Inside Trader Joe's
I have been assigned to blog about a food podcast, so I chose Inside Trader Joe's, a podcast on tunein.com that focuses on Trader Joe's, the grocery store chain in the United States. The hosts of the podcast are Tara Miller and Matt Sloan, and in this episode titled "Trader Joe's Goes Back to School with Chocolate and Mustard", they went to their chocolate and mustard factories in Belgium and France.
Trader Joe's chocolate factory is located in the outskirts of Brussels, Belgium, a country renowned for its chocolate products along with the Swiss. They have been selling the chocolates for quite a long time, which are called Pound Plus Chocolate Bars. Tara and Matt talk with the CEO of the chocolate company, who goes on to explain how they make their products as well as the secrets and challenges to consistently pump out such a high quality product.
After a thorough tour of the facilities, the team heads to Dijon, France to see how their mustard is made. They learn that the mustard factory was founded in the mid 1800s, using hydraulic power generated from the river to grind the mustard seeds. The area itself already produced mustard from before the 13th century, using grapes for the acidic flavor of the mustard, since the region was also home to grape fields. John the 22nd, the Pope at the time who lived in Avignon, was a fan of mustard and as he wanted a steady supply of it, had his nephew stationed in Dijon. We learn more about how the mustard is made and how the producers care about authenticity and tradition, as we are given a brief tour inside the factory.
I rarely listen to podcasts, so this was a relatively new experience, where I had to really imagine what was going on with no visual help. I used to go to Trader Joe's every now and then during my time in the States, and knowing more about their products and beliefs made me want to shop there again if I ever get the chance.
This is an informative description of the content of the podcast. I especially enjoy podcasts, like this one, where the podcasters go the extra mile to provide fascinating content, and doesn't just feature the opinions and biases of the presenters. As I've always been a fan of Trader Joe's, and go there just about every time I return to California, I was pleased to know that there's a podcast about the store. They aren't complacent and don't take their customers for granted. It's admirable that they play an active role in producing some of the items that they have on their shelves, such as the the Dijon mustard and Belgium chocolate described here. I especially enjoyed reading about the rich history of mustard production in the Dijon region and the juicy tidbit about how a 13th century Pope, a big fan of high quality mustard, sent his nephew to Dijon to oversee its production and safe passage of the condiment to him in Avignon. That's the kind of detail that gives texture to stories and keep us from taking a product, which we may casually slather on our hot dog, too much for granted.
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