Liz and I decided to further our research about living with food intolerances by visiting both Trader Joe's and Shoprite. We compared the two stores to see how well they accommodate invididuals with food intolerances. Overall, we found that Trader Joe's is extremely helpful to people with special dietary needs, while ShopRite is not. My field notes from both stores and their websites is below:
Trader Joe's
- Clearly labelled signs indicating gluten-free, vegan, vegetarian, low sodium, etc.
- All organic items
- Had a wide variety of soy ice cream and non-dairy milks
- Had Earth Balance products- but rather expensive
- Very good prices
Website:
- Listed items that can be found in the store- vegan, gluten-free, vegetarian, etc.
- Easy to navigate
ShopRite
- No sections labeled as gluten-free, vegan, vegetarian, etc.
- Very few organic items
- Only one brand and one flavor of soy ice cream
- No Earth Balance
- No organic beef
- No organic milk
- Did have almond milk
- Staff was not helpful in finding items that were dairy-free
Website:
- No ingredients of products listed
- Information on food allergies, but no specific products listed for individual needs
Trader Joe's
- Clearly labelled signs indicating gluten-free, vegan, vegetarian, low sodium, etc.
- All organic items
- Had a wide variety of soy ice cream and non-dairy milks
- Had Earth Balance products- but rather expensive
- Very good prices
Website:
- Listed items that can be found in the store- vegan, gluten-free, vegetarian, etc.
- Easy to navigate
ShopRite
- No sections labeled as gluten-free, vegan, vegetarian, etc.
- Very few organic items
- Only one brand and one flavor of soy ice cream
- No Earth Balance
- No organic beef
- No organic milk
- Did have almond milk
- Staff was not helpful in finding items that were dairy-free
Website:
- No ingredients of products listed
- Information on food allergies, but no specific products listed for individual needs