Trader Joe’s Disappearing Products
Image source: Marques Thomas, Unsplash
If you’ve been following the Budget and Grow Rich Blog, you know that I’m a big fan of Trader Joe’s supermarket. I find the food and products to be of high quality; the shopping experience pleasant; and the team members very friendly and helpful!
One of my favorite products was their Mixed Nut Butter.
A blend of dry roasted and salted almonds; cashews; walnuts; Brazil nuts, Hazelnuts and pecans.
It was my “go to” staple for breakfast – a few teaspoons did the trick.
In May or June, Trader Joe’s terminated the product. No more. Done.
What’s more, in July they canceled Hemp Milk, which I purchased every week.
Trader Joe’s Hemp Milk was dairy free and had no sugar. Good because I’m trying to manage my cholesterol.
What’s more, according to my daughter Alice farming almonds consumes a lot of water. So several years ago I switched from Almond Milk to Hemp Milk.
And now Trader Joe’s canceled the Hemp Milk too. Who knows what’s next. . .
The store manager told me that Trader Joe’s terminates products because of low consumer demand or the manufacturer raises its prices too much which would result in a price that’s above how much their consumers would pay.
If you’ve been following the Budget and Grow Rich Blog, you also know that I’m a big fan of ‘Just-in-Time Inventory Management’.
I typically minimize my purchases of any given product so I have only one or two packages in my cupboard.
But that depends on how much I use the product and how important the product is to my diet and contentment. The more near and dear to my heart and stomach, the more packages I keep in my inventory.
The point is that the more of your inventory you leave on the supermarket store shelves, the more you can conserve your cash. And direct your money to other productive uses – perhaps pay your credit card bill, buy something else you need or save or invest the money.
Given my fondness of just-in-time inventory management and my quest to smooth out my cash flow, for the Mixed Nut Butter I had only a few jars in my cupboard. I was caught off guard when Trader Joe’s nixed the Mixed Nut Butter.
Before I learned that they canceled the product, I had noticed that the number of jars on the shelf dwindled. But I ignored it.
With the Hemp Milk, when I noticed that Trader Joe’s inventory was materially less than their typical inventory level, I took note!
As my Dad says, “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.”
There were seven containers of Hemp Milk on the shelf as compared to 20 or 25 in the past.
Follow these steps to pull it all together:
Get a handle on your grocery usage – how much you use a product, how long it will last before it spoils or expires and how much you and your family like the product (be on the lookout for changing tastes and eating preferences – especially with children).
Watch the amount of product inventory on the store’s shelves. There’s typically a baseline amount, a standing quantity on the shelves all the time (absent an upcoming delivery or a run on the product for a holiday for example).
When the inventory level declines materially, ask the store management whether the product is slated to be discontinued.
Stock up so long as you’ll use all the product before it spoils or your tastes change.
With Trader Joe’s Hemp Milk, when customer service told me Hemp Milk was on its way to the product graveyard, there were seven containers on the shelf. They said, “First come, first serve.” So I grabbed them all.
Now to look for a substitute for Almond Milk to help conserve water.
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See you next week.
Arthur V.
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