This story is the first in a three-part series exploring Trader Joe’s brand identity and business practices. Check back tomorrow for the next installment digging into Trader Joe’s record number of food recalls.

In March, the internet’s most-hyped handbag was not a luxury offering from Chloé or a new viral Uniqlo shoulder bag. It was a $2.99 mini canvas tote made in Vietnam for Trader Joe’s. The humble tote got swooped up so fast, stores were forced to implement crowd-control tactics and cap the number they allowed shoppers to buy.

After seeing the bags on @traderjoeslist, an Instagram fan account with 1.9 million followers, content creator Thaddeus Yan ended up making more than a dozen trips to stores across Los Angeles on a quest to land just one. (He eventually succeeded at the eighth location.) Others, like TikTok user Elinor Kim, filmed free-for-alls that went viral, with footage of customers lunging after the totes like seagulls fighting for scraps of bread.

While the grocery chain’s loyal customers seemed eager to brave any hardship in their pursuit of the limited-edition bags, Trader Joe’s workers greeted the chaos with dread—an increasingly common employee reaction to the buying sprees that define the modern Trader Joe’s shopping experience. One worker in the Northeast told Fast Company that the crew at their store joked about quitting en masse but taking the mini totes as severance, to “list them on eBay for hundreds of dollars,” as shoppers do. This person asked to remain anonymous because they feared disciplinary reaction from the company, a concern that may be justified. In recent years, numerous workers have sued for wrongful termination or taken other legal action, saying Trader Joe’s fired them after they criticized COVID safety policies or in one case wrote the corporate office a letter expressing disagreement with the company’s Black Lives Matter stance.

Those weren’t the only problems facing the chain behind the scenes as Mini-Tote Mania seized the headlines. One day after the bags dropped, Trader Joe’s warned consumers that 30 tons of its popular steamed chicken soup dumplings could contain plastic—the 16th product recall in nine months, spanning everything from common pathogens (listeria, E. coli, salmonella) to rocks, glass shards, metal pieces, and insects in products. Weeks later, several makers of the kinds of quirky international snack foods you might find on the chain’s shelves accused Trader Joe’s of stealing their ideas. Just days after that, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration at the Department of Labor slapped Trader Joe’s with a record fine of nearly $217,000 for repeatedly violating federal workplace safety regulations. Finally, in the meantime, employees at stores around the country have mounted a drive to unionize—partly in response to some of these issues—and Trader Joe’s has responded by aggressively trying to thwart those efforts.

With a few exceptions noted throughout the text, Trader Joe’s declined to comment on most of the specific allegations we cover. In a statement to Fast Company, a spokesperson for the chain pointed to the company’s “widespread recognition as a great place to work,” citing its inclusion on several publications’ “best places to work” lists.

These articles are based on hundreds of conversations with current and former employees and industry experts, internal documents, and a trove of regulatory records and legal filings. The series will take readers inside Trader Joe’s secretive business operations, chronicle years of........

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