- Many of the grocer's products seem eerily similar to more mainstream brands. That's because the company has an agreement with third-party sellers to buy and sell products under the Trader Joe's label, Eater reported .
- But Trader Joe's generally doesn't reveal the well-known brands that supply its products.
- Sometimes, as in the case with pita chips, the Trader Joe's-brand tastes practically identical to the name-brand product.
- We tasted eight similar products from Trader Joe's and name-brands to see which were better. Trader Joe's almost always came out on top, except for a few crucial losses and one tie.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
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We compared Trader Joe's versions of iconic brands like Oreo, Cheerios, and Reese's to the originals to see which is better
Trader Joe's is a beloved grocery chain with loads of its own in-house products.
Trader Joe's test all brands
People love Trader Joe's. That much is clear .
With 488 stores across the country, the nautical-themed grocer has a lot to offer, from low prices to loads of in-house products that bear the Trader Joe's name.
People love Trader Joe's products, but many have picked up a similarity to more mainstream brands. For example, Trader Joe's pita chips look and taste almost identical to the well-known Stacy's-brand pita chips. And Joe-Joe's cookies bear a striking resemblance to Oreos.
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Though the company hasn't formally admitted it, Trader Joe's reportedly has an agreement with third-party sellers that allows it to buy and sell products under the Trader Joe's label, Eater reported . The identities of the well-known brands that supply Trader Joe's products are unknown, but people have tried to figure them out in the past.
Getting products directly from suppliers eliminates the middleman in the supply chain and helps Trader Joe's keep its prices low, the chain claims.
We decided to put Trader Joe's products to the test to see how they compare to the mainstream brands. We compared eight products, including orange juice, hummus, cereal, and peanut butter cups. We determined winners based on overall taste and price. All prices reflect those in the New York City stores we visited.
Overall, Trader Joe's products were cheaper and better, except in some crucial head-to-heads. There was also one tie.
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Here's what we found:
We went shopping in a New York City Trader Joes and a local drug store to find similar products to test out.
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We hit Trader Joes first and picked up products that looked like they would be easy to find under other brands in another store.
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Next, we stopped by a Duane Reade in Manhattans Financial District and matched the products as best as we could.
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All in all, it looked like we had all the ingredients for a fair taste test and we were excited to begin.
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1. HONEY NUT CEREAL Our first comparison was between the Trader Joes Honey Nut Os and the General Mills-brand Honey Nut Cheerios. The Trader Joes-brand cereal for $2.29 was markedly cheaper than the Honey Nut Cheerios, which was $5.99, even though it came with more.
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When it came to nutrition, both cereals had almost identical features, according to the labels. However, the taste was not entirely the same.
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We found that the Honey Nut Os were overall sweeter and had a lighter taste that we enjoyed. On the other hand, the name-brand Honey Nut Cheerios had an oven-roasted taste that wasnt as appealing as the lighter Trader Joes cereal.
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WINNER: Trader Joes From price to taste, the Trader Joes brand won in the cereal department.
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2. PEANUT BUTTER CUPS The Trader Joes dark chocolate peanut butter cups are hard to beat. We picked up Reeses dark chocolate cups to have a similar comparison.
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The two cups had different colored foil wrapping on the outside but seemed pretty similar in size. The Reeses package cost $5.49, whereas the Trader Joes cups cost $0.99, but came with way fewer.
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Once unwrapped, the two peanut butter cups were hard to distinguish from one another.
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The most notable difference at this stage was the dollop of chocolate atop the Trader Joes-brand cup, which suggested a difference in the production process between the two brands.
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WINNER: Trader Joes We liked how the Trader Joes peanut butter cup had a richer flavor than the Reeses cup. The Trader Joes cup also had more peanut butter filling and a harder outer chocolate shell that made for an appealing texture.
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3. HUMMUS Next, we moved on to hummus. We picked up a classic Trader Joes hummus for $2.99 and matched it with a miniature Sabra hummus pack for the same price.
