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Trader Joe’s is famous for the specialty store products that fill its shelves. But perhaps the products that do most to inspire their religiously loyal consumers are those whose shelf life is fleeting—a limited-season item that may never be seen again. That’s never been more clear than now, as holiday-only goods begin to hit shelves, from Nuts About Rosemary Mix to Teeny Tiny Pecan Pies to Thanksgiving Stuffing Season Popcorn and even home goods, such as carved wreaths and wreaths and stuffed animals. arrival calendars.
It’s a FOMO-driven strategy that grocery chains deploy every season, but it’s especially noticeable during the holiday season. Last year, according to the company Inside Trader Joe’s podcast, introduced 469 new temporary products (of which 86 were brand new), such as Cinnamon Bun Inspired Pancake & Waffle Mix, Astounding Multi-Flavor Mini Pretzels (a mix of their popular pretzels in four “seasonal” flavors that cannot be sold. any another season), and Multicolored Shrimp Bags, a seasonal take on frozen dumplings. These likely won’t be available before the New Year, “if that long,” the podcast notes.
On one level, this strategy turns shelves into real-time R&D labs, using holiday hockey to test new product offerings. In that podcast, a Trader Joe’s product developer explained how those shrimp bags fit the holiday theme, thanks to the colorful vegetable dye—but hinted that if they take off, some version could become a regular offering. Until then: “You have to get them while we have them.”
As that teasing attitude suggests, the holiday offerings function, on the second level, as a hype machine, designed to be magnified by the series’ fans. YouTube videos are spreading the word as holiday items begin to hit stores. Social media users are sharing their quick taste tests for holiday snacks. Food, recipe, and shopping sites offer fun guides to choosing favorites among the year’s collection of holiday and seasonal goods—from Turkey-less Roast to Pumpkin Kringle. (One guide from last season summed up the vibe: “Don’t wait too long, many of these TJ items are limited edition, so you’ll want to get your vacations while you can!”) And, of course, if you see something you think might be missing on your next trip , you’ll probably get two. Or four.
To some extent, this is all normal grocery store operation: Even in the world of processed foods, the commercial world, most foods are seasonal, and holiday-focused consumer demands change how many times of the year frozen turkeys, hot dogs, and heart-shaped boxes of chocolate are most available. And plenty of businesses, from Starbucks on down, have special holiday-only offerings. But Trader Joe’s has turned these basic market conditions into an event—with prices kept reasonable enough for shoppers to justify joining in on the fun.
While the winter holiday season is the most eager to induce FOMO, the chain changes its offerings throughout the year. Its fall mix includes 73 pumpkin products: “Almost all of these are in limited quantities,” reports the company’s podcast, “so they will sell out some of them very quickly.” These included Pumpkin Spice Cold Brew Concentrate, Pumpkin Spice Mini Sheet Cake (a new variation on a Trader Joe’s favorite), and Vanilla Pumpkin Hand Soap, although some of these may be gone. For fans, every trip to the store becomes a sort of hunt for what’s new and possibly temporary—and well, that adds up to many (and long) trips to the store.
There is evidence that this works. Last month, Placer.ai, a market data company that tracks foot traffic, reported an 8.7% increase at Trader Joe’s compared to last year; in the broader grocery category, the figure was 3%. The company also found that in California (its largest market), Trader Joe’s customers appear to be less likely to visit traditional rivals like Ralph’s and Safeway, suggesting that “consumers may be relying on the chain for some of their essentials.”
That, in a way, is a reversal of the way we might think of grocery shopping as a detour to essentials, with a few novelties thrown in along the way. At Trader Joe’s, it’s now-or-never novels in the middleit’s important—and that’s exactly what makes them so attractive.
