Trader Joe’s Recipe for Success Includes Expansion, Store Contests
As Trader Joe’s expands its worker rolls, the chain is also engaging crew members in fun ways. Over the past month, the grocer opened new stores and shared the winner of an internal competition.
This week, a new location will be unveiled in the retailer’s home state of California. The latest Trader Joe’s at 9680 Mission Gorge Road in Santee, Calif., will welcome shoppers on Aug. 1.
That opening follows the July 25 reveal of a Trader Joe’s in New York City’s Harlem neighborhood, at 123 W. 125th Street. June 28 was a two-banner day for the retailer, as outposts opened in East Lansing, Mich., near Michigan State University, and in Murrieta, Calif., in the Riverside County area.
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Also this month, Trader Joe’s spotlighted the culinary creativity of employees who entered the grocer’s annual store recipe contest. The 2024 winner was a Trader Joe’s store in Woodland Hills, Calif., where workers devised a dessert they dubbed the Brooklyn Babka Ice Cream Pie.
Crew members around the United States were challenged to create a recipe using five or fewer products found at Trader Joe’s stores along with “freebie” ingredients included butter, cooking oil, salt, pepper, sugar and water. During the “Inside Trader Joe’s” podcast, VP of Marketing Tara Miller reported that the grocer received 423 submissions, representing about 77% of its stores.
This year’s judges evaluated the instructions and photos of finished dishes that would appeal to Trader Joe’s shoppers. Other recipe examples included Jicama Chickama Tacos, Shrimply the Best Scampi Pizza and My Big Fat Greek Fries, to name a few.
The winning recipe that garnered the most votes netted the crew members at the Woodland Hills store a t-shirt, gift card and coveted trophy. The contest is a perennially popular internal event, said Miller. “I loved reading the submissions from so many stores saying, ‘We had so much fun with this. We had six different recipes that our crew submitted, and we had our own contest in the store to come up with the best one from our crew to submit to the overall contest,’” she remarked.
Crew members who came up with the ice cream pie were also featured on the retailer’s latest podcast and agreed that it was an enjoyable collaboration. “I like being involved with all kinds of recipes and I think more people should try and do that and get in the kitchen with their friends and have fun,” said one of the employees named Kevin.
With more than 500 stores in 40-plus states, Trader Joe’s is No. 33 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2024 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America. PG also named the company one of its Retailers of the Century.
