Food - Drink
The Special Source Behind Trader Joe's Paprika
By CYRENA GOURDEAU
While Trader Joe's is an American company, the store sources its signature in-house products — which undergo judgment from a tasting panel and intensive quality-control processes — from all around the globe. Even the house brand paprika sold at each TJ's store originates from a country known for the spice.
In an episode of Trader Joe's official podcast, an employee named Lori explained how she stumbled upon the perfect Spanish paprika for TJ's at a food show in France. Lori spotted the spice in attractive tin packages that encouraged her to talk to the producers, four Spanish sisters based near Valencia.
The sisters, who have been working with paprika for nearly 70 years, use Spanish peppers that are roasted over wooden planks and ground into smoked paprika. Lori described the spice as "incredible," and once the company's product passed quality control, it became the source of all Spanish paprika sold at TJ's today.