Trader Joe's

Another vote for their nuts. Lots of variety and the best prices. Some of their produce prices are very good. They have some good prices on cheese, although not all of the cheeses are that great. If you like feta, there's a really good kind that comes in a plastic tub, packed in liquid that's one of the best I've tried.

If you like lentils, I love their pre-cooked french lentils that are in the refrigerated produce area. Toss some of the precooked beets in with chopped carrots,celery, onion and a little balsamic dressing for a quick and tasty salad.

It means nothing that Trader Joe's and Aldi are owned by the same company. They may leverage some of their best practices across the stores, but the products/sourcing are totally different.

Anyway.

I go to Trader Joe's for a few products that are consistently far cheaper or far better quality (or both) than the conventional grocery store where I do the rest of my shopping. I love:

Cereal and granola bars (kids love the "this _____ walks into a bar" and I love the high fiber peanut butter bars)
Cheese, usually goat and cheddar (it's always cheaper than even the sale prices other places)
I don't remember the exact name, but they have this full-fat yogurt that is TO.DIE.FOR, comes in 6 packs of 2 flavors each - my kids get to eat it and I snag a spoonful
As previously mentioned, their nut and dried fruit selection is phenomenal
Frozen fruits and veggies for smoothies
Mandarin chicken (mix in some steamed broccoli and serve over white rice...YUM)
If I need extra thick cut bacon, their uncured applewood bacon is delish and extremely well priced

Aside from all that, I'll usually impulse buy one or two other things - mochi, Inner Peas, chocolate covered espresso beans, toffee, dark chocolate bars, one of the bins of cookies, any of their huge variety of chip/cracker snacks...I've never ever bought cookie butter, though. It just seems far too delicious for me to have in my house, so I figure if I never taste it I can just pretend it doesn't exist.

I've never been impressed with their produce, though. Everyone raves about it, but I always find it goes bad even more quickly than the regular grocery store. Their bagged salads are good, though.

Just be prepared, at TJ's your favorite item will disappear for months, maybe forever. Some things are seasonal, some things seem to disappear (where did the frozen fava beans go? And the shelf-stable tofu?). I suppose it's part of how they keep prices down.

And the stone ground grits. I can't find them anywhere. I had to switch to polenta from Whole Foods - it's just not the same.

Trader Joe's is good about avoiding GMO's, and putting gluten-free options next to the regular versions of the same product. I went gluten-free for two years when I was feeling sick and my idiot D.O. was hiding my bad thyroid numbers from me, so I figured maybe the problem was gluten. Trader Joe's made gluten-free easy. Turned out my problem was thyroid though--changed docs, got treated for hypothyroidism, got tested negative on gluten sensitivity after eating some bread to trigger a reaction (otherwise even if I was sensitive, after two years without it the antibody levels would have been undetectable).

They also have very few non-candy products that contain corn syrup--high fructose or not.

My Trader Joe's favorites:

Pre-pack chicken salads, such as Crunch Slaw and Pasadena Salad and Broccoli-Kale slaw with chicken.
Whole-wheat hamburger buns
Chili-lime-chicken burgers
Mahi-Mahi burgers
Avocado's number guacamole
Frozen Indian food--channa masala, butter chicken, garlic naan, palak paneer....
Gluten-free pizza (tasty enough to eat even if you don't have celiac disease)
Frozen Macaroni and Cheese, ranging in subtypes from gluten free to reduced guilt (lower fat) to full-on hedonistic indulgence.
Cream without stabilizers or thickeners like guar gum--read the labels, most major cream brands have vegetable-derived additives which stabilize whipped cream but give a slimy mouth-feel to coffee or tea. Not unhealthy just gross.
Applewood Smoked Bacon (thick sliced, uncured/no nitrites.)

TJ's is so awesome! Here's what I buy there:

First, & most important, the organic Tuscan (aka dinosaur) kale *their kale is always fresh, I can't say the same for Target or
Wal-mart (sometimes the area by the kale is congested with indecisive people!)
unsweetened almond & coconut milk
almond butter (i'm allergic to peanuts)
almonds & pistachios (wide variety to choose from salted, unsalted, roasted, unroasted)
frozen fruit, especially their mangoes (higher quality than some store & commercial brands like Dole) & pineapples
coconut oil
coconut oil cooking spray
Clif Bars
cereals are amazing (they have a coconut chia one and a chocolate almond one that I like a lot!)
their wines are amazing, especially the Chilean reds
unique, wide variety of beers, including some off the beaten path I've never heard of
dark chocolate (sometimes w/ coconut)
gummies for runners

Our daughter loves to try all the samples and to find "Archie" the wooly mammoth for a treat/prize.

Oh, I forgot--

Tuscan cantaloups
coconut water (unsweetened)
coconut oil
spices (limited range but good prices. Costplus world market is also a good place for spices on the cheap)
almond meal (add to pancakes, use as breading)
CHEESES! Fewer than Whole Paycheck but still an impressive selection.

TJ's is my preferred shopping venue, along with local farm-stands for produce during the summer. The nearest Whole Paycheck is 40 minutes away, for more exotic items like einkorn flour.

All of their condiments & spices are wonderful and reasonably priced. I also like to get basics like nuts, bread, almond milk, frozen fruits & veggies, etc. They also have delicious boxed soups & frozen dinners for when you don't have the time to cook for real

Just be prepared, at TJ's your favorite item will disappear for months, maybe forever. Some things are seasonal, some things seem to disappear (where did the frozen fava beans go? And the shelf-stable tofu?). I suppose it's part of how they keep prices down.

And the stone ground grits. I can't find them anywhere. I had to switch to polenta from Whole Foods - it's just not the same.

Something I learned in a business class--when producers have excess factory capacity because their main customers are ordering less, they will often take on orders at a lower price from other, smaller customers, to fill the gap in production and make some extra profit. Since the price for their primary customers was set to cover all their fixed costs (rent, equipment leases), the money producers make from these smaller contracts needs to cover only 'variable costs', such as the salaries of the people doing the extra production, and the extra utilities costs. So these extra contracts often offer very low prices.

I suspect that the non-staple items Trader Joe's offers at low prices, that appear and disappear, are made via these small contracts using "excess capacity" in producers factories. I think these items go in and out of production based on the availability of low-cost "excess" factory capacity.

I think for other items that they offer consistently (eg: bacon), they contract as a main customer, at prices that cover the producer's fixed cost, like everyone else, so that their supply is steady.

And of course produce is subject to the seasonal harvest. Trader Joe's probably only buys produce that meets both price and quality standards, and if the market for that particular item goes out of Trader Joe's range, they simply don't offer it until the price and quality come back into Trader Joe's guidelines again.

I'm making an educated guess here. The pattern fits a business model I learned in school (though I majored in Engineering).

From their website:

6. Why does TJ's frequently discontinue products?
Our mission is to bring you the best quality products at the best prices. To do this, we have to manage our store space well. Each of our products must "stand on its own," meaning it must pay its own way. Each product passes certain criteria in order to earn its way onto our shelves – including a rigorous tasting panel.
There may be several factors that determine why we discontinue products:
It may be a seasonal product - for example, strawberries, which are in season only specific times of the year.
The gang way factor - because we introduce 10-15 new products a week, we have to eliminate 10-15 items in order to give our newest items a fair chance.
The cost of producing the item may increase, which would in turn increase the cost to you - if the item is not a strong seller, we may choose to discontinue it.

My staples are the organic european yogurt, peanut butter, whole wheat flour, full fat cottage cheese (the best!!), contandina pinot grigio vivace, eggplant or lentil wrap (so good!!)