randomWalks

ostensibly the concept behind trader joe's is they find small obscure-label products, mostly packaged/prepared foods although they pick up some perishables as well, which they think might be appealing to "foodies", and then buy the rights to sell it under their brand, which actually a lot of other specialty food outlets also do. the scandal here, if there is one, falls under two specific areas: 1) that you can get the same stuff cheaper as a generic brand from a regular supermarket and (2) false advertising on the part of TJ's. for shame! my normally high opinion of them as the purveyor of low-impact snob cuisine to cheapskates like me has been tarnished forever. to tell you the truth though: i usually avoid the TJ's label stuff anyway [their coffee is atrocious], and tend to stick to the stuff they re-distribute, like san pellegrino mineral water or tofutti cuties.