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Before we tasted them, we could already see that the textures and colors of the two brands were vastly different. When we tasted them, we found that the Trader Joes hummus had a creamier texture and was overall saltier and more compact.
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WINNER: Name-brand We liked the name-brand hummus better because of its fluid texture and richer, classic taste.
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4. SANDWICH COOKIES We were very excited to compare the sandwich cookies, as both Oreos and Joe-Joes have their own devoted fans. We picked up Joe-Joes for $2.99 and Oreos for $5.69.
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We opened the package and found that both cookies were organized in a similar three-legged arrangement.
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In general, both cookies looked pretty similar, but there were still notable differences. The Joe-Joes lacked the Oreo logo on the surface and had a denser layer of creme in the center.
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In order to properly taste the cookies, we had to bring in a glass of almond milk for dipping so we could get the full effect.
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True to its self-ascribed descriptor, Oreos were definitely milks favorite cookie. The Oreo absorbed the milk much better than the Trader Joes cookie did and it provided a better dunking experience overall.
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WINNER: Name-brand The Oreo was the clear winner over the Trader Joes Joe-Joes. Though the Joe-Joes had a thicker creme layer, they had a blander taste than the Oreos and didnt fare well in the milk test. Oreos remain the superior sandwich cookie.
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5. BROWNIE CHIPS Finding the two bags of brownie chips was easy. Trader Joes was selling them for $2.99 and we picked up the mainstream Brownie Brittle for $4.99.
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Even the style of the packaging looked similar here. But when we opened the bags, we were surprised at the differences that were present.
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The Brownie Brittle was cut into smaller rectangular shapes while the Trader Joes Brownie Crisps were cut into squares.
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The Trader Joes Brownie Crisps had slightly fewer calories per serving size than the name-brand version.
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WINNER: Trader Joes The Trader Joes Brownie Crisps were notably crunchier than the regular name-brand brittle. We also liked the deep cocoa flavor that characterized that Trader Joes product. The well-known Brownie Brittle tasted more artificial.
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6. PITA CHIPS We easily found both versions of the classic pita chips in both Trader Joes ($1.99) and Duane Reade ($4.99).
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The bags were similar in size and the nutritional facts on the back of the bags were practically identical in every category.
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WINNER: Tie The two brands of pita chips looked and tasted exactly the same. With basically identical nutritional facts, we concluded that the two brands probably come from the same supplier.
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7. SPICY CHIPS We compared the $2.49 Trader Joes chili and lime-flavored tortilla chips with $1.99 Takis. This was one of the few instances where the name-brand product cost less than the Trader Joes product.
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The difference between the two was evident from the moment we opened the bag. The Takis had a more artificial-looking red color and had fewer chips in the bag.
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WINNER: Name-brand The two spicy chips were very similar, but the Takis won because of the flavor. They were spicier and overall richer.
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8. ORANGE JUICE Our last head-to-head was in the juice department. The Tropicana orange juice for $2.19 was cheaper than the Trader Joes juice we found for $2.29.
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The two juices were bottled similarly, but we knew they would taste differently based on the advertising on the wrapper. The Tropicana juice was not freshly squeezed like the Trader Joes juice was.
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The Trader Joes juice also contained fewer calories overall.
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WINNER: Trader Joes Though slightly more expensive, the Trader Joes juice tasted fresher and more natural overall. The Tropicana orange juice was too sweet and slightly more acidic tasting.
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Trader Joes was the overall better brand it won over the name-brand products in four categories: cereal, brownie chips, peanut butter cups, and orange juice.
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The name brand Oreos, Takis, and Sabra hummus won in the cookie, spicy chips, and hummus categories, respectively. When it came to pita chips, the result was a tie.
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The cheap prices of Trader Joes and its overall winning products made it the store that we will most likely return to for our future grocery needs.
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See Also:
SEE ALSO: We shopped at both Whole Foods and Trader Joe's, and the Amazon-owned chain was disappointing in comparison
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