With this new release, Trader Joe's plugs a big hole in its cracker lineup: a classic saltine. But there are problems.
Let's start with the name. Salty SQUARES? Look at the photo below: Nabisco Premium saltine on the left, TJ's on the right. Do those look square to you?
They are not. They are distinctly rectangular. 45 x 38 mm, to be exact. And, as you can see, they're much smaller than the big national brands (Nabisco and Keebler Zesta). One of my favorite uses of saltines since I was a kid is folding a Kraft cheese single slice into quarters, and putting each quarter on top of a cracker; they fit perfectly. Not so much with the Trader Joe's.
The packaging is also an issue. They don't come stacked in sleeves as you would expect, based on how other saltines are sold. Inside the box is a plastic bag, loosely filled with the crackers. So, first, you get a lot fewer than you might guess from the volume of the box because they're a lot of wasted space in there. And, second, you get a lot of sad, broken ones because of jostling around against each other during transit.
On the plus side, they're salted just right for my taste and are nicely uniform in both saltiness and doneness--no abnormally dark or undercooked samples. The flavor is noticeably different from the name brands in a way that's hard to put into words, but readily apparent in a side-by-side comparison. I didn't like it any less, but it doesn't quite nail the expectation built up by a lifetime of eating the competitors.
I've gone through half a box, topping them with peanut butter and with different cheeses, and they work fine for both.
Will I buy it again?
No. I don't like the smaller size, and the packaging means you get a lot fewer crackers for your money.
No comments:
Post a Comment