Trader Joe’s has mastered the art of developing a cult-favorite brand, thanks to its low prices and quirky food selection.
The chain is known for creating fresh, frozen, and packaged meals and snacks under its own Trader Joe’s brand, with some products being an obvious riff on popular name-brand selections.
But a new investigation by Taste found that making Trader Joe’s branded items may have a darker side than just reproducing big company favorites — some small brands are claiming that Trader Joe’s has copied their ideas and purposely cut them out of deals.
To offer such cheap prices, Trader Joe’s will buy products directly from the supplier and rebrand the product under its own name — for example, if the company wanted to buy Sabra hummus, instead of selling it to customers in Sabra packag