Trader Joe's Shoppers Are Reporting a Hash Brown Shortage
Going to the supermarket has become quite the gamble these days. Between surging prices and ongoing shortages, checking everything off your weekly grocery list is no longer a guarantee.
This unfortunate reality recently surfaced at Trader Joe's after multiple shoppers reported in a Reddit thread that they have been unable to find the grocery chain's frozen hash browns. The social media conversation began after one user shared a photo of the shredded potato product behind a red sign that reads: "Limit 2 Hashbrowns per household."
Although the Reddit user who started the thread noted that the purchasing limit was being implemented in a Los Angeles-area store, several other TJ's locations are apparently also in short supply of the beloved breakfast item.
"Ugh. That's why I can't find them in nyc," one user commented. "Ours in Charlotte has a limit of just 1," another one shared.
In an effort to contextualize the situation, the moderator of the Trader Joe's subreddit wrote, "Due to an Idaho potato shortage, the Hashbrowns were temporarily out of stock for a period of time in 2022. When they returned, most stores had (and still have) an ordering limit of 1 or 2 cases of Hashbrowns per day." The moderator added that each store's purchasing limit may vary but because "most stores are still selling out every day due to the ordering limit," it's best to "go [to Trader Joe's] as early to opening as possible."
This isn't the first time shoppers have reported a shortage of the popular Trader Joe's product, along with a purchasing limit on the item. Over the last few months, several Redditors started threads dedicated to the topic, with users writing that TJ's crew members attributed the product's scarcity to "[a]n issue with the potato crop in Idaho" and "a supply issue."
Among the 125 comments in the latest Reddit thread, multiple users raved about TJ's hash browns, highlighting that the potato item is friendly to various dietary restrictions. Specifically, the product is free of wheat, milk, and beef extract, three ingredients that can be found in some frozen hash brown varieties.
Meanwhile, for those looking to satisfy their Trader Joe's hash brown fix, some Redditors said stores like Aldi, Kroger, and Walmart carry similar options.
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