Friday, September 15, 2017

Discontinuing Products Sucks

I fully understand that Trader Joe's cannot carry EVERYTHING all the time.

Trust me, I get that!!  The stores would have to be huge ("These stores are yuuuuge, the yuuuugest stores you have ever seen...").  

But I just need to take a teeny tiny moment to WHINE, to complain, to bitch about something:  WHY DOES IT ALWAYS SEEM LIKE THEY DISCONTINUE THE GOOD STUFF???

Most recently I was sad to discover that the amazing condiment WASABI MAYONNAISE is no longer on the shelves.  Wasabi Mayo is gone!!  And that sucks.  Cuz it was really a special product, one that I have never gotten anywhere else.  It was the bomb smeared on white bread with some cheese and lunch meat - made the zingiest little sandwich on the planet.  

This.  THIS is how I feel when I go to Trader Joe's to get Wasabi Mayo and find it is DISCONTINUED.  As my mom used to say, "I wanna wring somebody's neck!".  (Now that I think about it, that was a pretty mean thing of my mom to say...)
Here is the original review of Wasabi Mayo (may-o it rest in peace...):  Wasabi Mayo Review

But nooooo, Trader Joe's had to go and ruin it.  Sigh.

Other notable discontinued products that I loved are Sambal Matah Sauce and Bollywood Popcorn (reviewed here:  Bollywood Popcorn ).  They keep the CRAPPY stuff (did someone say "Inner Peas" - Inner Peas review  and "Black Bean Rotini" - Black Bean Rotini review ) and they get rid of the super unique, interesting things.  It is just frustrating sometimes.

Did you like Bollywood Popcorn?  TOO BAD FOR YOU!
Cuz they stopped selling it.  Boo hiss.

But THESE crappy things, oh these are still on the shelves...









Oh, and course you can still get the barf inducing Black Bean Rotini...















And yes, before you lecture me, we COULD get a jar of regular mayo and mix in wasabi, like the TJ's guy told us to do.  But realllllly, when Trader Joe's could just SELL US A REAL JAR OF WASABI MAYO, should we have to DIY it???

Thanks for letting me vent.  Please comment below and tell me what products Trader Joe's discontinued that YOU loved!!  Maybe it we all get our gripes out here we will feel a wee bit better.  

P.S. - we also really liked TJ's Sambal Matah sauce.  Heck, they didn't even carry that delicious jar long enough for me to review it!  


42 comments:

  1. Oh, do NOT get me started on this! They have discontinued my favorite salad dressing (raspberry vinaigrette), my favorite dessert (raspberry tarte), the world's best grapefruit juice (sunset), the world's best applesauce (Gravenstein), the wonderful sweet potato chip rounds, and so much more. And then NEVER tell you in advance that it's happening, so you can at least stock up one last time. Just *poof* gone. Grrrrrrrrr.

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    1. I KNOOOOW - they need to WARN PEOPLE. They put a sign out for NEW PRODUCTS, why not a sign that says, "BUY THIS NOW, CUZ TOMORROW WE WON'T HAVE IT ANYMORE AND WE DON'T WANT TO LISTEN TO YOU BELLY ACHE ABOUT IT" or something similar. Just warn us.

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  2. This person on Twitter said it best:

    https://twitter.com/bossynbookish/status/903706695247040514

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    1. THIS IS FACT. This must be how they do it. :)

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  3. Vanilla bean paste (it was seasonal and then never came back. I know I can get vanilla bean paste elsewhere, but it's expensive and not as convenient)
    Also seasonal and only carried for a couple of years were the little cardamom orange star cookies and they were so yummy!

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    1. Seasonal stuff is so tricky... It disappears at the end of the season, and you think, "It's ok! I will just be patient! Next summer (or fall, or winter, or whatever the season...) it will be back, and I will enjoy it again!". Then the season comes, and, alas, no cardamom orange star cookies (or kale sprouts or whatever thing you were hoping for). Sigh.

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  4. Never mind discontinuing individual items, it's when they discontinue an entire store...

    Central Vegas is without a TJ's. I sometimes make it to the next one, 4 miles further - not nearly as busy as the one they closed. I'll never understand corporate decisions.

