Inside Trader Joe's

Trader Joe's

From our humble beginnings as a small chain of eclectic Southern California convenience stores, Trader Joe’s has grown to become a national chain of 545 (and counting) neighborhood grocery stores, employing more than 60,000 Crew Members. How? By being comfortable with being different. Every episode takes you Inside Trader Joe’s in a podcast series only Trader Joe's could deliver. Are you a Trader Joe’s fan? Want to know what keeps people coming back? Hungry for all the new and exciting stuff coming to your neighborhood store? Let's go Inside Trader Joe’s. Thanks for listening. read less

Our Editor's Take

Inside Trader Joe's is a podcast all about the popular national chain of grocery stores. These stores have a pop-culture, cult-like following. Their unique style and distinct product options have gained popularity over the years. This show highlights favorite products like the famous orange chicken. It also debuts and discusses new products from Trader Joe's. Audiences can think of this show as a platform to learn all about Trader Joe's. It shares all the latest information as well as gives the store's history. Trader Joe's first showed up in Southern California. But when it became a chain, it spread to cities across the country, from Portland to Chicago. There are even some high schools that have a Trader Joe's Club.

In one episode of Inside Trader Joe's, high school members of a TJ Club take part. These students get to participate in a tasting panel on air. They discuss their favorite snacks and discover why the Chili Lime Chips disappeared. They tour the headquarters to learn how the Trader Joe's team makes the pickled popcorn so delicious.

This podcast reveals why certain Trader Joe's products perform well in the store. There are episodes on a Trader Joe's holiday shopping list and the Trader Joe's autumn extravaganza. But the Inside Trader Joe's show is more than shopping list episodes. It also shares episodes like the 13th annual Trader Joe's Customer Choice Awards. The hosts talk about everything from Trader Joe's wine to Trader Joe's parking lots.

Inside Trader Joe's even includes recipe ideas. Listeners can get new ideas about drink pairings and secret recipe items. It interviews crew members from various stores to hear their stories and opinions. This podcast provides information listeners need on this eclectic grocery store.

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Play Trailer

Here's a quick taste of Inside Trader Joe's, a new 5-part series coming May 1, 2018, from the folks at Trader Joe's. There's no other store like Trader Joe's. Now you can go behind-the-scenes to find out why Trader Joe's is... Trader Joe's. Trailer Transcript (PDF)

Season 15

Episode 71: Inside – And Outside – Trader Joe's in Providence, RI

Episode 71: Inside – And Outside – Trader Joe's in Providence, RI

There are things that tie every Trader Joe’s together – delicious products, terrific everyday prices, and phenomenal Crew Members to name a few. Yet every store is also different. How can they all be different? That’s easy – we’re a neighborhood grocery store, and every store is in a unique neighborhood. The Crew reflects the neighborhood, the layout of the store reflects the neighborhood, and there are often signs and murals that reflect the neighborhood. Our store in Providence, Rhode Island is a great neighborhood store, with lots of only-in-Providence features to celebrate – let’s go, Parcel six! In this episode of Inside Trader Joe’s, we’re going both inside and outside our store in Providence, Rhode Island, to get up close and personal with this quintessential neighborhood store. If you're in Providence, check out the store and their one-of-a-kind mural in person. And if you're not in Providence, you can check out images of their gorgeous mural in the images below, courtesy of The Avenue Concept. And click here for more information about the mural and its incorporation of Providence's history. Good stuff, indeed! Transcript (PDF)

Episode 72: It's Springtime for Shopping List at Trader Joe's

Episode 72: It's Springtime for Shopping List at Trader Joe's

Ah, spring. Birds singing, trees blooming, and products arriving, at your neighborhood Trader Joe’s. In this episode of Inside Trader Joe’s, we’re getting up close and personal with some of our favorite new and returning products for spring. Chocolate Donut Holes? OMD yes. Orange Wine? We spend some time with our resident wine expert to talk about wine of many colors. We’ll take a peek at – and a taste of – Piquant Popcorn. Can we talk about the Cinnamon Twist Danish Pastry? Yes we can, and yes we do, with our Bakery Category Manager. There’s always something new, delicious, and exciting at your neighborhood Trader Joe’s – this episode is loaded with all of these. Have a listen, then make your own springtime list and pay a visit to your neighborhood store... Transcript (PDF)

