One of the many delights about shopping at a Trader Joe's is the deep-discount savings it affords its customers.
The privately held grocery chain offers budget-friendly pricing and a shopping list full of cult-favorite items.
Customers have access to staples you'd find at most stores, like fresh flower bouquets and prepackaged meats, as well as more inventive offerings, like frozen mochi ice cream treats, crunchy chili spread, spicy Charki Indian snack mix, and an extensive wine aisle.
Related: 146 fall items are coming to Trader Joe's, and here are insiders' picks for the best ones
The chain, which operates more than 500 stores across the U.S., is able to keep prices low because it sources excess inventory from other retailers, repackages the items, and offers them at tight-budget prices.
And it doesn't do this alone. Trader Joe's is owned by the German megagrocer Aldi, which operates a similar model, albeit on a much bigger scale. Aldi operates more than 12,000 stores across Europe, the U.S., Australia and China.
It may not offer some of the more niche products found at Trader Joe's, but given their symbiotic relationship, every once in a while TJs devotees find exactly what they're looking for tucked inside Aldi's aisles.
Aldi customers source a key Trader Joe's item
Trader Joe's also offers an extensive variety of mixed nuts for reasonable prices. A 16-ounce bag of of raw almonds is $4.99, for example. It offers more inventive flavors, too, such as Thai lime and chili cashews and sweet and spicy pecans.
Every now and then, however, some items mysteriously disappear from Trader Joe's shelves. Eagle-eyed customers notice the absence and search furiously for a replacement.
One such item has been TJ's coconut cashews. An August Reddit discussion on the store's subreddit confirms that the store had indeed discontinued the items sometime this summer.
"Went to TJs and the Coconut Cashews were not in stock. They checked the computer and they have been discontinued. Totally bummed out as they are one of my favorite TJs nuts. Any suggestions on alternatives?" one Redditor posted.
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Now, it seems a welcome answer has popped up in one of the most likely of places: Trader Joe's' parent.
Some customers have noticed similar-looking nuts, called Aldi’s Southern Grove Coconut Cashews, at Aldi in recent days. Many swear they're similar or an exact duplicate, and they cost $5.99 for a 10-ounce bag.
"These nuts are essentially exactly what they sound like: roasted cashews topped with tiny coconut flakes for some added sweetness," She Finds writes.
Other Redditors suggested Costco (COST) -) carries similar nuts under the Edward Marc brand and calls them "addictive."
