Fantastic-I've never understood why they carry flour but not sugar. I hope my local TJs is on board.

I didn't realize the sugar was a new development! The closest TJ's to me is about 2.5 hours away, but is happily located en route to my parents' house.

I buy staples there as often as I can (though their canned tomato sauce isn't the thick, beautiful thing it once was), but my real love is the goat brie!

I love TJ's!

I buy as much as I can there b/c I can actually afford stuff there, esp my cereals.

I use the evaporated cane juice for baking and it works fine.

The New York Trader Joe's at Union Square carries that sugar quite frequently. I buy bread flour, flour, brown sugar, that cane sugar, yeast, and baking powder there. Anything more specialized like extracts I go to a kitchen specialty store or make a trek to International Food, by Port Authority.

the trader joe's I frequent has always had regular sugar.

I wish they had confectioners sugar, though =(

I have been using the Trader Joe's organic sugar that comes in bags for baking for awhile and it works great! I noticed that their baking section gets many more products during the holidays, but goes back to being pretty small the rest of the year. During the holidays they had confectioner's sugar at the one I go to in Chicago. I hope some of the products stay put year-round!

That's good to know the organic sugar (and cane juice) worked for baking. I had a few heinous baking experiences with rougher types of sugar from my co-op so I've been very wary ever since.

I don't shop at Trader Joe's frequently, even though I have a few that are close by, but not convenient. I might have to check them out more often!

Hey, that's great! I even had a problem w/my "regular" supermarket carrying only beet sugar (which caused a problem w/my candymaking)... I found it hard to believe how difficult it was to find regular cane sugar.

I love trader joe's because they seriously do carry an amazing variety of stuff and most of it is great. The baking section of their stores almost always tend to be seasonal and pick up with ingredients right before the holidays. I usually will buy a few produce items like lettuce, mushrooms and avocados, but most of it is pantry staples for me. I really do appreciate their push to come out with new things.

Agree with keltrue. I find beet sugar more of an issue than the evaporated cane juice. Pretty much the cane juice is - and acts like - regular sugar, it's just more rustic tasting. Kind of caramely. The only things it won't work for are items that require finely ground sugar, like meringues. But even for those I can just whiz it up in the food processor for a while to break it down.

I do most of my grocery shopping at TJ's in Brooklyn, but I've also been really frustrated with the baking section -- weird sugar, unpredictable yeast, randomly de-stocking various items. I still can't forgive them for not carrying King Arthur flour anymore.

So, when I need baking supplies, I usually end up shopping elsewhere. But I will stock up on sugar there, now!

I rarely buy baking items at TJ's b/c the quantities they sell are too small package-wise for me. I think it's pretty funny they sell baking soda in the same "can" as baking powder, b/c customers asked for it! It's funny to me b/c I buy baking soda in the 12 pound bags from Costco (I use it for cleaning, laundry, and cooking).

Evaporated Cane Sugar is regular sugar, it's just not "bleached." I've never had a problem using it in baking.

yeah, i use the evaporated cane sugar for baking too - pretty much exclusively and i love the results.

The TJs organic cane sugar in a bag works just fine for me, though I don't do a lot of baking! I used it for all the caramels I made over the holidays and they were delicious.

I stop in at my Trader Joe's throughout the week to pick up random items--their vegetable sponges, a bottle of wine, dried fruits and nuts--but I don't do the bulk of my shopping there. I go to a smaller, boutiquey, local shop for meat and cheese, and I get my produce from a local grocery store, New Seasons, because theirs is the best when the farmer's market closes for the winter.

I *love* Trader Joe's--it has changed my life since it opened here in Brooklyn. I do the majority of my shopping there, other than produce, which I prefer from the farmers market when it's in seaseon. Plus it bugs me that a lot of TJ's produce is pre-packaged in set quantities. There are also a few odds and ends they don't have that bug me. Like egg noodles! And tuna in mini-size cans. And cooking wine (although I guess that's because they don't carry any wine). And bread flour. I'm sure there are a couple of others I can't remember now...

I love Trader Joe's and relieved that they finally carry their own brand of sugar. I've slowly switched most of my mainstream/big chain grocery shopping to Trader Joe's and found their products to be superior in taste.

