Were Trader Joe's Honey Butter Potato Chips Discontinued?

Trader Joe's is well known for its specialty products, colorful storefronts, and its strange habit of suddenly discontinuing products. Its stores purposely keep products limited on shelves and cycle through seasonal favorites yearly to keep customers coming again and again. However, this also means discontinuing some products to make room for new ones.

Trader Joe's Honey Butter Potato Chips are, unfortunately, another casualty of discontinuation. These chips disappeared from shelves in 2018 despite the fact that customers enjoyed the sweet and salty flavor. Like most of its discontinued products, the chips were pulled from shelves without fanfare or reason as to why.

It is alleged that these chips were made as a response to the popularity of honey butter chips in South Korea back in 2014. The trend eventually faded with time, and so did the popularity of Trader Joe's Honey Butter Potato Chips. Although this chip flavor can still be found in Asian grocery stores like H-Mart, it is unclear why these chips, along with so many other products, stopped appearing in Trader Joe's stores.

Unfortunately, this is a fate that befalls many products, regardless of how popular they once were. Even customer favorites are not immune to discontinuation. The reasons behind discontinuations are not typically announced, with the possible exception of the Trader Joe's Patio Potato Chips, which are believed to have been discontinued because the supplier burned down. Another reason behind the discontinuations is the changing of seasons. Trader Joe's is excellent at capitalizing on the holiday spirit, with a whopping total of 469 holiday products in stores in December 2023. Once the month ended, all 469 products were pulled from shelves, much to the frustration of customers.

There is a silver lining to Trader Joe's mysterious discontinuation process. The benefit of constantly changing products means that customers always have the opportunity to try something new.  Although the honey butter flavor is gone, Trader Joe's still has many potato chip alternatives available for customers to snack on.