A Quick Trip to Trader Joe’s Colorful Candy Isle!

CC_Trader Joe's Candy TITLE PLATE

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

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

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 – 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 – Coconut Caramel – candy box – July 2013

Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate Bar - Toffee with Walnuts and Pecans - 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

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 Bears 7oz candy package – July 2013

Trader Joe's Gummy Tummies Penguins 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

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!

About Jason Liebig

A New York City based writer, editor and sometimes actor. After spending much of the 1990′s in the comic book business helping tell the stories of Marvel Comics’ X-Men as series editor, he has since split his time between developing his own entertainment properties while still consulting and working on others. Having been described as “the Indiana Jones of lost and forgotten candy”, Jason is one of the country’s premier candy collectors and historians with his discoveries appearing in countless blogs, magazines, newspaper articles, and books. Always happy to share his knowledge and unique perspectives on this colorful part of our popular culture, Jason has consulted with New York’s Museum of Food and Drink and has also been a featured guest on Food Network’s Heavyweights, France’s M6 Capital, and New York’s TheActionRoom.com. My Google Profile+
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2 Responses to A Quick Trip to Trader Joe’s Colorful Candy Isle!

  1. Dave S. says:

    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!

  2. Brandon says:

    The penguins packages is pretty cool.

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