Blanc – a quick listen here will reveal w...
Feb 24, 2025•10 min
We often talk about traveling the world to find the most delicious products we can offer, so we can bring them to our customers at a great value. Decades ago, when we began our search for truly excellent frozen pizza, it occurred to us that maybe the best place to go was the birthplace of the stuff… Italy. Turns out we were right, and our frozen pizzas became the stuff of lore – they’re just that good. Our frozen pizza selection has evolved since those early days, yet some of our favorites still...
Feb 10, 2025•26 min•Season 18Ep. 86
The votes are in, and the time has come to reveal the winners of the 16th Annual Trader Joe’s Customer Choice Awards! Sixteen years of celebrating our customers’ favorite products, as voted by you, our customers. It’s just as exciting to us this year as it was in year one. This year, we’ve added a New category. That’s right, a New category – Favorite New Product! There are so many possibilities… can you guess what it might be? We’re also welcoming another product to our Hall of Fame, that rarefi...
Jan 27, 2025•21 min•Season 17Ep. 85
As listeners of this podcast know, the Trader Joe’s mothership is located in Monrovia, CA. Monrovia is really close to one of the wildfires that’s devastated Southern California recently. We have a lot of Crew Members and customers who’ve been impacted by these fires, and we wanted to take a minute to send our best wishes to them and everyone who’s dealing with the aftermath of these events. We recorded this episode not too long ago in our other mothership, in Boston. It’s a little silly, and, w...
Jan 21, 2025•29 min•Season 17Ep. 84
We’re back with another episode of the Trader Joe’s Wine Club, brought to you by Inside Trader Joe’s. In this seasonally inspired sip-sized segment, we’re focusing on those most festive wines, the sparklers. Focusing in even further, we’re celebrating Champagne, perhaps the greatest gift France has ever given the wider world (we love you, Baguettes and Brie, but Champagne… it’s so festive and delightful it even comes with its own bubbles!). As New Year’s Eve approaches, join us as we learn a bit...
Dec 27, 2024•10 min
Every year, just as most of our holiday decorations are packed away and the world is focused on winter’s snowscapes and the coming thaw of spring, the product development teams at Trader Joe’s are laser-focused on the holidays, nearly a full year in the future. Consider this episode of Inside Trader Joe’s a bit of back-to-the-future, or at least back-to-the-present, where we take you inside the Holiday Tasting Panel. This is a multi-day sensory extravaganza, where our panelists focus all their a...
Dec 16, 2024•20 min•Season 17Ep. 83
The Holiday Season is truly the most festive time of year at your neighborhood Trader Joe’s, with hundreds of celebration-worthy products making appearances on our shelves for a limited time. In this episode of Inside Trader Joe’s, we’re making a list, checking it twice (thrice, even!), and delivering it right to you. English Toffee Ice Cream AND a British Shortbread Collection? Right-o! Lemon Peel Stuffed Olives and an Elevated Cracker Assortment to take your holiday hors d’ouevres to a higher ...
Dec 02, 2024•23 min•Season 17Ep. 82
Welcome to the premiere episode of the Trader Joe’s Wine Club, brought to you by Inside Trader Joe’s. There’s no membership fee and no shipping charges – and that’s because this isn’t an actual Wine Club. In these occasional, sippable episodes of Inside Trader Joe’s (there we go being all figurative again – you can’t really sip this episode), we’ll uncork some information about some of our favorite wines of the moment – like tasting notes, origin stories, and pairing suggestions. In this inaugur...
Nov 25, 2024•11 min
Trader Joe’s has been a destination for winning wine finds since our earliest days, and more than 57 years into our journey, our stores remain a source of tremendous values on wines from the world’s best growing regions. In this episode of Inside Trader Joe’s, we sit down with four folks from our wine team who are doing the work, day after day, to find those wines and get them to our shelves. Grenache? Great. Champagne? ‘Course! Cabernet? Rosé? Okay, okay! Have a listen, then take a trip to your...
Nov 18, 2024•25 min•Season 17Ep. 81
We all know that every neighborhood is unique. And because Trader Joe’s is a national chain of neighborhood grocery stores, every Trader Joe’s is as unique as the neighborhood of which it is a part. In this episode of Inside Trader Joe’s, we’re taking you inside two distinctive neighborhood Trader Joe’s stores, that just so happen to be in the same neighborhood. (Right? It’s amazing what a few blocks can do!) Starting with our original Back Bay store in Boston – the smallest Trader Joe’s in the ...
Nov 04, 2024•20 min
We get a lot of questions at Trader Joe’s. One of those we hear the most is, “Hey, when are you opening a store in my neighborhood?” And “How do you decide where to put a Trader Joe’s?” – that comes up a lot, too. As you can imagine, like Trader Joe’s stores themselves, choosing store locations isnot a one-size-fits-all approach. Truth is, we’d like to be in thousands of neighborhoods all across the country – and it’s going to take some time. Tune in to the latest in our series of bite-sized epi...
