Trader Joe's Launched A Podcast Because It Knows How Obsessed You Are

You feel that? That Trader Joe's itch, the urge to swing by the store, maybe check out some orange chicken or Joe-Joes? But wait, you just shopped there two days ago, and don't really need anything, and maybe the store employees are going to start noticing that you're there, hanging in the cheese section pretty near every day. There's now a less public way to get your TJ's fix: the official Trader Joe's podcast.

Launched today, the Inside Trader Joe's podcast is a five-episode series featuring employees talking about everything from how a product is developed to their favorite TJ's items to products that didn't hit the mark (R.I.P. canned pilchard fish). Yeah, it's obviously just a giant marketing endeavor, but it's probably one that TJ's most rabid fans will eat up.

Episode one focuses on the products, likely the most interesting topic of the bunch. Other themes include values, branding, and the making of the Fearless Flyer newsletter, in case any of those have been keeping you up at night. We learn such scintillating nuggets as: some TJ's stores used to be carpeted; one employee admits to owning 40 Hawaiian shirts; and the kinda sad story behind why the stores sell individual bananas. The episodes kindly offer transcripts for the hearing impaired, or those who prefer reading.

We're not expecting this to become the next Serial, but to each their own.