We Ranked This Trader Joe's Gummy Candy As Worst, And It's Clear Why

Trader Joe's offers many name-brand dupes that are often better than the original. But the chain is also famous for novel products that have garnered viral acclaim, from dips and spreads to countless snacks. Trader Joe's gummy candy selection offers the same mixed bag of classic and unique. We tasted and ranked 9 gummy candies according to taste and texture, looking for standout fruity sweet flavors and soft, delicately chewy consistencies. However, the clear loser of the bunch was Trader Joe's Fruit Jellies Candy, a relatively new debut.

The jellies in this TJ's boxed offering are round discs covered in coarse sugar, coming in cherry, pear, mango, and peach flavors. As far as texture goes, they represented the slightly toothsome yet soft consistency of a jelly candy. The sugar coating gave a nice crunchy contrast, but even the best texture couldn't make up for their flavor. We wanted to give these candies points for originality, as pear isn't a flavor you see every day.

Unfortunately, when we bit into the pear gummy, we were overwhelmed by a medicinal, almost herbal, taste that made us want to spit it out. If anything, the taste bordered on licorice, but that would be putting it nicely. Even after sampling a more conventional cherry gummy, we couldn't taste fruit at all. In fact, a medicinal cherry flavor was actually the last straw.

While some Trader Joe's customers enjoyed these unconventional jelly candies, we found many that didn't. One Reddit poster wrote about this snack, "There is definitely a strong floral note," while another Reddit user described the flavors in the comments as tasting "candle-y." Many online cried out against Trader Joe's supposed false advertisement, claiming that the flavors had been mixed up. Another Redditor stated, "I found that none of them tasted like their alleged flavors," while another questioned whether the mango and peach were specifically mislabeled on the box.

Complaints also poured in about the distribution of flavors, as many noted that one flavor tended to abound while there may have only been one of the other flavors. While Trader Joe's kettle-cooked Fruity Jellies didn't fare much better in our ranking, they received a lot more favorable reviews from customers on Reddit who enjoyed their soft, jelly texture and more conventional fruit flavors.

If you're looking for a better gummy candy from Trader Joe's, our favorite was the varied gaggle of gummy candy that supplied different shapes and textures to fit every gummy lover's preferences. You can always branch out of Trader Joe's and explore the wide world of name-brand gummies. We ranked Nerd's gummy clusters and Trolli Sour Brite Crawlers as some of the most popular gummy candies. It seems that chocolate candy is Trader Joe's forte, as chocolate peanut butter cups, chocolate caramel candy clusters, and chocolate truffles were each among our favorite Trader Joe's candies.