No longer a Trader Joe’s virgin!

I have been hearing the virtues of Trader Joe’s from friends and colleagues for more than a year now, so this past week I finally stopped in to see what all the hype was about. I have to admit, I was not wowed. And I am not sure I get it.

People in all facets of my life have singing the praises of this place – from the variety of organic food options, to the low prices, to the shopping experience, to the cheap but supposedly surprisingly good wine. The store seems to have broad appeal no matter where you are from or what economic class you are in. I do love their story of trying to bring innovative, hard-to-find, great-tasting foods into their brand at reasonable prices. So I decided to check it out.

My first trip this past week was quick. I just wanted to explore. My first impression was that the place was tiny – somehow I had expected something bigger, grander. The produce section was small and I didn’t think the produce was of high quality. I always buy fresh flowers so was excited to check out their fall selection – not impressive. And for organic options – I found some good buys and the prices seemed lower, but again not sure what the overwhelming draw is. That said, the store was clean, the people were very friendly, and it was surprisingly busy mid day on a week day.

Then I happened on the single best reason to shop there (in my humble view, of course) — the new Pumpkin Spice Coffee. I bought a can of Trader Joe’s Pumpkin Spice Coffee  and it is fantastic. One week later, it is nearly gone! For the girl who LOVES everything about Fall – including her Pumpkin Spiced Latte’s, this Pumpkin Spice coffee is a dream.

In my view, it has better flavor without the sugar or fat. So move over Starbucks Pumpkin Spiced Latte (with 51g carbs – 49g sugar which is no longer on my plan or in my life) because I am telling everyone about this new amazing coffee from Trader Joe’s with 0g carbs and 0g fat! (Tip: I like my coffee dark so I mix in just a bit of French Roast.) I drink this coffee in the afternoon if I need a treat or a pick me up instead of eating something that is not on my plan.

So I have to say, my trip to Trader Joe’s was definitely worth it if for no other reason than to discover this great new Pumpkin Spice coffee with orange peel, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and vanilla beans!

I presume there are other products under the Trader Joe’s brand that I should try so if you have recommendations, let me know. I will be going back to get more coffee as I suspect this is a seasonal thing. 🙂