I didn't appreciate just how awesome (and affordable) Trader Joe's was until I moved to Chicago. Now that I'm back in the Bay Area, its still one of my primary grocery stores. However, their produce leaves a lot to be desired. As a result, I end up popping over to Berkeley Bowl or Monterey Market to pick up those items.

The nearest TJs is about 25 minutes away, which is too far when I have four other grocery stores within a mile of my house. I also find that I can't get everything on my shopping list there, so I have to stop at more traditional groceries anyway.

Whoa! The Brooklyn TJs doesn't sell wine?? Jeez, you're missing out on the whole "Two-Buck-Chuck" phenomenon! TJs is one of the BEST wine resources out there. Too bad... it's really awesome.

Addicted to TJ's French Vanilla Yogurt with Pecan Praline Granola!

I'm always intrigued that Aldi's owns Traders Joes.

http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/02/19/do-you-know-who-owns-trader-joes/

I love TJ's, though I don't shop there as often since I moved into my latest place in San Diego--it's not far in miles, but too far in lights and frustration usually. Still, I'm a big fan.

I LOVE Trader Joe's. I used to drive 1 hour away to go about once every 2 months for years and years - now they opened 10 minutes away - heaven. They do not have everything I need on a weekly basis - and I have found it is much more economical to shop at a combination of places rather than a traditional supermarket. I may be able to do one stop shopping there - but my bill is probably twice as much. I have made up my own Trader Joe's shopping list and get regular items - love their new quick cook steel cut oats too.

I love TJ's, and I'm very happy using the organic evaporated cane juice for baking. It's half the price of the evaporated cane juice at the co-op! I have not been happy with the TJ white flour, everything I made from it came out sort of gluey and dense.

I love my Trader Joe's. It's enroute from the train station to my house, so I can pop in after work to get some groceries. Very convenient!

I buy a consistent set of things there, because I find them much cheaper and higher quality. I LOVE LOVE LOVE their roma tomatoes. Always taste fresh. Also their pre-made Bruschetta. It's divine! You must try it.

I'm also very happy with their bread and wine selection. Their filone bread is the best!

My TJ carries a variety of egg noodles, which is our household stable. We eat that all the time.

I usually shop at a range of places to get the best value, so I don't shop at TJ exclusively. Sometimes it's also hard to do that because you really can't find everything here. Their stock varies a lot. I tend to buy my produce at the nearby ethnic market, which offer much more varieties.

I WISH I have a Berkeley Bowl nearby.....

I tried using TJ's organic brown sugar to make caramel and it was a total disaster. Unlike previous batches made with standard brown sugar, it turned out gritty and gross.

I like going to TJ's for prepared items, cheese, wine and snacks. But I buy almost everything at Berkeley Bowl. Their produce and bulk sections are incredible.

It always frustrated me as well that they didn't carry regular sugar. I'll look for it next time I'm there! I also don't like making the extraneous trip to Safeway.

Can someone who has this sugar check for me if it's vegan? TJ has a "V" symbol that they use on their vegan stuff. Thanks! I'm tired of paying premium for Whole Foods vegan sugar.

we shop there 2x/week. We have many, many things we purchase there regularly. I understand they are moving toward stocking their shelves with mostly TJs branded items. I noticed several "brand" name items I used to buy have gone away (which is too bad b/c they were much less expensive). So now when I want them I watch sales at Fred Meyer and the local co-op. We also usually shop the other grocery stores, too. I'll have to look for the sugar, though I just purchased some at safeway. I need whole wheat AP flour at the moment, and I think they only have white (at least here in my store).

...ECJ is "proper" sugar? I've always used it in baking, coffee, sauces, and everywhere sugar is called for. It's just not bleached.

Trader Joe's is Overwhelming for me because they just have so much random snacky stuff... I feel like it would be hard for me to get my staples there but I have tried so many random things by them that were delicious, like their corn salsa and this artichoke chip dip, it was amazing. Probably a good place to go to stock up on healthier snack items. I wish I just had a list of recommendations by people on things I should try from there. I'm definitely going to go and try that french vanilla yogurt now and the bruschetta!

$3.99 OMG! I hope where ever this is, the grocery store sugar is half this price! $3.99 OMG!!! Gas is $2.60 a gallon!

Yeah I love TJ's but I wouldn't be so quick to plunk down $4 for a sack of the plain old white stuff.