Food Theory: The Trader Joe’s Conspiracy

Trader Joe's. Quaint neighborhood

grocery store or home to a thriving cult

that offers you tasty treats in exchange

for a price far, far steeper than your

soul, your rent. Hello, internet.

Welcome to Food Theory, the channel

that'll give you something new to

discuss when the TJ's employees force

you into small talk. I mean, if you

don't want to discuss how addictive

their three cheese pasta with eggplant

is. Like, I know, Marley. That's why I'm

buying seven of them. Get off my

eggplant, dude. But that's not even the

worst part, because no matter where TJ's

goes, it spells doom for everyone around

it. For those who haven't had the

pleasure of fighting soccer moms for

parking in the smallest, busiest parking

lots in America, Trader Joe's is a bit

of a unicorn in the grocery store game.

They're not plagued by robotic selfch

checkouts. They don't have rewards

programs or even sales because their

prices are already so low, and they are

physically tiny. On average, they're

about a fourth the size of other grocery

stores. Also, while markets like Kroger

and Albertson's offer zillions of name

brand goods, Trader Joe's only has a

handful of private label items, and a

majority of their products are

surprisingly unique. Like, you might be

picking up Egos for breakfast at

Walmart, but at Joe's, you're picking up

yourself some sweet cinnamon fil Korean

pancakes. And after you eat them, you

will not shut up about them. That's just

how Trader Joe's works. You find

something intriguing, you try it, and

then presumably fall under Joe the

Warlock's spell because now you're

praying it isn't seasonal cuz you just

can't get enough of it. Or worse, it

could be, yes, discontinued. RIP to the

snacks that get snapped. Let's be real

though, getting us hooked on Brookies

isn't all that sinister of a magic

trick. But unfortunately, Joe's been

dabbling in the dark arts. And not only

has it corrupted Joe, but some now think

it's taking a toll on the communities he

supposedly once cared for. So today I

want to unpack how Trader Joe's

hypnotized us into salivating zombies

and in the process uncover a series of

unfortunate truths that might just one

day break the delicious curse they have

on our land. Okay, so I know I'm leaning

hard into the wizard metaphor here, but

if I'm being accurate, Trader Joe's

branding is much more adventurer

explorer code. Since its inception, TJ's

has been going for a vibe similar to

Nathan Drake seeing Jimmy Buffett open

for the 1900's World Fair. This world

traveler aesthetic is in many ways not

just the visual identity of the store

but the thematic springboard that

launched it into popularity. As the

story goes way way back in 1967, a man

had a flash of foresight that turned him

from a struggling business owner into a

grocery store tycoon. Not to be confused

with Spider Lab Gaming's grocery store

tycoon, which are goated. But I'll give

you one guess as to what this man's name

was. Lock in your answer by clicking the

subscribe button. Ready? 3 seconds. 3 2

1. Nice. All right, let's see what we

got here. Who said Seymour butts? This

is why we can't have nice things. It was

Joe. All right, his name was Joe. Joe

Cologne to be exact. Back in the day,

Joe was a simple convenience store owner

running six markets in the Los Angeles

area. But he had a problem. His pronto

markets were getting absolutely proton

torpedoed by 7-Eleven. So, instead of

competing with slurpees and late night

munchies, he hit the drawing board to

develop a way to escape from his

competition's sticky shadow. At the

time, Joe had recently been on Disney's

Jungle Cruise, and he was reading a book

called White Shadows in the South Seas.

This made him notice that tropical

gimmicks were kind of having a moment in

California. Like, tiki bars, for

example, had been a booming fad,

particularly the high-end tiki hut,

Trader Vicks, in Beverly Hills. So, Joe

decided to yoink Vicks branding and turn

his Pasadena pronto market into the

first Trader Joe's, a place where

worldly taste could be affordable at

home. Really, that's the reason why the

store is called Trader Joe's. It's

supposed to paint the picture of Joe and

his crew sailing the world, trading

goods, and bringing back new flavors to

the States. They call it sailing the

culinary seas. It's like One Piece, but

with groceries and better pacing. And

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Let's get back to Joe's, shall we? This

nautical explorer gimmick extends to all

parts of TJ's brand. Store managers are

called captains, supervisors are mates,

and employees are crew members. The

aesthetic of the store and its products

avoids that glossy, sterile corporate

trend that other grocerers share.

