When this Top-Ten-list product first came out last December, I had never even heard of the Takis that people immediately said it was ripping off. Yesterday I was at WalMart and happened to see a display of Takis. I knew that I already had a bag of the TJ's in my cupboard, so I could finally do a direct comparison taste test. And by happy coincidence, it was the day Nina was coming over for dinner, so she could join me in this important quest.
As you can see from the picture above, the Takis are much more brightly colored. This is probably due to their willingness to use artificial coloring, which Trader Joe's eschews as a blanket corporate policy. The TJ's version uses vegetable juice, paprika extract, turmeric extract, and beta carotene for color.
While I'm looking at the list of ingredients, I notice that Takis use palm oil, which you may wish to avoid in things you buy. (Says Scientific American, "Today palm oil production is the largest cause of deforestation in Indonesia and other equatorial countries with dwindling expanses of tropical rainforest. Indonesia’s endangered orangutan population, which depends upon the rainforest, has dwindled by as much as 50 percent in recent years.") Trader Joe's uses sunflower, safflower, and/or canola oil.
I paid $2.68 for the 9.9-ounce bag of Takis. Trader Joe's charges $2.49 for 9 ounces. That's a very slight edge to the former on cost.
My first impression after sampling a few of each was that they're very similar. Nina's was that they're quite different. We agreed that the Takis are hotter, but we both preferred the slightly toned-down TJ's. Nina thought the corn flavor of the TJ's was more natural and more prominent; I didn't pick up on that. I had to strain to detect lime in both products. The textures are virtually identical; I can't tell any difference in the crunch factor.
Verdict
Nina and I both preferred the Trader Joe's overall. TJ's has made better choices on ingredients, and turning down the heat by a degree or two was an improvement on the original. But I'd be happy munching on either one. If you blindfolded me and fed me one when I didn't also have access to the other for an immediate comparison, I couldn't confidently tell you which I was eating.
When Trader Joe's comes out with a knockoff of a well-known name-brand product, it's hit-or-miss if they'll make it better. Sometimes they clearly do--e.g., the frosted toaster pastries are superior to Kellogg's Pop Tarts in every way. But TJ's Triscuit imitations are just as clearly inferior, whether comparing the original or the reduced-fat versions. I'm happy that these rolled-corn tortilla chips are in the former category.
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