Trader Joe’s Most Popular Products for 2014. Every year Trader Joe’s runs a popularity contest and asks their customers to pick their most popular products of the year. Remember this is a popularity contest, not necessarily a quality contest. Kind of like picking Prom King and Queen. Sometimes you just say: “Really, they picked that?” Sometimes they make your scratch your head… but this is a subjective survey. Let me break down the top five items and some predictions for 2015.
Top five most popular products at Trader Joe’s for 2014:
1. Speculoos Cookie Butter
2. Mandarin Orange Chicken
3. Frozen Croissants – Almond & Chocolate
4. Triple Ginger Snaps
5. Unexpected Cheddar Cheese
1. Speculoos Cookie Butter – I completely agree with this product. Number 2 last in 2013.This speculoos cookie butter thing has taken Trader Joe’s by storm. I don’t think they quite expected the popularity of speculoos a couple of years ago, but based on my Facebook Speculoos Cookie Butter fan page (currently around 13,000 fans) I suspect this will remain at the top of their list for many years to come. In fact, based on how many different products they have injected Cookie Butter into this past year, I expect them to keep it up for a while longer. Cookie Butter Ice Cream. Cookie Butter Cheesecakes.
2. Mandarin Orange Chicken – This has been at the top of the list for many years. I am not a big fan of it, but it is one the best selling products that Trader Joe’s makes. As I said in my review a couple of years ago. This is basically deep fried chicken nuggets that you bake in the oven and cover with a sugary, hot sauce. I completely understand but I rated it poorly because you can get much better Orange Chicken even at the worst Chinese restaurant down the road. I suspect this will continue to be on the top 5 list for many years. Trader Joe’s will not monkey with this product for a long time. Expect it be around for a long time.
3. Frozen Croissants – Almond and Chocolate – I am a little surprised by this product. It didn’t even crack the top 25 list last year which makes me think people are stacking the votes or Trader Joe’s isn’t being transparent about the products it puts on the list. Anyway, I have reviewed these Croissants in the past and they are really darn good. As with many Trader Joe’s products I don’t expect to see it around for the duration. If you like it, stock up!
4. Triple Ginger Snaps – Another perennial favorite at Trader Joe’s. I have never review them, but for good reason. They are so simple and popular that there isn’t much to screw up here, but I do know that Trader Joe’s will never, ever get rid of these and I expect them to be in the top 5 next year too.
5. Unexpected Cheddar Cheese – Like the Croissants above, I simply don’t know why this is on the list. I’ve never actually had it and it wasn’t on the list last year. In their description of the cheese, they say it’s a kind of mix of cheddar and parmesean from Wisconsin. I don’t doubt it’s a good cheese, but really on the top 5 list? Again, makes me wonder how Trader Joe’s actually picks these since this is such a niche product, I doubt many of their customers have actually tried it…
Let me know your top 5!
2013 Top 5 popular products at Trader Joe’s
1. Triple Ginger Snaps
2. Speculoos Cookie Butter
3. Joe Joe’s Cookies (All Varieties)
4. Reduced Guilt Chunky Guacamole
5. Charles Shaw Wine (All Varieties)
They actually pick these based on a customer survey that is put on the website. So while some of them may seem strange, these are customer selected!
I really think that Trader Joe’s is stacking the deck? Really? Some obscure cheese makes the top five? I’m there almost every day and I never heard of that cheese! If Trader Joe’s was transparent, they would show us how many votes each item got. I think they use as a marketing tool to push some products…
That cheese really is what they say it is, kind of a crumbly nutty chedder. Perhaps your store doesn’t carry it? It is always at mine in Madison, WI. Or perhaps we just eat more cheese in the midwest. It’s not obscure here, it is prominent on the shelf. When it first came out it was even in their holiday flyer. I have never heard of the Speculoos Cookie Butter, that doesn’t mean its not popular with others. What is obscure to one person may be an every week purchase to another.
I think I have my pulse on what is what at Trader Joe’s. In terms of sheer volume, that cheese is nowhere near as popular as most of the items on that list.