The Popular Pita Chips Brand Hiding Behind Labels At Aldi And Safeway

Like many of the absolute best Trader Joe's snacks, the store's sea salt pita chips were long rumored to be the product of another popular food brand. The list of ingredients is almost identical to the Stacy's brand, which has led many to believe they are made in the same place. Now, it looks like something similar is happening with the pita chips at Aldi and Safeway.

Nicknamed the "pita chip mogul," Stacy Madison of Stacy's Pita Chips was the first and for a long time, the only name selling this salty snack. But, unsurprisingly, after the news broke about it likely being the brand behind the pita chips at Trader Joe's, bags started disappearing from the shelves. After all, who would spend $4 on a bag of Stacy's version when they could get them somewhere else for half of that?

Now, some internet sleuths suspect that Stacy's is hiding behind more pita chip brands than previously thought. Safeway and Aldi both carry pita chips under the names Open Nature and Specially Selected and in both of the popular original sea salt and garlic parmesan flavors that Trader Joe's carried. 

While the information is yet to be confirmed, Reddit threads have acted as a sort of platform for support groups since the pita chip bags have allegedly become more scarce at Trader Joe's. Even though some shoppers found solace in the fact that they could just go and buy a bag of Stacy's Pita Chips that were the exact same, they wondered why other stores — namely Aldi and Safeway — had privately labeled pita chips on the shelves that looked and tasted similar to the brand behind their favorite Trader Joe's snack.

Safeway's brand, Open Nature, sells pita chips in a few flavors, but when you compare the original sea salt and parmesan garlic herb flavors to the same ones from Stacy's, you'll see that they all contain the same handful of ingredients — wheat or whole wheat flour, sunflower oil, and added natural flavorings like sea salt, rosemary extract, parmesan, and garlic. The same thing goes for those sold at Aldi under the Specially Selected name when you compare them to those listed on the parmesan garlic herb and sea salt bags from Stacy's.

This should be good news, seeing as both come at a fraction of the cost that a bag of Stacy's Pita Chips does. Just don't tell too many people or you might not be able to find them in stock.