Instead, evoking the feeling of visiting

an open air market at an international

trade harbor. These themes of

exploration are even intended to extend

to you, the customer. Did you find that

hidden gem of a snack? Did you try a new

food you didn't even know existed? Good.

You're not shopping for groceries.

You're a treasure hunter bringing home a

bounty of flavor. And a huge reason why

Joe put all his chips on red, white, and

floral had to do with the potential he

saw in the evolving tastes of the era.

One big factor was the GI Bill of

Rights, which gave military service

members the opportunity to have their

higher education subsidized by Uncle

Sam. His 10 years of running pronto

market taught him that educated

consumers were open to trying new

flavors, and thanks to the GI Bill, this

demo was only growing. He also saw that

global travel was starting to become

more convenient and affordable and

accessible thanks to innovations in jet

planes. This meant more Americans were

going abroad and developing food

cravings that they couldn't quite

satisfy at home. Trader Joe's unique

product lines were intended to be the

solution to this problem. Unfortunately

for Joe, his new direction wasn't an

instant hit. But with a little time, he

was able to find success with two major

products, wine and granola. In the

1960s, California had fair trade laws

that essentially made it so all grocery

stores had to sell imported wines at the

same price. Basically, this was to

prevent the large retailers from edging

out smaller businesses. Without the

laws, the bigger players could afford to

sell wine at a slight loss to make their

stores more appealing, thus drawing

business away from the mom and pop shops

and starving them out. Joe discovered a

clever workaround. However, the prices

of foreign wines were set by the price

posted by the wines's importer, aka the

middleman. So Joe just cut him out. He

worked his magic and found an importer

who was willing to list wine at a huge

markdown just for him. This allowed Joe

to skirt the fair trade laws and his

stores became the go-to location for a

wide selection of cheap foreign wines.

Over time, this reputation became a core

part of Trader Joe's identity, and both

the customers and employees at Joe's

started to fancy themselves as wine

experts. As it turns out, there's a lot

of overlap between self-proclaimed wine

connoisseurs and health-conscious

consumers, which is weird, but it led to

Joe discovering the profitability of

granola in the 70s. Not only did Trader

Joe's granola help solidify the brand as

a healthier market, but it became the

first private label item sold at the

store. This was huge. Private label or

store brand products are products that

are exclusive to their retailers. Unlike

national brand products like Coca-Cola

and Lays which are sold everywhere,

private label goods aren't produced,

however, by the store brands that sell

them, the stores just buy the products

wholesale in bulk from a supplier and

slap their branding on them. And private

label goods are basically all Trader

Joe's sells now because Joe learned that

these items can be sold much cheaper

than their competitors while still

remaining profitable. They're also great

for building up brand loyalty as long as

they're of an acceptable quality. This

isn't an issue for TJ's because Old Joe

built the brand on a foundation of

quality. Quality products, quality

service, and quality of life. Now,

obviously, I've teased ruining this

man's legacy earlier in the intro, but

by all accounts, Trader Joe, the man was

a real stand-up entrepreneur. Sure, the

whole tiki appropriation thing is worth

a strong side eye, but everything I've

read about Joe points to him earnestly

wanting to nourish local communities and

celebrate international culture.

Starting in his pronto market days, he

was paying his staff higher wages than

his competitors. His thought was that he

wanted to spend his working days with

good and interesting people and quality

employees deserved quality wages. Even

as the economy shifted over the years,

he paid individual crew members

Californian family income levels. If you

worked for Joe, your family could get by

just fine on a single salary. So working

at Joe's wasn't just a job, it was a

career. This was just one example of why

Joe was the sort of guy to give his

staff and his customers everything but

the bagel. Even after he sold Trader

Joe's to Aldine or in 1979, he stayed on

as CEO until 1988, ensuring that TJ's

rare company culture remained intact as

the brand went national. Bear in mind

that National was only 19 stores at the

time, but for the most part, his

successors have continued to nurture

that community forward spirit, even as

they've expanded Joe's to the 608

locations it has today. When their third

CEO, Dan Bane, took over, he made it a

point to codify Joe's business

philosophy into seven core company

values that every crew member to this

day is trained to live by. Yes, even

Marley. I know because I quizzed him

after he tried to sell me on OG. If

you're thinking, "Hey, is indoctrinating

workers with seven abstract principles

giving lumen from severance?" I'd say

that would explain why Marley is hawking

that chunky vegan oat so hard. The man's

trying to earn himself a bio ledge

waffle party. You know what I'm saying?