ICYMI: What's Up With Trader Joe's Mini Tote Bags

ICYMI: What's Up With Trader Joe's Mini Tote Bags

Mini Tote Bags? Those are a thing? Apparently, yes. And we knew we loved them – that’s why we decided to sell them. We absolutely did not predict how much our customers would love them. So what’s up with these adorable little tote-lets? Tune in to the latest in our series of bite-sized episodes, ITJ ICYMI, to get the scoop. Transcript (PDF)

Episode 73: Trader Joe's Air Fryer Faves

Episode 73: Trader Joe's Air Fryer Faves

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 (PDF)

Season 14

Episode 66: A Trader Joe's Shopping List for Fall? Heck, Yes!

Episode 66: A Trader Joe's Shopping List for Fall? Heck, Yes!

Are you ready to fall in love? With fabulous faves like Fall Harvest Salsa and Butternut Squash Mac & Cheese? Or maybe new, destined-to-be-faves like Mini Maple Marshmallows or Maple Fudge? (Of course, we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention some returning Maple marvels as well.) This fall-forward episode of Inside Trader Joe’s is a harbinger of the season, and a surefire way to whet your appetite for all things cozy and comforting. Honeycrisp Apple Granola? Wicked Good Mini Chocolate Bars? (Yes!) Have a listen, and have a pencil ready… you’re going to want to make a list of your own! Transcript (PDF)

ICYMI: What's Not In Trader Joe's Products

ICYMI: What's Not In Trader Joe's Products

You can see what’s in a product just by looking at the ingredient listing on the package. What you might not know is that Trader Joe’s has a long list of ingredients we don’t use in our products. There are reasons we use certain things, and reasons we don’t use other things. What’s what, and more importantly, why? Tune in to the latest in our series of bite-sized episodes, ITJ ICYMI, to get the scoop. Transcript (PDF)

Episode 67: Inside the Trader Joe's Holiday Tasting Panel

Episode 67: Inside the Trader Joe's Holiday Tasting Panel

Before most of the world has even packed away its holiday decorations, Trader Joe’s is busy developing new products for the following year’s holiday season. How do we decide which products you’ll see in stores during the holidays? Our Tasting Panel is at the heart of it, and in this episode of Inside Trader Joe’s, we’re taking you inside the Holiday Tasting Panel, a days-long event where our product developers put forth their best ideas for future holiday fare, and The Panel tastes and questions and ponders… and ultimately comes to consensus on which products will fill our shelves in the holiday season ahead. As an added bonus, we revisit the origins of one of our most beloved holiday sweet treats – Jingle Jangle – and chat with suppliers making a couple of this year’s new creations. Transcript (PDF)

A Mini: A Happy Thanksgiving Wish from Trader Joe's

A Mini: A Happy Thanksgiving Wish from Trader Joe's

In this mini episode of Inside Trader Joe’s, we spend just a few minutes with our Chairman and CEO, Bryan Palbaum, and our Vice CEO and President, Jon Basalone, to talk about the things we’re thankful for this year. Friends, family, customers, Crew Members, favorite products being in-stock… And thanks to you, as always, for listening. Transcript (PDF)

Episode 68: It's a Holly Jolly Trader Joe's Holiday Shopping List

Episode 68: It's a Holly Jolly Trader Joe's Holiday Shopping List

When the holliest and jolliest of holiday seasons is on the agenda, Trader Joe’s should absolutely be on your list of must-visits. In this episode, we celebrate some of the best we have to offer this holiday season. Danish cookies and delightfully decorated pretzels; candles redolent of chocolate croissants and 12 Days of Beauty to make your skin and spirit shine; cinnamon bun inspired coffee accoutrements and baking mixes… and SO. MUCH. MORE. To make your season merry and bright, have a listen, then, with a Jingle and a Jangle, pay a visit to your neighborhood Trader Joe’s. Transcript (PDF)

Episode 69: Trader Joe's Rings in the New Year... with Bubbles!

