Trader Joe’s Shopper Reveals Why They'd Never Buy Ground Coffee From The Store: ‘They're Too...’

Boasting more than 608 stores across the United States, Trader Joe’s is hailed as the gorilla of retail stores, per LocationsCloud. According to the backstory published by CNN, the store was invented by a man named Joe Coulombe while he was on vacation in the Caribbean. While dining at a restaurant called Trader Vic’s, he became so fascinated by the Tiki culture that he paid homage to the establishment by launching his own retail business. Capturing the beauty of the South Seas, he scribbled a logo in his notebook. Today, the signature red-and-white logo is synonymous with “Your neighbourhood grocery store.” 

The moment you step inside a store, store employees guide you along the aisles of fresh fruits and explain to you the immense “pasta-abilities” you could avail on food products in the form of discounts and offers. But despite this delicious bevy of features, one shopper is disappointed by the retail brand. In a TikTok video, Morgan Chomps (@morganchompz) shared why she would never buy ground coffee from Trader Joe’s, and some other products.

“Every ground coffee flavor I have ever had, has been burnt, bitter, strong in a bad way and just overall off-putting,” Chomps told the viewers while the video’s background displayed a collage of TJ’s assorted coffee products including Trader Joe’s Organic Fair Trade Wake Up Blend Ground Coffee, Medium Roast Arabica Ground Coffee, and Medium Roast Decaffeinated Arabica Ground Coffee. Another item, apart from coffee, that Chomps said she would never buy was pickles.

“There's something in the brine, especially of the dill pickle ones, that’s just not right. They’re too salty. At the same time, they are lacking in that good, vinegar tang,” she described while the video displayed an array of pickle jars packaged with the labels “Dill Pickle Spears” and “Hot Spicy Dill Pickle Chips.” She added that whether someone chooses to pick up a jar of this pickle from the store’s shelf or not depends entirely on their taste and not on her review. “These might be good to you because I know there are different ways that people like their pickles. These are just clearly not made for my taste.”

Another item she said she likes to avoid is pasta sauce because tasting it made her sick, and the sauce lacked any flavor whatsoever. She clarified that by sharing these products, she was not trying to defame the popular store, but just to help the shoppers make the best choice for their products. “I want to reiterate that I'm not trying to be negative, I'm just trying to help you weed through all of their products since they have a lot.”

After watching the video, dozens of people tapped the “Comments” button and listed similar worrisome encounters they had with different Trader Joe’s products. “Their coffee is so bad,” said @samanthamautner. @kookiecats shared, “Their sauerkraut has a weird funky taste too.” Agreeing to Chomps’ thoughts about the pickle products, @alaynabrown said, “Those Trader Joe’s Dill pickle spears are flavorless and mushy. It really is so sad. Waste of a good cucumber.” @katyasaxewound commented, “Agreed about the sauce, it’s tasteless gloop!”

Several people jumped in to defend the retailer by claiming that the products they bought from there were beyond good. “Their dill pickles are the best pickles I’ve ever had,” said @briesha. @ashh.521 wrote, “The spicy dill and breakfast blend coffee are both good!” Minus ground coffee, minus pickles, minus pasta sauce – the list is still extensive.

You can follow Morgan Chomps (@morganchompz) on TikTok for food reviews, taste tests, and retail finds.