Monday, May 24, 2010
Food Fight That Not-So Fresh Feeling: Why Is Trader Joe's Tight-Lipped About Its Food Sources?
Posted by Tracy Moore on Mon, May 24, 2010 at 2:14 PM
But if those cheap eats seemed a little too good to be true, maybe it's because they were. The magazine Sustainable Industries is arguing that the environmental claims the chain makes may be as dubious as that chilled-out surfer dude in the Hawaiian shirt trying to chat you up at the checkout.
The magazine says:
Products carrying the Trader Joe’s private label have helped differentiate Trader Joe’s from other grocers in its price bracket. But Trader Joe’s leaders are notoriously tight-lipped about the sources of those products, as are the stores’ suppliers. Sustainable Industries was unsuccessful at getting an interview with [Trader Joe's chief, German billionaire Theo] Albrecht or other members of the management team for this article — which apparently is not uncommon.
They also say a likely culprit could be Trader Joe's parent company Aldi, the German grocery market chain that also offers dirt-cheap products on a private label:
Aldi is largely credited with giving Germany the lowest grocery prices in the European Union. In fact, its prices are so low that Wal-Mart [NYSE: WMT] couldn’t compete and left the country in 2006. Aldi made its fortune selling a large assortment of private label products that it could get made on the cheap and thus sell for far lower prices than name-brand products — not unlike 85 percent of the non-alcoholic products in Trader Joe’s, which are also private label.
Trader Joe's may have a strong business motive for keeping its sources secret (to prevent competitors from cutting even better deals with the same suppliers). But the company can't expect to maintain its claim as a "natural" food market unless there's more transparency about how and where its products are made.
Organic dairy watchdog group The Cornucopia Institute recently gave Trader Joe's just one star (actually one cow icon) out of five because TJ refuses to reveal the source of its organic milk. (The ratings, which Cornucopia says are updated continually, can be found here.) And though the store claims its eggs are cage-free, they have no third-party verification to back that claim up.
What gives, dudes? Don't make us start calling you Traitor Joe's again.
[HT: Utne Reader]
Comments (22)
Showing 1-22 of 22
It's always seemed pretty clear to me that a lot of the food is Chinese in origin. That would account for the price, the strange flavor combinations and the sort of random selection. Oh, and the name "Trader." Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but that's been my assumption all along.
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First, I'll admit to being a fan of Trader Joe's. But I also have some issues with the store but rather than not shop there, I just don't buy certain products there.
Anyhoo, in their defense:
1. Nicki--they actually started phasing out products from China a while back because of concerns over standards. Most of the products I buy have the origin country printed on the label and I don't buy anything from China.
2. The article suggests that Trader Joe's is owned by Aldi. It's not. Granted, there are business practices that are shared by the two companies, but Trader Joe's is owned by a trust started by one of the Albrecht brothers. It is operated completely separately from the Aldi markets.
3. I've got a real problem with any input from the Cornucopia Institute. They are big time against Big Dairy and that's great and all, but they've put soy milk in their crosshairs because it's the big competitor to small organic milk. So I find them to be frequently disingenous because their priority is the the interest of their clients, not necessarily truth.
However, I do think it's good that TJ's is getting some criticism. They need to be more careful about meeting perceptions and their claims. What I buy from there is mostly the private label convenience food (mostly frozen) and occasionally some specialty produce (really, their prices on Rainier cherries can't be beat). And that's because of this type of criticism opening my eyes to what's really going on there. I just wish that article had been written better; it's got good heart but too many holes.
Oh, and obviously, I don't buy any of their meats. But I have looked at the fish and have to say that even from the beginning, I was skeptical. Hard to believe they can sell it at those prices.
Trader Joe's did stop Chinese whole food imports, including spinach and edamame. But of course that doesn't mean Trader Joe's doesn't sell products that contain ingredients from China.
There's no question that the company is a "Trader" on a global scale -- hence the random selection. Small, struggling companies are probably eager to sell cheaply to Trader Joe's, but perhaps can't deliver large, long-term contracts.
Here's where my wild speculations kick in. Just because things are cheap doesn't mean they're from China. A lot of other Asian countries export inexpensive food. ('m thinking of my favorite ginger chews from Indonesia, for sale at any Asian market. Also, when I lived in Chicago I shopped in a Vietnamese market that sold a $2 knock-off of Cafe du Monde made in Ho Chi Minh City.
