#goodoldPepperJack

[allaboutfoodgwu]

SAY CHEESE: Trader Joe’s ed.

Take 2. Did you say cheese? This time I am at Trader Joe’s. It’s 11 a.m. on a Friday when I enter. I feel a deep sigh of relief when I remember it’s not a peak hour for the store. If you’ve ever been to the Trader Joe’s in West End on a Sunday night, you would know what I’m talking about. I’ve seen the check-out line so long that it starts at the entrance and wraps around the entire store.

Although I’m less familiar with the layout of Trader Joe’s, I still find the block cheese quickly because it is at the front of the store. I walk in and on my left I see a refrigerated area with six long rows (bottom left). The rows are divided into smaller sections that are labeled with different types of cheese. Each individual cheese on sale has smaller label with its name, origin, a small description, and its price per use. At the very bottom of the cheese is the name of the animal or plant that the rennet came from.

I come across one cheese that is labeled as “American” and has the name “Organic Pepper Jack” (bottom right). The description for the cheese is “Great for Nachos or add to any omelet!” and the Rennet is vegetable. Why is there so much glory for good old Pepper Jack? Oh sorry, I meant *Organic* Pepper Jack. I guess Trader Joe’s is trying really hard to make boring cheeses a big deal. Whatever.

Did someone say Manchego again? I see it and get excited for a second. But there’s only one kind, and it’s the 3-month aged. That’s not dry enough for me, so no thank you. Sad selection.

I see more variety in the Gruyère cheese (top right), with one that is aged 6 months, another that is cave-aged, and another that is “raw milk.” The “raw milk” Gruyère has a description of “from Switzerland! Produced in a small village. Slightly Nutty.” The description for the cave-aged type is instead focused on its pairing suggestions- “great with quiche, apples, or Pinot Grigio.”

I try looking at the overall layout of the cheeses to see if I can notice a certain pattern. It seems as though cheeses from the same region are all on the same row. One row has all the Swiss cheeses, while the row below it has all the American cheeses. There is also a row dedicated to all the different types of Goat cheeses, such as Goat Brie and Goat’s Milk Gouda. I couldn’t find a pattern related to prices on the rows, as cheeses priced at $2.99 and $9.99 were right next to each other. Above the cheese display, I see a painting (top left) that has the words “Trader Joes Table Since 1967.” I don’t think that the painting has to do with the cheeses specifically, and that instead it refers to the entirety of the fresh food in that part of the store.

I then walk around the rest of the store to see if there are other places with block cheese. I can’t find anything else. I also didn’t find any pairings for the cheeses at first, but I looked to the right and noticed that the cracker aisle directly faces the cheeses. Classic marketing.

While at the cheese display, I notice two women shopping. One was a younger woman who went straight for the gruyère as if she knew exactly where it was. The second woman appeared to be older, and it was hard to tell if she was looking for a specific type of cheese, but she was spending a lot of time reading each of the labels. I didn’t see her actually choose a cheese at the end.

The only two people I saw were women. So, does feminism have anything to do with cheese? Just kidding. Save your smiles until my next round of “say cheese!”