You might be wondering if it’s normal to be so passionate about a grocery store, but a trip through Trader Joe’s is simply a unique experience. If you’re not familiar with the concept, Trader Joe’s is a grocery store chain that began in Pasadena, California, in 1967 but has since spread all over the United States, with 569 stores currently open. The concept is different to most other grocery chains, as their stores are much smaller than a Wal-Mart or Whole Foods, and they specialize in selling almost exclusively their own brand of products. TJ’s tends to be much more reasonably priced than other stores with comparable products, but they also sell unique items you won’t find anywhere else.

Along with your basic grocery essentials, Trader Joe’s also has a fascinating variety of items inspired by cuisines from all over the world. Some of their most famous products are Cookie Butter, Everything But the Bagel Seasoning, Mandarin Orange Chicken, Ube Purple Yam Ice Cream, Chicken Gyoza Potstickers and Soy Chorizo. But the store is also known for their ever-changing array of seasonal products, as there is always a pumpkin and maple takeover in the fall and a peppermint extravaganza around Christmas-time.

Because of how unique Trader Joe’s is, the store has an extremely large and loyal customer base. Hence, the Trader Joe’s subreddit. This online group, which is simply for fans and not actually affiliated with the store, has amassed over 185k members, or Traders as they call them, since it was created in 2011. It’s the perfect place to recommend products, share recipes, ask others for their opinions on new or seasonal items, and, of course, share all of the hilarious grocery mishaps fans of  the store experience.

But this subreddit isn’t the only place online where avid Trader Joe’s shoppers can learn more about the store, so to gain more insight on the TJ’s experience, we reached out to Natasha Fischer, creator of Trader Joe’s List. On her site, as well as the accompanying Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube accounts, Natasha shares reviews of TJ’s products, ratings, recipes, BINGO boards and more. And lucky for us, she was kind enough to have a chat with Bored Panda about what she loves most about Trader Joe’s. “I love the overall vibe when you walk in the store,” she shared. “The music, the merchandising, the friendly workers, it’s anything but stale and feels like a place where your friends work. I can contrast that with other grocery stores that feel like a stale warehouse. Trader Joe’s has a pulse.”

Although she’s a fan of the store, we were curious if Natasha had ever experienced any funny mishaps through her Trader Joe’s shopping. “I recently bought a package of the Ube Joe Joe’s (Trader Joe's version of Oreos), and when I opened the box, it looked like 2 were missing,” she shared. “It wasn’t until I read the total servings ‘8’ and each serving is ‘1 cookie’ that I realized it wasn’t a mishap. I wasn’t completely wrong however, I soon found out that they reduced the serving from 8 to 10 cookies and had not yet updated the packaging to accommodate less cookies.” Natasha even caught the incident on camera, which you can watch right here!

“Sometimes the chip to bag ratio is in favor of the bag,” Natasha added. “I’ve never gone to Trader Joe’s about this, but I’m sure If I did, they would happily refund my purchases. I do believe this is a problem with most bags of chips everywhere, not necessarily a Trader Joe’s specific problem.” 

Trader Joe’s also happens to be known for having excellent customer service, so Natasha noted that, “You can always take it back to Trader Joe’s if you do not like a product and get your money back.” Just be sure to keep your receipt! Those Hawaiian shirt-wearing TJ’s employees are incredibly friendly, helpful and will even allow you to sample any item in the store if you just ask. (Yes, I have done this before!) 

We also wanted Natasha’s thoughts on what some of the best products at Trader Joe’s are. “Just Mango: perfect to eat directly out of the bag as-is,” she told Bored Panda. “The quality varies somewhat, some month’s they are perfect, other months they can be dried out. Most always, perfect.”

“Bomba Sauce: I put this on everything for added spice. Quality is perfect every time,” the TJ’s expert continued. “Slightly Dusted Dark Chocolate Almonds - I eat these throughout the day, everyday. I actually had to portion the bag into smaller bags, so I cap the amount of almonds I’m allowed each day or I would eat them all. I have never had a bad batch.”

Another one of Natasha’s favorite Trader Joe’s items is the Farm Raised Fish. “This is going to trigger a lot of people, but Trader Joe’s has high quality standards, and I have found some of the best tasting farm raised fish from Trader Joe’s,” she shared. “Just this week I picked up the salmon that is farm raised from Norway (Norway has some of the strictest aquaculture regulations), and it was unbelievable! Plus it cost only $5.99 a filet. The quality was delicious. I posted about it and it seems consistent that it’s a favorite for many, so I can conclude it’s always been up to quality.” 

Natasha went on to note that, although Trader Joe’s has amazing plants, the flower/plant area is the place where she’s seen the most deviation in quality. “The flowers are generally amazing, but sometimes I get my flowers or plant home only to realize it was a bit ‘sick’. 80% of the time, there are no issues (compared to the food, which I’d say is 98% of the time).”

“I’ve been shopping at Trader Joe’s for over a decade and have built friendly relationships with many of the employees and affiliates over the years,” Natasha went on to share. “The only area where the quality may be deteriorating quicker than elsewhere is internally on the corporate side. It seems Trader Joe’s employees and affiliates are not as happy as they used to be. I can not provide a ton of details on why, that is outside of public knowledge (the deterioration of benefits, pay, etc for crew members) and hearsay from the folks I’ve chatted with about the internal culture. Unfortunately that’s not as easy to fix as a less than half full bag of chips, but I hope it improves, as that eventually that could change the vibe I’ve come to love and share for over a decade.” 

If you’d like to learn more about the best products at Trader Joe’s and which ones to avoid, be sure to check out Trader Joe’s List right here!

I don’t know about you, pandas, but I’m definitely craving some Trader Joe’s Sweet Cinnamon Filled Korean Pancakes, avocado toast with Everything But the Bagel Seasoning and Oat Non-Dairy Frozen Dessert Sandwiches! Whether you have a Trader Joe’s near you or not, we hope you’ve enjoyed these hilarious grocery mishaps, and remember to keep upvoting your favorites. Then, if you’re interested in checking out another Bored Panda article featuring funny supermarket fails, look no further than right here!