But these values are where TJ's starts

to get a little culty. I mean, Bane went

on the record calling these seven values

we preach to our people. Now, I'm under

the impression that during Bane's

tenure, these were still actually mostly

wholesome. But what are these famous

values? Having integrity, being product

driven, providing wow experiences,

hating bureaucracy, treating the store

as a brand, being a national

neighborhood company, and a $5 word

known as Kaizen. Now, a lot of these are

pretty straightforward and track with

Joe Colom's original core values. When

Bane says integrity, he's talking about

treating people with respect, treating

people how you would like to be treated.

Standard golden rule stuff that aligns

with the way Joe paid his staff. Being

product driven is all about the quality

and uniqueness of their products.

Apparently, TJ's product developers

still travel all over the world to get

ideas for new offerings, and they take

their product integrity pretty

seriously, too. According to Trader

Joe's official podcast, the new item

taste test panels are highly critical.

They also seem to go overboard on the

security as to make them impossible for

suppliers to infiltrate and influence.

The one time that a photojournalist was

invited to one, the tasters all had to

keep their identities a secret under

paper bag masks on the chance that

vendors could trace the photos back and

bribe Joe's kingmakers. Creating wow

experiences is where we start to get

into murky territory with these values.

mostly because I think this is where Dan

Bane could have benefited from

consulting a dictionary for their names

rather than riffing off the top of his

head. This value is really about the

experience that turns running errands at

Trader Joe's into Jojo's bizarre

adventure. Joe's has fine-tuned the

novelty of shopping in their stores for

novelties. Yes, the discovery of

globalins inspired flavors feels like a

treasure hunt, but it goes even further

than that. TJ's is artfully engineered

to give you this experience. For

example, its freezer section holds many

of their most iconic products, from

their orange chicken to their kimbab to

their pizzas imported directly from

Italy. It's important to them that the

barrier to browsing is as low as

possible. Literally. At traditional

grocery outlets, freezer sections

require customers to open up a big old

freezer door, which means it's not as

easy to peruse as all the stores

offerings. But at Trader Joe's, the

freezers are wide open and low to the

ground. This invites customers to

impulsively add more items to their

cart. Oh, just one more beef and queso

bowl. Ooh, and those freaking feta

caramelized onion pastry bites. I can't

stop eating, but our 40 billion calories

are so delicious. Wow. Experience also

encapsulates customer service. It's why

Marley has a little bell he can ring

that summons more eager, friendly crew

members when you tell him that you can't

find the taco seasoning. It's also why

Marley won't shut up about the

incredible strawberry jalapeno crisps in

your cart, no matter how badly you want

to pay and get out of there with minimal

conversation. Employees are encouraged

to not only talk to you about the items

in your cart, but make you feel good

about having purchased them. It's like

the modern-day equivalent of a butler

saying, "hm, very good, sir." after

you've asked them to bring you a glass

of brandy in the study. They want you to

feel like a genius for selecting just

the right cheese. They know that you're

more likely to return and buy more if

you feel confident in the aftermath of

your purchase. So, even if you're just

grabbing some cold cuts and grape juice

on your lunch break, Marley is going to

make you feel like you're Batman sliding

into a well-tailored suit as he bags

your goods. Trader Joe's also claims to

hate bureaucracy, favoring relaxed vibes

and a less corporate atmosphere. They

instead prefer the Japanese business

philosophy of Kaizen. Kai meaning change

or social media manager and Zen meaning

good or for the better. To practice

Kaizen, TJ's aims to continuously change

and develop for the betterment of their

employees, customers, and communities.