Because of the Aldi connection, I always assumed some of the food comes from Eastern Europe. Aldi bought Trader Joe's in 1979. Did they anticipate the fall of the Iron Curtain and the possibility of major bargains to their east, which they could then market to us food-crazed Americans to their west? Aldi certainly expanded mightily after reunification.
I, too, am operating on assumption -- which I can easily spin into extravagant speculation. I would love to know all the secrets of Trader Joe's.
On the Aldi and Trader Joe's issue: I think it's still fair to say that Aldi practices and Trader Joe's practices are related. Yes, brother Theo Albrecht is the one who bought Trader Joe's, and not only are they operated separately, but Theo has ceded his share of Aldi to his brother.
But Theo is a self-made billionaire who got rich off the Aldi concept. That concept has clearly influenced TJ ever since he bought it, and even now, I can't believe that his knowledge of how Aldi does things (including what countries and suppliers have been useful in the past) doesn't affect decisions and deals cut by Trader Joe's.
I assume part of the reason they don't reveal their manufacturers is because those same manufacturers sell their (brand name, not Trader Joe's label) products for significantly more than TJ's does. For instance, Stoneyfield makes some of their full-fat yogurts (bananas and cream, blueberries and cream, those little six packs that are very similar to the Stoneyfield Yo-Baby six packs). The six packs of Yo-Baby sit right next to their Trader Joe's counterparts at Trader Joe's, for a dollar more per six pack, and they're priced even higher at Kroger. I'm pretty sure Amy's makes some of their Indian and Mexican-themed frozen meals, too.
Since you are so damn focused on price before credibility, you are all just a bunch of delusional Wal-Mart gypsies: somehow hoping that some mythical assertive mega-compassion person is going to shepherd an entire globes worth of eager local producer ambition types to create some magical produce channel to create the equivalent of nirvana within the boundaries of your pathetic pay scale.
Forget it. Enjoy that melamine with your mercury and oil spills.
Dana: speak facts. You were once a journalist. No speculation please.
Lastly - cant ANY of you people prepare food for yourselves? Mexican themed????? Yogurt? Kimchee? Beer? Wine?
@ milton freedman: you may have this blog mistaken for reporting. The paper reports, the blog chats. Thanks for the input, and if you're here to sling mercury and melamine, speak facts -- no speculation please.
I'm curious why MF is held to the standard of facts while Tracy Moore is free to chat and speculate with no regard for facts. I'm glad this is a digital medium so no paper was sacrificed for TM's ungrounded musings.
@ Dave -- click the links in Tracy's post to read the documentation from Sustainable Industries and Cornucopia Institute. Links are the bright red letters, or if you're working on a black and white monitor, they may appear bolder than the surrounding type.
As a long time reader (and rare poster) of this Blog I feel compelled to publicly observe that Nicki Wood doesn't have the same cachet or "bona fides" (open and genuine; not deceitful) as the rest of the Bites staff here. It seems that if there is a controversial piece, a post in bad taste, or simply a mean spirited reply it often has a Nicki Wood signature to it.
This is my observation and opinion based 18 months of reading this blog and not a judgement of her otherwise.
If I am alone in this opinion, so be it. But if others feel the same way it might be useful for the powers that be to hear your voice. I really want this blog to be required daily reading; high quality, and free of BS. More Chris, Carrington, and Dana please.
MF--indeed, I can prepare my own food. And I resisted Trader Joe's for a long time because I was not interested in their small selection of specialty items. Mostly because I saw it as cheating. And then I got pregnant and (unbelievably!) my husband still wanted to eat. I often don't have the energy to prepare and roast vegetables or make a risotto so the frozen side dishes at Trader Joe's are a nice shortcut to a decent meal. And I have no interest in making my own tofu or fake meats.
Now that it's spring in Tennessee, though I won't be at TJ's very often at all.
David M -
If anything, I think that Nicki provides a fun voice to the snobbery that is Carrington Fox. Carrington's articles are the least delightful to read. Chris Chamberlain's are the best.
The reason they won't talk about their dairy supplier is they probably have many regional suppliers. It makes no financial/logistical sense for TJ's to haul milk products all over the country.
TJ's gets a whole lot of their dairy products from Rockview Farms for Southern California. It's a much worse product than Alta Dena's (which they used to carry looong ago.)
Niki's comments about the fish are accurate. That product has to come from parts of the world where there are no fishing regulations. All of the environmental consequences of unregulated markets (externalities) are ignored to bring you cheap TJ fish product.
