Is the Trader Joe’s Sample Station Ever Coming Back? Here’s Everything We Know Right Now.

Julian Montijo
Julian Montijo
Julian Montijo is a law student and writer from San Diego, CA. He is the blogger behind Can’t Afford This Meal who spends an inordinate amount of time at Trader Joe’s.
Follow
updated Sep 30, 2020
pinterest
comments
We independently select these products—if you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission. All prices were accurate at the time of publishing.
Post Image
Credit: Lauren Masur

Have you noticed that your trips to Trader Joe’s lately are … missing something? Me too. The ongoing silence of the sample station is deafening. Gone are the days of casually grabbing a sample of hash brown with a sample of medium-roast coffee during a morning TJ’s pit stop, followed by a sample of fried rice and a sample of wine during a casual evening grocery trip. Sound excessive? Well, that’s what a normal day pre-COVID-19 looked like for me.

As the @traderjoesampleking, I have frequently wondered what the TJ’s sample station will look like in a post-pandemic world. Will my life’s greatest joy ever return? To answer this burning question, I spoke to Kenya Friend-Daniel, PR director for Trader Joe’s, to find out more about the sample station’s fate.

When Will the Trader Joe’s Sample Station Be Back?

According to Friend-Daniel, it’s too early on in the pandemic to definitively say whether or not the sample station will return in the near future (to my grave disappointment): “I think the best answer is as the situation changes, so does our approach. Whatever we do, the safety and well-being of our Crew Members and customers will remain top of mind.” 

Unfortunately, there’s more. “Due to COVID-19, Trader Joe’s is not currently opening packages in the store for customers to sample,” Friend-Daniel told us as well. It’s true: In “the olden days,” if asked, crew members could open any package in the store for a customer to sample. Sadly, that’s not an option right now.

The one silver lining? The store’s policy on customer satisfaction remains as steadfast as ever. “Trader Joe’s has a longstanding policy on its products. If you try it and if you don’t like it, you can bring it back for a full refund. This policy is still in effect, so if you try something new and don’t like it, you can return it to the store for a full refund,” Friend-Daniel says.

While the convenience of in-store sampling is no more (for now), at least we can try new products with a satisfaction-or-money-back guarantee. In the meantime, I’ll continue to sample new products at home and bring you my thoughts/verdicts through posts here on Kitchn and on Instagram.

Other Samplings

What item are you patiently waiting to sample at Trader Joe’s?