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  5. As my mom used to say, "I wanna ring somebody's neck!"

    unless you want to marry somebody's neck. I believe it's wring. ;o)

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    1. BWAHAHAHA - YOU ARE SO RIGHT! Oops! Thanks for the catch, it is now repaired. (Or should I say, "It is now repeared"? )

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    2. As I was reading your quote from mom, I was thinking, it's not ring, it's wring! But I see someone corrected you already. That is a great mary thompson quote that I haven't thought about in a long time.

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  6. I was told by an employee at TJ's that they are finding a new manufacturer for the wasabi mayo? Has anyone else heard this???? I can't live without this condiment!

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    1. I hope that is right! I love that condiment, too. Sigh. Life is too short not to eat the best condiments!

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  7. Hi! I'm a TJ employee and we actually just receive this product again so ask your local crew about it!

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    1. Oh, I found it on the shelves again! And boy, was I HAPPY! :)

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  8. Oh boy, I guess we all have a long list now. It's so demoralizing, I'm afraid to try anything new there now for fear I'll fall in love & they'll take it away from us.

    I too miss the vanilla bean paste, Danielle. Plus the frozen Swedish Pancakes, the Kouign Amanns (frozen Breton puffed pastry), those wonderful "seasonal" - HA!) Kale Sprouts & Cranberry Orange Sauce [it wasn’t offered for TGiving or Xmas in 2017 & now I'm told it's gone forever] & Hollandaise Sauce & Chantilly Cream Vanilla Bean Mini Sheet Cake and countless other things which became staples in our family & were brutally yanked away by the heartless TJ product team.

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    1. OH THE KALE SPROUTS!!! You don't know how long we hunted for them. "They'll be back!" employees would tease... "I saw them just the other day," one taunted. Yeah right - dumb kale sprouts aren't ever returning, are they? Those things were amazing!

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  9. Oh yeah, the staff at my store strung us along forever exactly like that too.

    But I’m starting to suspect some companies distribute through TJ’s at a loss to get people hooked on their products. Then when they’ve got enough addicts they yank it away & charge an arm & a leg selling directly to us themselves. Kale sprouts were sold at Whole Foods for a while too (called Kalettes there) but these days, nada.

    So, sure, we can all get them sent from Melissa’s Produce now at $22 for (3) 5oz packages + 2-day FedEx (required) which works out to be $47.22 to my house in TX! For less than a freaking pound!

    I mean, come on, why are drug dealers wasting their time when there’s that much money growing & distributing *legal* kale sprouts? I have a black thumb but even I’m thinking of buying seeds, setting up an umbrella at my local farmer’s market & paying off my mortgage early. ;-)

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  10. Missing and missed: Wasabi peanuts (long gone but not forgotten). More recently: Mandarin Orange Dish Soap. Disappeared without warning. It's the only thing that will remove that funky smell from a thermos you've kept sealed an unused for a year.

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    1. Ohhhhh I wish I would have known that thermos trick a couple years ago! I left a coffee cup full of tea on my desk for over a MONTH... I was out on vacation, then working off-site... FUR grew on it. Disgusting! I so would have used that Mandarin Orange Dish Soap had I known! :)

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  11. they apparently discontinued TJ's Head to Toe Moisturizing Balm. It was the best. I'm so mad....

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    1. Me too!!! I went all the way from Canada just to get more. I’m soooo disappointed!!

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    2. Nooooooo! Seriously? I went looking for it today 😭

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    3. I, too, dropped by today to pick up some of my beloved balm and nearly cried in the aisle surrounded by the post-work rush. Bring back our baaaaaaalm!!!

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    4. I've been to 3 different stores, just hoping to find one stray tin left over!

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    5. Add my voice to the chorus of woe. Can’t believe it’s gone—it was my favorite product ever.

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    6. I, as well searched several TJ for Head to Toe Balm. I have psoriasis and this balm works better than ANY products I have tried.
      The store Manager said it is seasonal. SEASONAL? What is seasonal about balm. I think that is a crock. Very disappointed. I won't shop there unless they bring back my balm.

