Take Action
Tell Trader Joe’s – Salmonella is Nothing to Hide
dbane@traderjoes.com; msloan@traderjoes.com
Dan Bane, CEO
Trader Joe’s
(cc: Matt Sloan, VP of Marketing, Trader Joe’s)
Dear Mr. Bane,
I appreciate Trader Joe’s taking quick action in the recall of the Trader Joe’s Chocolate Chip Chewy Coated Granola Bars.
However, I am deeply disappointed that Trader Joe’s has decided that shoppers would be confused if you provided us with full information about the reason for the recall. I don’t know how you will sleep at night if it turns out that even a single sick child suffered needlessly because you failed to provide shoppers in the store with full disclosure of the salmonella threat posed by this product.
Please add the word “salmonella” to the in-store signs informing shoppers of the granola bar recall TODAY. I am eager to hear that you have taken this vital step.
Sincerely,
I think consumers have a right to know what the food borne illness is. Trader Joe’s has a good reputation, but this type of behavior diminishes it.
You might not know this, but Trader Joe’s employs a virtual army of in-store sign artists, who produce every sign you see in every store across the country by hand. Each store has anywhere from 1 to 6 artists, and operates very autonomously, with varying degrees of influence and input from the home office. It’s part of what creates that loveable Trader Joe’s experience, but it’s not a terribly well organized system. So while the one store you visited may have gotten it wrong, the official word from the company to the store level may have been correct, just poorly executed at that location. Again, the sign you saw was wrong, and should have been corrected, and that’s part of the problem with their system. But in this case, that’s something that could have been more easily dealt with by talking to that store’s captain.
Thanks for the note. I did speak to the store captain, and the sign was not hand-made, but was printed out by the store (and the 3 other TJs stores I visited) from the company website. Also, I had several emails with the company’s VP of marketing (see the exchange at https://corporatecrime.wordpress.com/background/ ), who verified the decision to post the incomplete sign was company policy.