Episode 69: Trader Joe's Rings in the New Year... with Bubbles!

Year’s end is a wonderful time for remembrances and reflections… it’s also an excellent time (some may say the best time) for toasting to what’s to come, for raising a glass to a hopeful future. We’ll drink to that! And we can’t think of a better drink for that toast than La Burgondie Crémant de Bourgogne, a crisp and easy-drinking sparkling wine from the Burgundy region of France. In this episode of Inside Trader Joe’s, we take you inside the winery where this stellar sparkler is styled, and we get the inside story of how this classic Crémant is crafted, directly from the winemaker. We hope you’ll join us on this idyllic journey to a most magical place, just in time to ring in the New Year. Transcript (PDF)

Episode 70: Trader Joe's 15th Annual Customer Choice Awards

Episode 70: Trader Joe's 15th Annual Customer Choice Awards

The votes are in, and the time has come to reveal the winners of the 15th Annual Trader Joe’s Customer Choice Awards! (Can we stop for a moment to consider that this is the 15th Annual Customer Choice Awards? Seriously, we never saw this coming…) We’ve changed things up a bit this year, adding a couple of new categories for consideration – and that’s resulted in some new products in the winners’ circle. Excellent! Get ready for a (not-so) surprising upset in the Bath, Body & Home category and a delicious discussion of your favorite Breakfast & Brunch options. We even have some sneak peeks at a few new products, coming soon, that could just find their way on to the Awards stage next year… Click here for the complete list of winners. Transcript (PDF)

Season 13

Episode 61: The Trader Joe's Club

Episode 61: The Trader Joe's Club

On this episode of Inside Trader Joe’s, we take you to a super-secret, underground, high school club – the Trader Joe’s Club! What, your high school didn’t have one? Neither did ours… but we found out about some high schools that do, and, well, how could we resist? We really couldn’t, so we sat down with some cool kids (it’s hip to say, cool, right?) to cover all things Trader Joe’s. Listen in… it’s totally bussin’. Transcript (PDF)

Episode 62: It's a Spring Shopping List from Trader Joe's

Episode 62: It's a Spring Shopping List from Trader Joe's

The vernal equinox is near, days are getting longer, and we have high hopes for higher temperatures day by day. All these things point to spring’s arrival as surely as this latest shopping list episode of Inside Trader Joe’s. There are so many fun new products to try – from Bananas! Bananas! Chocolate (that’s one product, and it’s delish) and a Chromatic Celebration Cake (trust us here), to our most verdurous candle yet and a Mini Sheet Cake that delivers a punch of puckery pleasure… did we mention there’s So. Much. Good. Stuff? Have a listen, then make your list, for a trip to your neighborhood Trader Joe’s that’ll put a spring in your step. Transcript (PDF)

Episode 63: Trader Joe's Knack for Hacks

Episode 63: Trader Joe's Knack for Hacks

In this episode of Inside Trader Joe’s, we’re back at the hacks, with delicious and often unexpected ways to use Trader Joe’s products throughout the store. Pizza Dough and Biscuits on hand but not in the mood for Pizza or Biscuits? We’re here for you. We’re considering all the possible ways of using Everything But The Bagel Seasoning… what’s your favorite? Meals out of mezze? Yes. Got an empty jar from a favorite TJ’s product? You could recycle, but you can also reuse! And just wait ‘til you hear what we’re doing with pasta water… Transcript (PDF)

ICYMI: Why is Trader Joe's a Bricks and Mortar Store

ICYMI: Why is Trader Joe's a Bricks and Mortar Store

Why doesn’t Trader Joe’s have online shopping? Why don’t you deliver? The answer is, we believe the store is our brand, that what happens within the four walls of your neighborhood Trader Joe’s is a huge part of what makes Trader Joe’s special. Our business is built on people – the people who shop in our stores and the people who work in our stores – and a constant flow of new and exciting products, offered at excellent, everyday prices. In other words, we’re a bricks and mortar store on purpose, and with purpose. Tune in to the latest in our series of bite-sized episodes, ITJ ICYMI, to get the scoop. Transcript (PDF)

