3 ms·

trying to see how this is the Trader Joe's model. i thought what Trader Joe's did was find food makers that sell products at other retailers (e.g. Naked Juice,

trying to see how this is the Trader Joe's model. i thought what Trader Joe's did was find food makers that sell products at other retailers (e.g. Naked Juice, sold for example at at Whole Foods) and then negotiate a deal with that same food maker to supply that same product to TJ's under the store label and at a lower price. if I'm not mistaken, TJ's also develops its own product concepts (e.g. Thai Chili Cashew Nuts or their Winter blend coffee) in conjunction with some outside food makers and sells those in its TJ's stores too. but, I'd be interested in finding some examples of where TJ's basically ripped off one of their own supplier's ideas and had it made by someone else for their store label. interesting stuff!

darawk 8y ago
Hmm I was under the impression that they were ripping off those companies, but you could certainly be right. I just saw the pattern of (for example) Snap Pea crisps under a non-TJ brand get popular at TJ's, then TJ's labeled version comes out and the other one disappears.
- HillaryBriss 8y ago
  You could be right too. I'm not sure. Trader Joe's is very secretive about who supplies its products. When I google for something like "Who makes Trader Joe's $product" I find various articles that seem like they've actually uncovered suppliers in certain cases, and I think those suppliers are pretty willing to sell a version of their existing products at TJs for lower prices. But I certainly don't know the whole story. One other thing I notice about TJs is that it does not carry a "full" product line like a normal grocery store. TJ's often seems to cherry pick or negotiate relatively good deals from outside food suppliers where they can. And if they can't do that, in many cases, they just don't offer that product at all. Still, they offer a wide enough product line to keep the customers flowing in. http://www.time.com/money/4894722/who-makes-trader-joes-products/ http://www.time.com/money/4894722/who-makes-trader-joes-prod... https://www.eater.com/2017/8/9/16099028/trader-joes-products https://www.eater.com/2017/8/9/16099028/trader-joes-products

darawk 8y ago

Hmm I was under the impression that they were ripping off those companies, but you could certainly be right. I just saw the pattern of (for example) Snap Pea crisps under a non-TJ brand get popular at TJ's, then TJ's labeled version comes out and the other one disappears.

HillaryBriss 8y ago
You could be right too. I'm not sure. Trader Joe's is very secretive about who supplies its products. When I google for something like "Who makes Trader Joe's $product" I find various articles that seem like they've actually uncovered suppliers in certain cases, and I think those suppliers are pretty willing to sell a version of their existing products at TJs for lower prices. But I certainly don't know the whole story. One other thing I notice about TJs is that it does not carry a "full" product line like a normal grocery store. TJ's often seems to cherry pick or negotiate relatively good deals from outside food suppliers where they can. And if they can't do that, in many cases, they just don't offer that product at all. Still, they offer a wide enough product line to keep the customers flowing in. http://www.time.com/money/4894722/who-makes-trader-joes-products/ http://www.time.com/money/4894722/who-makes-trader-joes-prod... https://www.eater.com/2017/8/9/16099028/trader-joes-products https://www.eater.com/2017/8/9/16099028/trader-joes-products