Trader Joe’s announces customer favorites
The Trader Joe’s fanatics voting in its annual Customer Choice Awards have selected a new overall favorite product: Trader Ming’s Mandarin Orange Chicken, a meal that’s been a popular dish at the retailer since it was introduced in 2004.
This is the 12th year of the awards. Last year the Mandarin Orange Chicken dish won the “Favorite Entree” category, as it did again this year. Notably, the product has retained the Trader Ming’s Mandarin Orange Chicken name as the retailer said it would roll back on some of its product names following an outcry that the labels were offensive.
The Mandarin orange favorite topped last year’s winner, Trader Joe’s Everything But the Bagel Sesame Seasoning Blend, which was recently introduced in potato chip form, and finished as the runner-up to the top customer favorite this year.
Winners in the key categories are listed below, see a full list of winners and runners up here:
- Favorite Vegan/Vegetarian Item: Soy Chorizo
- Favorite Sweet Treat: Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups
- Favorite Cheese: Unexpected Cheddar
- Favorite Beverage: Sparkling Black Tea with Peach Juice Beverage
- Favorite Snack: Salted Peanut Butter Filled Pretzel Nuggets
- Favorite Produce: Teeny Tiny Avocados
- Favorite Entree: Mandarin Orange Chicken
- Favorite Home, Bath, Beauty: Scented Candles
Of this year’s winners, the new products to earn a top prize were the Soy Chorizo item in the vegan category, the Sparkling Black Tea with Peach Juice in beverages, and Salted Peanut Butter Filled Pretzel Nuggets in the snacks category. The other winners repeated their status as a customer favorite in their respective category.
Trader Joe's discussed the winners in its latest podcast.
