I am not a regular Trader Joe’s customer so it’s quite an adventure and a treat when I get to visit one of their stores. My lack of regular trips should not reflect any shortage of affection I have for the place – as it has everything to do with the simple fact that I don’t have a location conveniently near me. And I like my grocery shopping to be convenient.
Beyond the quality of their actual products I’ve always admired so much of Trader Joe’s in-house brand packaging. They often come up with some outstanding stuff.
So after a recent trip to a digital transfer studio in Brooklyn (to get six 1970’s candy commercial film reels transferred – to be premiered later on this summer) I decided to make a detour to my closest Trader Joe’s location in order to sample some of their neat confectionery offerings.
Trader Joe’s is known for offering up GMO-free food — in other words no genetically-modified goods. We live in quite the sci-fi world where I find myself writing that, but I guess that’s life in 2013. Avoiding futuristic chemical preservatives was not my motivation during my trip there, as I was far more interested in seeing what kinds of sweets-with-cool-wrappers they currently had in stock.
As I turned the corner into their candy isle, I immediately realized I would not be disappointed. I first picked up an interesting Organic Milk Chocolate Truffle bar:
Trader Joe’s Milk Chocolate Truffle – chocolate candy bar wrapper – July 2013
Right after I put that Truffle in my basket, I spotted a Trader Joe’s offering I was at least somewhat familiar with (and one which I think I have an older wrapper for already, unsorted in a box somewhere) – it was Trader Joe’s PB&J bar, which features a pretty distinctive wrapper:
Trader Joe’s PB&J milk chocolate bar – candy bar wrapper – July 2013
Next up in the candy isle were a trio of boxed dark chocolate bars, each with a pretty neat woodcut art style design:
Trader Joe’s Dark Chocolate Bar – Caramel with Black Sea Salt – candy box – July 2013
Trader Joe’s Dark Chocolate Bar – Coconut Caramel – candy box – July 2013
Trader Joe’s Dark Chocolate Bar – Toffee with Walnuts and Pecans – candy box – July 2013
Just down the isle from those exotic chocolate offerings was a candy classic in Trader Joe’s version of Good N Plenty, served up in an eye-catching retro style box:
Trader Joe’s Candy-Coated Licorice – 6oz candy box – July 2013
At this point I assumed I was at the end of the especially-interesting sweets from this Trader Joe’s location when I spotted two awesome-looking gummies packages:
Trader Joe’s Gummy Bears 7oz candy package – July 2013
Trader Joe’s Gummy Tummies Penguins 7oz candy package – July 2013
With a full basket of Trader Joe’s confectionery offerings in hand, I went to stand in the crowded Saturday afternoon lines and waited to pay. But my shopping time wasn’t complete as I found one final unusual-sounding bar near the checkout. While the wrapper was not the most exciting design I’d witnessed that day, the bar’s description demanded that I buy it:
Trader Joe’s – Dark Chocolate Filled with Speculoos Cookie Spread – candy bar wrapper – July 2013
So with my last little goodie, a chocolate bar filled with Speculoos (a name that could have been right out of Roald Dahl’s imagination) I departed, happy to have finally made my way back into a Trader Joe’s, and determined to make it back there again – the next time sooner, rather than later.
And that’s everything for today’s post and the tale of my quick trip to Trader Joe’s colorful candy isle.
See you next time!
I love the art on the dark chocolate bar boxes –especially the one with the squirrel–it’s a knockout! The Gummy Tummies package is delightful, too. Glad you made it over there!
The penguins packages is pretty cool.