Trader Joe’s brings back popular holiday cookies but shoppers point out new name that ‘no one ever demanded’

WITH the festive season upon us, Trader Joe’s is busy stocking its shelves with fan-favorite holiday sweets and treats.

The grocery chain brought back its popular gingerbread cookies, but with a new name that shoppers have called out.

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From its Candy Cane Joe-Joe’s to its Jingle Jangle Pretzel Twists, Trader Joe’s fans can’t get enough of the store’s seasonal selections.

Other popular holiday pickings from the grocer include its selection of gingerbread-flavored items, including gingerbread coffee, gingerbread ice cream, and of course, gingerbread cookies.

The popular cookies are made with molasses and crystallized ginger, and their underside is coated in a sweet, white fudge icing.

They cost $4.49 for an entire pound of cookies.

Trader Joe’s shoppers have been known to snatch up the spiced cookies as soon as they hit the aisles, but some fans online have pointed out an issue with their new name.

Formerly called Gingerbread Men Cookies, Trader Joe’s swapped the name out for Gingerbread People Cookies to be more inclusive.

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Some shoppers, however, felt as if the name change was unnecessary.

“You can f*** all the way off Trader Joe’s,” fumed one customer on X. “No one has ever demanded inclusion in the gingerbread community.”

“Apparently at Trader Joes they’re not called ‘gingerbread men’ anymore. Wonder why ? … Any ideas?” remarked a second shopper.

Others were all for the inclusivity, with one shopper commenting “I like how TJs includes all people.”

UNDER FIRE

Trader Joe’s renamed their Gingerbread Men Cookies to Gingerbread People Cookies a few years back to reflect a more inclusive and gender-neutral approach in its branding.

In the past, the chain has also been in hot water for its product packaging on its lines of international foods.

For example, the chain previously labeled its Chinese items as Trader Ming’s, its Middle Eastern food products were called Arabian Joe’s, and Trader Jose’s was written on its Mexican products.

Some fans accused the labeling of being “racist” and in 2020, one shopper even created a petition to change the product packaging, which garnered thousands of signatures.

“The grocery chain labels some of its ethnic foods with modifications of ‘Joe’ that belies a narrative of exoticism that perpetuates harmful stereotypes,” reads Change.org petition description.

“The Trader Joe’s branding is racist because it… presents ‘Joe’ as the default ‘normal’ and the other characters falling outside of it.”

At the time, Trader Joe’s spokesperson Kenya Friend-Daniel told TODAY that the grocer was working to rebrand multiple items even before the petition launched.

“To be clear, our efforts are not a response to the petition and began before the petition was launched,” she clarified. “We had hoped that the work would be complete by now, but there are still a small number of products going through the packaging change and we expect to be done very soon.”

Friend-Daniel added that the original labeling on certain products was “rooted in a lighthearted attempt at inclusiveness,” but the company had since recognized that the packaging had the opposite effect.

“With this in mind, we made the decision several years ago to use only the Trader Joe’s name on our products moving forward. Since then, we have been in the process of updating older labels and replacing any variations with the name Trader Joe’s, and we will continue to do so until we complete this very important work,” she said.

Trader Joe’s wasn’t the only company that underwent major rebranding.

The petition came at a time when the death of George Floyd sparked worldwide protests over racial injustice.

In June 2020, Quaker Oats announced it would replace and rename its breakfast brand Aunt Jemima, citing its origins based on a “racist stereotype.”

Shortly after, Uncle Ben’s Rice shared it was planning a “brand evolution” to put an end to “racial bias.”

Cream of Wheat also promised to conduct an “immediate review” of its branding, which had featured a smiling Black chef for decades.

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After launching its holiday line of treats, Trader Joe’s has confirmed all 597 stores will close down for an entire day during a retail blackout.

Plus, a Trader Joe’s shopper shared their “favorite way” to elevate a seasonal dessert dip – and fans are “obsessed” with the recipe.