A supplier *must* produce a lower quality product in order to meet TJ's price. So it is no surprise they cannot certify many of their product claims. There's lots of 'Truthiness' in their marketing claims.
I once heard Trader Joe's described as the perfect grocery store for stoners. Everything is bite-sized and microwavable.
Lila, while I certainly appreciate your wonderful compliment, I have to inform both you and David M. that I am occasionally also full of BS. It's the History major in me. Plus I dropped out of MBA in 9th grade after the damage was already done.
I'm glad that our writing moves you all in some way, and as I always say, please continue to participate in the conversation. That's the major difference between online and more static traditional media. Tracy threw out a topic and now everyone is contributing their opinions in real time.
Try that with your local fish wrapper. (Including ours.)
Geez, this is so old. Go listen to California wineries whine (no pun intended) about TJ's purchases of subsidized French wine being dumped and how it's unfair competition, as though it is a market's responsibility to coddle cottage industries. And then compare that with anyone trying to compete with products stemming from the US dairy subsidies, the wheat purchases, the PIK programs, etc. And hey, those subsidized cows compete with those not-so-picky wineries for the fruit culls from packing houses, so where does it end? It's the dirty little secret for anything involving the word "trade" - it's not fair and never will be. Buy what you like and pay what you can afford, support whom you deem worthy. You can suspect sinister deeds running amok every where your eye falls in anyone's grocery aisles, regardless of the name on your eco bag, we're in a society where law is crafted by and for the corporations, not the people. And if you think your conscience is clear because you pay dearly at Whole Foods instead, you're sadly not paying attention. Better to donate the extra cash to a flood victim.
Since I am new to this whole, "better for you" food word, I thought this informed group may have some answers. Being behind the times, my husband and I just watched Food Inc. We have not watched any other films that argue the points made in this film. We need to do so. Having said that, we are worried that some of the foods we buy at TJ's or any store for that matter may not be as great as we had thought. Does everything have soy in it? I had thought that was a good thing. BUT, it seems that one company "owns" the soy bean world. We are vegetarians that miss meat, in some sort of odd way. So we buy meatless products. How much of that garbage soy is really in those? And how processed are they? I'm trying to figure this out, but in the area that we live in (Virginia Beach), not many share the same food views and very limited purchasing options. Everyone thinks we're odd and wonder what we eat instead of meat. Being new to all of this, we are trying to figure what is the right direction. After watching Food inc. I was so worried that we were eating the round up ready soy beans. Are we? Please do not preach to me about making all of my food! Both my husband and I work full time. He is a full time student and I am also a stay at home mom when school is out. We make most meals and sit at the dinner table every night to eat. I need some short cuts or would have to slit my throat. Please understand! Thank you for any info thrown my way!!!!!!!!!! I just want to eat my slightly salted edamame with a clear conscience and have morning star buffalo wind during my Steelers games.....'cause I miss the saucy wing!
@Coddie, what you've identified is the central difficulty in trying make conscientious choices with one's food. Many choices are better in one respect, but worse in another. I can't give you all the answers.
I, like you, feel that I don't have time to cook everything from scratch, as many food pundits would prescribe. I eat prepared foods all the time, but I do take great care in reading the ingredients. It's a fairly accurate rule that the more ingredients a food contains, the more it represents a product of possibly dubious industrial processing.
Unfortunately, I don't know that much about vegetarian meat substitutes. I sometimes get migraines, and a lot of ingredients in such veggie products -- hydrolyzed protein, hydrolyzed yeast, texturized vegetable protein -- have been identified as potential migraine triggers.
I eat meat, but if I were to become a vegetarian I would have to rely on relatively unprocessed beans, lentils and nuts for my protein. Unfortunately, I wouldn't be able to eat veggie Buffalo wings. And I haven't done enough research to know whether your favorite lightly salted edamame represent Roundup-ready soybeans. Products listed as "non-GMO" are supposed to be safe on that concern, but who knows. I will say that lightly salted edamame sound like a tasty snack.
It's impossible to achieve total purity, whether ethical or heath-wise, in your food choices. All I can recommend is to try to buy minimally processed food when you can, buy from small local farms when you can, and eat as wide a variety of foods as possible so your dollars go to multiple industries instead of supporting one, like soy processors or Big Dairy or Big Corn or whatever.