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    7. I miss the Head to Toe Balm also. Really loved it.

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  12. It's been a few years, but I still miss the chili lime peanuts. When the peanuts were gone, you could use the spices left in the bottom of the bag to season other things. I know they have chili lime cashews, but I am not a cashew fan.

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  13. Two more staples I found to be missing recently are - Chocolate Croissants (4 pack) and Dulce de Leche. I am quite upset about it but hopeful they will reappear soon.

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  14. So it happened again. TJ's Mango Black Tea, something we've been drinking for years and years and years is gone. Not just become "seasonal" but we've been told the dreaded word . . . discontinued. How could this be possible? I imagine it was sold by the boat load-- Please Please Please bring it back . . .

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    1. Agreed! What were they thinking? I keep trying to find other brands of mango teas to replace it, but none of them taste right. I first learned about it years ago from a friend who was also crazy about it. That tea's got fans!

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  15. I just found out they have discontinues my favorite Nourish Shea Butter Hand Cream. Told it me it was due to low sales. I wonder what would happen if they ever posted a sign a couple or few weeks ahead of time. The products might start flying off the shelves. I would have bought all I could find if I had known. Does anyone know if they ever bring back products if enough people request them?

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    1. YES once in a while it can happen. At least ONCE it did -- with their French truffles in the red box, so good and economical too, a staple in our house. They discontinued it and said it would be 'seasonal,' but so many people screamed that they brought them back!

      Is there a place online to leave comments/ suggestions? They used to take old-fashioned analog written note suggestions at the stores (remember the suggestion box?)

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  16. It's been years but they had a wonderful Thai lime pasta salad, the dressing was so tasty, and the pasta was very light, maybe made of rice? So good. Also their shitake ginger salad dressing, I was told Annie's has it. What decent all-around store doesn't have FRUIT PIES?!! All year, not seasonally. Just basic old-fashioned cherry and blueberry pies, were awesome and economical and not over-sugared. Apparently they lost their supplier and are trying to find a replacement. I see they now have fruit pie crumbles, I will try them, maybe they'll be good. The fruit tartes have WAYYYY too much dough/crust with a plop of fruit in the middle. Uck. And the frozen berry tarte just falls apart, so messy, and they don't warn you the tin has lots of HOLES in the bottom so when it thaws it leaks red juice all over everywhere, WTF??? They had a wonderful mushroom/tomato/onion spreadable sauce I loved (forget its name, Bulgarian recipe?), but they mis-labeled /mismarketed it so it didn't sell well. Thai rice "sticks," they called them I think - a wonderful light fettucini-shaped pasta. Mislabeled/mismarketed, should have been with pastas but they put it with international foods. Oh my god, the blueberry raspberry sorbet -- It was our staple, and GONE! life is unbearable without it! Oh, and maple yogurt quart size. And Organic lavender lotion! And on and on. But yes, at least they could warn us so we could stock up.

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  17. Sooo, since last I wrote they discontinued my coffee(Costa Rican Tarrazu.

    And the cinnamon rolls were nowhere to be found but I was assured by staff that their absence was only a temporary "production issue". (HA! A likely story. Don't they always say that before the end?)

    I can get by without cinnamon rolls, but the coffee I've been drinking every morning for well over a decade? I am lost.

    I had previously sworn I wouldn't try anything new there ever again, since TJ's is all but guaranteed to discontinue it from their lineup if I decide I like it, so what's the point?

    But I was so upset about the coffee I finally succumbed to those little dark chocolate peanut butter cups which have been tempting me forever & now I am, alas, addicted.

    I give 'em six months before TJ's takes them away forever.

    PS) I've seen the chocolate petit pain/croissants as recently as this week for whoever it was above that feared they'd been permanently axed. (No such luck for my faves, the Breton kouign-amann, though) Also, whaddyaknow, they apparently brought back the chantilly cream vanilla been mini-sheet cake after being MIA for a long time!

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  18. I wish they would bring back the multigrain triple berry oatmeal!!! It was perfect for my daughter who has diet restrictions. I also miss the wine named 1519. That was so good.

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