When innovation gets weird

If there’s a word that has defined private label in the past several years, it is innovation — with differentiation perhaps being a close second. A major reason that sales and market share of private branded consumer packaged goods is increasing is because they are more innovative.

But how much innovation is too much? When is a product so innovative that it’s deemed … well … weird?

Grace Miller, a writer for Spoon University and a big fan of Monrovia, Calif.-based Trader Joe’s, recently took to her local TJ’s in Ann Arbor, Mich., to find and taste what she believes are the retailer’s seven weirdest products. Miller titled her report, “I Tried 7 of the Weirdest Products at Trader Joe’s so You Don’t Have to.” At the top of her list is Trader Joe’s Birthday Cake Popcorn, which she calls a sugar-fueled treat.

Check out her other selections, including Trader Joe’s Blood Orange Chocolate Chop Ricotta Cheese, by clicking here.