Episode 112: Time for Tacos at Trader Joe's

Tara Miller (0:00)

Matt, you and I are based here at the Trader Joe's Mothership in Monrovia, California. And from here, we love going around the US and around the world to tell the stories behind some of our favorite Trader Joe's products.

Matt Sloan (0:12)

In effect, what we're doing is retracing the steps of our product development team. And if you think about it, their treasure hunt comes first, and then our customers, and then we all get to discover new flavors at our neighborhood Trader Joe's.

Tara Miller (0:27)

And as we travel, there's something I've noticed about the perceptions of Southern California.

Matt Sloan (0:32)

Oh, that we surf to work each day?

Tara Miller (0:34)

No.

Matt Sloan (0:34)

That we know Marissa Tomei personally?

Tara Miller (0:36)

Not that either.

Matt Sloan (0:37)

Well, what?

Tara Miller (0:38)

Southern California is really well known for having tasty street tacos.

Matt Sloan (0:42)

And that is a fact.

Tara Miller (0:43)

Lately, crew member Alex and his team have brought some delicious new taco meats to Trader Joe's. The kinds of flavors we're spoiled to have every day here in Southern California.

Matt Sloan (0:53)

Oh, please tell me he's outside firing up the grill right now.

Tara Miller (0:57)

He is.

Matt Sloan (0:58)

Let's go Inside Trader Joe's.

Tara Miller (1:08)

I'm Tara Miller, Director of Words and Phrases and Clauses.

Matt Sloan (1:11)

And I'm Matt Sloan, the Culture and Innovation guy at Trader Joe's.

Alex (1:15)

And I'm Alex.

Tara Miller (1:16)

All right, Alex, let's talk about some ideas for the grill that we can share with our customers.

Matt Sloan (1:20)

I'm in. We've got work to do.

Tara Miller (1:22)

You got a very hot grill here, Alex.

Alex (1:23)

It is toasty. I am doing the two zone method. I have half the grill on very high heat and the other half on a lower medium setting. It gives me the ability to kind of move the meats around as needed. If one starts flaming up on the hot side, I can move it to the cool side. We're going to grill some chicken thighs today, which is a thicker cut. It takes a little bit longer to cook. So I like to do that on medium. That way the exterior doesn't burn while we're waiting for the interior to cook.

Matt Sloan (1:46)

Now, I don't think these are just any old chicken thigh situation.

Alex (1:49)

No, these are our new Pollo Asado chicken thighs. This is designed to be a taco filling, a topping for burrito bowls, salads, serve it with rice, serve it on its own, however you like it.

Tara Miller (1:59)

We had Pollo Asado for a long time, and it was made with chicken breast pieces, which to be honest, it tasted good, it had good flavor, but it would get pretty dry when you cooked it.

Alex (2:09)

It would, and we wanted to take this as an opportunity to improve upon something which we knew could use a little work. When it comes to tacos, you want a juicy, flavorful filling for them, not something that could potentially dry out like chicken breast. And traditionally, chicken thighs are used. And the other benefit of it is that chicken thighs are less expensive than chicken breast. So our new retail is $1.50 less than what it used to be, per pound.

Tara Miller (2:31)

For a more delicious product.

Alex (2:33)

I think so.

Tara Miller (2:33)

Let's get it on the grill.

Alex (2:34)

Let's do it.

Tara Miller (2:36)

How big are these packages, Alex? When you buy this product in the store.

Alex (2:40)

It really depends on the size of the chicken thighs at the time, it changes throughout the year. But the package that I opened today is about a pound and a half, and I have two fairly large chicken thighs in that package. I'm talking good size.

Tara Miller (2:53)

Yeah, no, they are.

Matt Sloan (2:53)

Wow, wait, those are giant.

Tara Miller (2:55)

That's two giant pieces of chicken. That's just two chicken thighs, like full thighs there.

Alex (2:59)

That's two full thighs, and it's only $10.42 for that package.

Matt Sloan (3:03)

Wow. I wanna make all kinds of chicken thigh chokes, but I won't.

Tara Miller (3:07)

While these are cooking, you said you put them on the medium side, on sort of the lower heat side, so that they wouldn't cook too quickly on the outside, yeah?

Alex (3:14)

Yep.

Tara Miller (3:14)

So you just brought out a tray of marinated meat.

Alex (3:17)

Yeah, this is our new Carne Asada. We took the opportunity to also improve both the flavor profile and the cut of the meat. So in this package as well, you're getting two large pieces of thinly sliced sirloin flap meat, which is also known as ranchera meat or ranchera cut.