Oct 21, 2024•7 min
In this episode of Inside Trader Joe’s, we’re taking you inside our customers’ shopping carts to find out what keeps them coming back to Trader Joe’s again and again. For this inaugural iteration of our Customer Cart Conversations, we go to Trader Joe’s number 122 in Studio City, California, where our store Captain Jay Jay gets up close and personal with the contents of customers’ carts, with questions about favorites. Along the way, we get some insights into how Trader Joe’s brings a little joy...
Oct 07, 2024•19 min•Season 16Ep. 79
It’s September at Trader Joe’s. That, of course, means the Pumpkin-palooza is underway. You’ll find more than 70 pumpkin-forward products on our shelves this season – including new entries like Pumpkin Spice Cold Brew Coffee Concentrate and the much-anticipated Pumpkin Mini Sheet Cake. And despite the plethora of pumpkin, this season is also about so much more. Like Apple (Shortbread Cookies), Maple (Brown Sugar Butter), Vanilla Cardamom (Cold Brew Coffee), and Butternut Squash (Mac & Cheese...
Sep 09, 2024•28 min•Season 16Ep. 78
When we think about back-to-school, we immediately think of chocolate and mustard. (Doesn’t everyone?) Specifically, we think of Belgian chocolate and Dijon Mustard. Just in time for back-to-school shopping – as well as classes like History, Geography, Chemistry, and Culinary Arts – this episode of Inside Trader Joe’s takes you to the source of these longtime favorites. Travel along with us as we go inside a chocolate factory – outside Brussels – talking to the folks who make some of our favorit...
Aug 26, 2024•24 min•Season 16Ep. 77
Do you ever feel like you’re hearing things when you’re shopping at Trader Joe’s? You’re not alone. The bells are ringing at Trader Joe’s – nearly all the time. They act as a kind of intercom system, and they keep us attuned to what’s happening in the store. Ever wonder what they mean? Come on, ring those bells, and tune in to the latest in our series of bite-sized episodes, ITJ ICYMI, to get the scoop. Transcript (PDF)...
Aug 19, 2024•4 min
When you ask folks why they shop at Trader Joe’s, they’ll usually mention the “Three Ps” – Products, Prices, and People. In this episode of Inside Trader Joe’s, we’re diving deep into the third P – People. As we continue to open more stores around the country, ensuring we have the right people in those stores is a top priority. And it doesn’t happen by accident. We’re always on the lookout for great people, and we’re constantly at work developing tools to help those folks cultivate their skills ...
Aug 05, 2024•23 min•Season 16Ep. 76
Fact number one: nothing generates excitement like a contest. Fact number two: when we announced our Store Recipe Contest, we could not have predicted the level of excitement it would generate. Fact number three: the Crew Members in our stores are culinary creative in countless ways, and the recipes they submitted for this contest were exciting, interesting, and most of all, delicious. In this episode of Inside Trader Joe’s, we get a behind the scenes look into how the winning recipe was chosen,...
Jul 15, 2024•18 min•Season 15Ep. 75
Looking for something interesting – and easy to prepare – for dinner? An appetizer to wow a crowd? A cocktail or mocktail to satisfy even the most critical companion? Or even a creative way to use up the very last bits of peanut butter or jam? We turn to our resident recipe developer for help, and share some tips to help you find recipes that are sure to make you love your favorite TJ’s products even more. Tune in to the latest in our series of bite-sized episodes, ITJ ICYMI, for all the delicio...
Jun 24, 2024•12 min
Trader Joe’s is ready for summer! Our shelves, freezers, refrigerators, and bakery racks are brimming with new and returning favorites to make the season really shine. Bet you didn’t know you needed Eggs & Bacon Gummies… but you do. And your dog needs Surf’s Pup Dog Biscuits just as much. Two new ready-to-pop-on-the-grill burgers will have all your friends on the lookout for your next cookout. A new Boba kit, Coffee Mochi Ice Cream, and Organic Freezer Pops… listen in for all the delicious d...
Jun 10, 2024•29 min•Season 15Ep. 74
At Trader Joe’s, we more or less obsess over value, that magical place where top quality and excellent prices meet. From Olive Oil to Almonds, and a few thousand other products in between, we do the work to ensure we’re offering the best products at the best prices, every day. So, how do we do set our prices? Tune in to the latest in our series of bite-sized episodes, ITJ ICYMI, to get the scoop. Transcript (PDF)...
May 13, 2024•9 min
The air fryer. Depending on who you listen to, it’s either the best thing to hit kitchens since the microwave, or it’s a silly waste of space. Once you listen to this episode of Inside Trader Joe’s, we think you’ll be happy to walk into the light of the humble air fryer. We asked some Crew Members in our office to share their favorite Trader Joe’s products, air fryer style. We head to the kitchen and enjoy some appetizers, entrees, breakfast treats, and even a vegetable! #babybroccoli Transcript...
Apr 15, 2024•25 min•Season 15Ep. 73
