I’ve been wondering this for years. How does Trader Joe’s sell so much tasty stuff, much of it organic, at a price point far below stores like Whole Foods? Furthermore, how do they attract good employees, pay them well, and give them good benefits when their prices are so low?
Sure, the selection isn’t huge but… oh, wait. Apparently that’s the reason. The article goes into as much depth as Trader Joe’s tight-lipped philosophy will allow, but suffice it to say their standard operation procedures go sort of like this:
– find excellent foods to repackage with the Trader Joe’s label
– get the companies who make the products to agree not to reveal their relationship with Trader Joe’s
– keep the overall selection small and keep the selection of individual types of products small to avoid decision paralysis in the consumer, and
– buy from that relatively small list of products in extreme bulk so that the price point remains low
As the article also points out, you may not want to know how some of their organic produce can be so cheap, but that’s true of just about any fairly cheap organic produce in any store. I try to avoid buying much produce there for that reason. As trustworthy as Trader Joe’s seems, they aren’t miracle-workers. Cheap prices on produce in a grocery store mean crappy working conditions for farm workers. On the other hand, they do seem dedicated to sourcing things such as seafood from those who practice sustainable fishing and stocking their shelves with lots of fair trade products as well.
So there you have it. The TJ’s model, in a nutshell.
