If you’re on the hunt for food items that you can tote to the beach, on a picnic, or serve at a summer barbecue (10 people or less, folks), Trader Joe’s just dropped intel on a number of new summer products that you’ll want to add to your cart immediately. Thanks to the latest episode of its podcast, Inside Trader Joe’s, here’s what you can expect to spot on shelves this season.
1. Organic Sugar Cones
“They’re a classic sugar cone,” says Matt Sloan, the vice president of marketing for Trader Joe’s. “[But] these are right-sized.” Sloan says the new cones are an upgraded version of the previously too-large ice cream cones sold at TJ’s (which he describes as “delicious but a little unwieldy.”) They’ll be going Styrofoam-free in their new packaging, too.
2. Turkeyless Protein Patties
“We have a protein patty that’s kind of like a burger that’s been getting a lot of great attention and we have now in stores in the refrigerated section,” says Sloan. Meet the Turkeyless Protein Patty. “These are great. I’m going to serve these with a brand new salad kit that we have, which is a Lemony Arugula Basil Salad Kit…Great combo.”
Tara Miller, the marketing director for Trader Joe’s, adds that they taste just like a real turkey burger.
3. Jicama Wraps
According to Miller, these are “literally just very thinly sliced jicama that looks like a corn tortilla.” Two wraps contain only 15 calories and three grams of carbs. “For somebody who’s looking at those things, who’s like watching carbs and who still wants to be able to eat things, sort of like a sandwich or like a taco or like a burrito, it’s a really cool product,” she adds. Look for their new Cauliflower Thins on shelves, too.
4. Vanilla Chocolate & Lemon Baton Wafer Cookies
“You could even stick it in the ice cream that is scooped into your ice cream cone,” Miller adds. “It’s like fancy dining. The new vogue cuisine.”
5. Spicy Salami Chips
You read that right. They’re basically thin slices of salami that have been dried until they’re crispy-crunchy. “It’s just salami but it’s given a little bit of a treatment, not dissimilar from those Baked Cheese Bites,” says Sloan. “Yeah, my memory of those from when we had them at the tasting panel was they were incredibly craveable. I wanted to keep going back and getting more,” adds Miller. Find these in the refrigerator section at TJ’s and pair them with a light summer lager.
6. Corn Cookie Baking Mix
According to Miller, this is “like the best part of cornbread and the best really simple sugar cookie and putting those two things together but in a sweet cookie that’s not overly sweet.”
7. Almond Beverage Chocolate Bar
“Think of milk chocolate made with dairy milk,” starts Sloan. “This is made with almond beverage and it eats just a classic rich creamy sweet chocolate bar.” Miller agrees, and adds that despite the fact that she doesn’t avoid dairy, “This is one of the best tasting sort-of-milk-chocolate bars I’ve ever had in my life.”
8. Hold The Cone! Chocolate Chip
“Little tiny chocolate dipped ice cream cones, only the ice cream part is chocolate dipped—and the inside of the cone is also lined with chocolate,” explains Sloan. He adds that these will likely be a limited-edition item, but he won’t be surprised if they “make a repeat appearance.” You should plan to snap them up quickly, because they’ll they sell out either way.
9. Saddle Chips
Basically Trader Joe’s answer to Pringles. “Think of the tall, narrow cylinder canister that a type of potato chip might come in. The shape lends itself to rigid organizational lining up or stacking up or saddling up or something. So we call them saddles,” says Sloan.
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