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“They have a nice culture,” Gutierrez said. “I’m looking forward to getting their all-natural house-brand items.”
The store brand, which started with granola in 1972, now has at least 3,500 different products that rotate in stores around the country. Some of them include items like chocolate covered sea salt butterscotch caramels, sweet potatoes tots and organic mango lemonade. It is not sold online.
Margarita Rodriguez lives in Kendall and said she shops at Sedano’s Super Market in West Kendall, and Whole Foods and Publix in Pinecrest. Now she is looking forward to Trader Joe’s. She said she “was obsessed” with Trader Joe’s when she lived with her sister in California.
“It’s like affordable gourmet,” Rodriguez said. “I haven’t bought into organic and natural food being completely safe. Every now and then you hear recalls here and recalls there over salmonella and listeria. For me is just about the price.”
Trader Joe’s recalled at least six products last year including their frozen Butter Chicken with Basmati Rice entrée, after reports of a listeria contamination risk.
Across the street from the Pinecrest location, near the Dadeland South Metrorail Station is Publix, 9105 S. Dadeland Blvd., and about five minutes south on Dixie Highway is Whole Foods, 11701 S. Dixie Hwy.
A Publix spokeswoman said the grocery chain is competitive with natural and organic foods.
“Publix GreenWise Market is our private label brand of natural and organic products that can be found in all of our stores,” Publix Super Market’s Kim Reynolds said. “In addition, we carry many national natural and organic brands that are integrated throughout the store.”
Rodriguez buys some of these products at Publix. Her husband Manuel said he didn’t realize his wife shopped at so many different places.
“We like to save,” he said in Spanish. “But I don’t understand what the big deal is with this Trader Juan’s place.”
She rolled her eyes and corrected him on the name of the brand, which was born in 1967.
“It’s for people who are educated on the culinary world. Where else can people get edamame rangoons, scallops wrapped in bacon and chicken parmesan lollipops,” Rodriguez said. “Miami needed one like yesterday.”
