August 30th, 2009
Cheap(er) Eats: Trader Joe’s Frozen Food vs. Amy’s Organic
I thought I had some uniquely keen powers of observation, but I can’t take credit for being the first to discover an uncanny similarity between the Trader Joe’s Pesto Tortellini bowl and the Amy’s Organic meal with the same name.
Same thing goes with the Trader Joe’s Frozen Spinach Pizza, and the Amy’s Spinach Pizza.
We know that Trader Joe’s partners with food makers to white label things. But I especially like knowing that I’m getting essentially the same quality food as something sold in Whole Foods, for a few dollars less.
Here in San Francisco, Trader Joe’s Frozen Pesto Tortellini sells for $2.99. Amy’s Organic Pesto Bowl sells for $4.99. Now that’s cheap(er) eats.
Crazy! The photos on the packaging even seem to be the same photos… in the tortellini case, exactly the same; in the pizza case, the same photo, just vertically reversed.
careful! Everytime I figure out I like something from TJs, they take it away. Case in point – King Arthur Flour! I am now going to race down there and try to find these things….
This weekend I noticed the Pesto Pizza was the same for both brands. The photo on the box was mirror-imaged but otherwise identical. And the ingredients list was virtually the same.
Wow, thanks for the tip, Ben.
Keep posting those! I’ll be on the lookout the next time I’m there. I don’t have all the Amy’s offerings memorized but maybe if we see enough of these, we’ll get better at guessing which ones probably are replicas.
[...] Cheap(er) Eats: Trader Joe’s Frozen Food vs. Amy’s Organic [...]
[...] Cheap(er) Eats: Trader Joe’s Frozen Food vs. Amy’s Organic [...]
Um, well, yeah. As a TJ’s employee, I can assure you (anonymously, of course), that you’ve figured it out. Yup.
Now, here’s a test. Look closely at one of Annie Chun’s noodle bowls. Now look at TJ’s noodle bowls.
Oooh, have I said too much?