A Trader Joe’s customer named Emiliano shared with TikTok a policy that is so little known that, apparently, some store employees are unaware it even exists.
In the TikTok, which has been viewed over 64,000 times since being posted on Feb. 23, TikToker Emiliano (@emiliano_2_33) wanted to try a Carnitas Salsa Verde Burrito but wasn’t sure if he would like it.
@emiliano_2_33 Finally tried out that #traderjoes hack where you can try anything BEFORE you buy. And surprised that it DID work😳 but more surprised that even their own employees dont know about it. SO Andrew and trader joes for a great shopping experience. #tiktok #tiktoker #fyp #hack #hacks #tiktokv #love #tiktoktraditions ♬ original sound – Emiliano Chagoya337
“Apparently at Trader Joe’s, if you want to try anything, you can,” he said in the video. “Do I just open it, take a bite?”
Emiliano then approached a store employee and let them know he wanted to try the burrito. The worker responded, “I have never done that before.”
The employee directed Emiliano to the front of the store, saying he could ask the store managers. “People don’t just try stuff?” he asked them.
“No, never,” the employee replied.
Emiliano told them he had previously asked a “dude with an iPad who looked important”—later identified in the video as Andrew—whether or not store policy would allow him to try the burrito and that he told him he “definitely” could. Andrew later approached Emiliano and the other employee, confirming Emiliano could try the burrito in the store.
“You’re post-COVID hires, that’s why,” Andrew said in response to the other employee’s confusion.
“I thought you were making that up!” the employee told Emiliano, who revealed he saw the policy on the internet before coming into the store.
“We can open it and cut it and give you a little plate,” Andrew told Emiliano in the video, to which he jokingly replied, “Can I do it? Can I exercise my right as a Trader Joe’s shopper?”
The video then cut to Emiliano holding two paper plates with slices of the burrito.
“This place is awesome. It’s cold, but for sure still sits at like a six or seven,” he said after trying it. “Warmed up, probably like an eight. I’m probably not going to buy it, but it’s bussin’.”
Several outlets have confirmed the Trader Joe’s “Try Before You Buy” policy. Insider reported that this policy understandably doesn’t extend to items like frozen vegetables and baking mixes. Insider also noted an employee must be present when a customer is trying an item.
Some Trader Joe’s aficionados shared how they discovered the hack.
“I asked the cashier once if the beef jerky was any good at the counter. She said, do you want to try it before buying it. That’s how I found out,” one said.
“I was shopping once and randomly a worker opened an ice cream box and offered me one,” TikToker Elena (@elena_martini2) wrote.
The Daily Dot reached out to Emiliano via TikTok comment and to Trader Joe’s via its website.