This also means continuously improving

their product offerings and is the

reason why your favorite snacks

disappear forever and are replaced by

something almost as good and you're just

expected to say thank you for the

emotional growth forever in my heart.

Jos never forget. Joe's also believes

that the store itself is the brand, not

their individual products. By immersing

you in their themed decor, Hawaiian

shirts, and private label items, Trader

Joe's branding is the star of the

grocery shopping experience. They even

sell a coffee table art book dedicated

to all the bespoke art featured in their

stores. Honestly, to me, that sounds

like the most interesting gift you can

get for the least interesting person in

your life. So, that leaves us with the

last and maybe most complicated of TJ's

seven values. Being a

national/neighborhood company, no matter

how large the company grows or how many

stores they set up, each Trader Joe's

you walk into should feel like a homey

part of your community. They basically

want to be the cheers of national

grocery store chains. But instead of Sam

alone pouring you a cold bruswki after a

long day, it's Marley complimenting your

choice and frozen tikka masala before

running your debit card. This, unlike

the other golden rules, really does

sound kind of golden. But the national/

neighborhood thing is also where things

get a little dicey because TJ's doesn't

just adapt to neighborhoods. It signals

something to them. And one of the things

it signals is that property values are

going up. Multiple studies have found

that when a TJ's opens in a

neighborhood, property values increase

at an accelerated rate. A 2017 Zillow

study, for example, found that between

1997 and 2014, homes near a Trader Joe's

appreciated an average of 148%, while

the typical US home appreciated by only

71% over the same period. Even more

notable, the study analyzed store

opening dates and found that TJ's wasn't

drafting off of already hot

neighborhoods, which means there was a

causality between the opening of a TJ's

and the rise in property values. In

other words, Trader Joe's didn't follow

the money. The money followed Trader

Joe's. Somewhere out there, a real

estate agent is legally required to say

a place is within walking distance of

Trader Joe's click their heels and spin

three times before showing a listing.

Now, again, rising property values can

be a good thing, right? Sure they can.

If, and this is a big if, you already

own a home. If you're renting, get ready

for a 6% rent increase next year. And if

you're looking to buy, well, now you

have to compete with developers,

landlords, and investors who are also

eyeing that lovely house on the corner

just two blocks away from that Trader

Joe's. The problem isn't just the rent

either. Once they're in those lower

inome neighborhoods, less affluent

residents tend to not shop there as much

anyway, because TJ's doesn't have all

the necessities that people need.

Instead, all those bells and whistles

sort of foods they sell invite people of

a higher socioeconomic status to shop

there, which only increases this

perception of gentrification. Trader

Joe's may not come in and bulldoze

entire neighborhoods, but it does sort

of signal that the bulldozers are

already on their way. So, it makes sense

that some communities have pushed back

against new stores. People are right to

worry that they may get priced out of

their neighborhood as a side effect of

TJ's. And listen, the push back matters.

This is something that the company has

occasionally shown it understands. In at

least one highly publicized case, TJ's

did something that's pretty rare for a

national retail company. They walked

away from a potentially profitable

situation. In Portland, Oregon, plans to

open a TJ's in a historically black

neighborhood were met with protests from

residents who feared the store would

accelerate gentrification, causing

displacement without actually serving

the underserved people who lived there.

To their credit, Trader Joe's listened.

Rather than forcing the project through,

they abandoned it entirely and issued a

statement that was kind of refreshing.

We run neighborhood stores. If a

neighborhood doesn't want Trader Joe's,

we understand and we won't open the

store in question. But despite that one

instance, Trader Joe's's popularity is

only going up as the Seven Values bring

in more and more members into this cult.

As a business, TJ's has to grow and

expand. And as it spreads, more and more

neighborhoods will find themselves

having to fight back against Trader

Joe's. So, is TJ's a cult? Yes. But as

long as TJ's keeps listening to and

actually serving local communities

without forcing people out just because

some people can't live without their

orange chicken, they'll at least avoid

becoming Traitor Joe's for now. But hey,

that's just a theory. A food theory bro.

And hey, want to know the best way to

make hot chocolate? Make sure to click

the link on the screen now. And as

always, I'll see you next