Episode 64: Trader Joe's Splendid Summertime Shopping List

Episode 64: Trader Joe's Splendid Summertime Shopping List

This episode of Inside Trader Joe’s is dedicated to sandwiches and salads in the sun, snacks in the shade, frozen treats in the sand (seaside or lakefront, of course), and all manner of food fabulousness in between. In other words, we are 100% ready for summer. How ready? Oh, we’re Lemon Pesto ready. We’re Strawberry Lemonade Ice Bar ready. We’re S’Mores Ice Cream ready. Listen in, then come on in and stock up on all the super summertime stuff your neighborhood TJ’s has to offer. Transcript (PDF)

ICYMI: What is a Private Label, and Why Does Trader Joe's Use Private Labels

ICYMI: What is a Private Label, and Why Does Trader Joe's Use Private Labels

Private label? What on earth is that? A label you can’t see, a hidden tag, a marker wearing a mask? Perhaps unsurprisingly, “Private Label” is none of these things. What it IS is enormously important to what makes Trader Joe’s, well, Trader Joe’s. Listen in to the latest in our series of bite-sized episodes, ITJ ICYMI, to get the scoop. Transcript (PDF)

Episode 65: Q&A with Trader Joe's CEO and President

Episode 65: Q&A with Trader Joe's CEO and President

Every Trader Joe’s has a few things in common – delicious products, excellent everyday prices, and really terrific people. In this episode of Inside Trader Joe’s, we’re talking to some of those people. We had the opportunity to chat with a group of Trader Joe’s Crew Members in Chicago, and then we sat down with our CEO and President/Vice-CEO so they could answer some of the insightful questions that came out of that conversation. As Trader Joe’s continues to grow, it’s the Crew working in your neighborhood store who make the magic happen, every day. Have a listen, then make your shopping list and come say “Hi!” to the Crew at your Trader Joe’s. Transcript (PDF)

ICYMI: What the Heck is a Tasting Panel

ICYMI: What the Heck is a Tasting Panel

Did you know that every product on the shelves at your neighborhood Trader Joe’s goes through a rigorous tasting process before we decide to sell it? Rigorous tasting? What the heck does that even mean, Trader Joe’s? In a nutshell, it means we don’t just offer something for sale because we can; we only offer those things that taste great and represent a great value. To make those decisions, we taste everything – and tasting is, perhaps surprisingly, not the same as eating. It’s careful, it’s considered, it’s… rigorous. Tune in to the latest in our series of bite-sized episodes, ITJ ICYMI, to get a taste for yourself. Transcript (PDF)

Season 12

Episode 56: Inside the Trader Joe's Captains' Meeting 2022

Episode 56: Inside the Trader Joe's Captains' Meeting 2022

Aloha shirts as far as the eye can see, new products for everyone to taste, and So. Much. Energy! It’s the Trader Joe’s Annual Captains’ Meeting, and you have a front row seat, so to speak. Have a listen to find out about our plans for the future, the return of Demo (yes!), your store Captain’s favorite product, and what the heck is a Golden Potsticker Award! Transcript (PDF) Golden Potsticker Award Winners: Store #Location8Fresno, CA26Hillcrest, San Diego, CA46Orange, CA59Santa Barbara, CA82Reno, NV85Glendale, AZ100San Francisco, CA101Fairfield, CA135Queen Anne Hill, WA164Spokane (North), WA167Albuquerque, NM211Templeton, CA215West Los Angeles, CA249San Juan Capistrano, CA250USC, CA284Summerlin (West), NV404Fort Worth, TX460Tulsa, OK510Boston (Back Bay), MA519Portland, ME552Oceanside, NY559Staten Island, NY571Bridgemarket, NY637Media, PA654Centreville, VA657Willamsburg, VA663Knoxville, TN678Ann Arbor, MI685La Grange, IL692Brentwood, MO715Woodbury, MN735Buckhead, GA744Charlotte (Midtown), NC781Coral Gables, FL