Trader Joe’s Accused of Copying Smaller Food Brands

Trader Joe’s is appreciated by customers for its quality items with attractively low prices and the fresh selection of new treats that always appear on its shelves. However, new research from the publication Taste says that certain small food brands think that Trader Joe’s has replicated their products and pushed them out of making sales.

Most of Trader Joe’s items are part of its own private-label brand, such as its big yellow cereal box called “Joe-O’s” instead of Cheerios. Certain packaged items, however, are produced by renowned name brands as part of a private labeling deal. Even though the retail giant doesn’t make those deals public, it’s still easy enough to identify which brands created the “dupes.”

FDA recalls were examined by Eater to uncover the identity of the name brands behind Trader Joe’s white-labeled products. According to Eater’s analysis in 2017, Stacy’s produced Trader Joe’s pita chips, Naked provided the retailer’s green juice, Tribe manufactured the classic hummus, and similar relationships were found with other products.

The Taste report showed that Trader Joe’s has been observed expressing interest in certain small brands and has requested samples and additional information with the intention of striking a deal. However, in some cases, the retailer has allegedly then developed and launched similar products on its own.

Brooklyn Delhi, a company that produces jarred Indian sauces, claims that Trader Joe’s duped one of its signature sauces after a private labeling agreement fell apart. Likewise, Auria’s Malaysian Kitchen, another small brand, alleges that it experienced a similar situation.

The owners of the small brands said that Trader Joe’s approach was different from Costco or other major chains involved in private labeling. One brand owner believes Trader Joe’s ripped off its hummus with chili crisp topping snack, and they “compared the grocer to fast-fashion brands SEHIN or Zara.”

Responding to questions from Taste, Trader Joe’s said, “We are proud of our long history of supporting vendors and their growth with us. For a range of reasons, we are unable to work with every company we contact and realize our decisions to not pursue certain products can be disappointing.”