The Exact Rating Every Trader Joe's Product Needs To Be Approved

Loyal Trader Joe's shoppers highly anticipate new products, while mourning the demise of longtime favorites. With hundreds of newbie items nestling into store slots every year, that's a lot of edible emotions swinging high and low through nearly 600 nationwide stores. We daresay that's part of the thrill, and the satisfaction, of being a TJ's devotee. The element of surprise is a big draw, but there's actually very little left to chance in determining which products join the family.

Just as there are no back-store offices, store management works openly on the floor, there's also a measure of transparency in product choices, often discussed in Trader Joe's widely accessible podcasts. In 2023, two TJ's podcasters discussed the criteria for new products, specifically how the company's infamous tasting panels work and what it takes for products to make the cut.

The tasting panels are a weekly occurrence at Trader Joe's "mothership" location in Monrovia, California, and no product proceeds to store shelves, freezers, or fridge cases without a specific minimum rating: a fairly high, incontestable 70%. 

Taste testing by nature is subjective to personal preference, but TJ's adhere to company-specific methodologies and standards, empowering actual employees with trained instincts for what the brand's customers want. New hires work their way through a nautical-themed hierarchy, from crew members to mates, merchants, and captains. Roughly 10 to 12 diverse crew members, who are very likely customers themselves, participate in the tasting panels, providing a cross section of palettes, perceptions, and opinions. 

It's not always easy getting your hands on popular Trader Joe's products, especially limited seasonal items and holiday anomalies. That's in part because they're designed to be temporary. But another reason they're snatched up so quickly is that they've been vetted so well by TJ's tasting panels, resulting in fun, flavorful, and sometimes quirky, hoard-able edibles.

Nothing gets through without that 70% rating, meaning a supermajority of taster/crew members give a thumbs-up for an item to populate stores. The word "taste" in tasting panels is no joke, with flavor reigning as the ultimate deciding factor. That's coupled with the company's concept of value, determined by linking price and quality. Tasting panel members are tasked with rating each new item by those standards, with value comprised by, essentially, "what you get for what you pay". TJ's- focused podcasters explain how that differs from standard grocery outlets, where product choices can focus more on profiting from external factors such as slotting fees, product placement, and advertising. 

Then, there's the crucial components of production and packaging viability, plus ingredient sourcing, quality, and standards, which can include things like organic certification and food allergies. Being one of the country's most loved foods brands, by certain measures, gives the Trader Joe's tasting panel a lot to consider. Occasionally, Trader Joe's lets customers in on the action, inviting shoppers to choose a new flavor for an item such as its chocolate-covered pretzels: recently voted by customers to be mocha latte.