Samika Karode

Trader Joe’s is harshly criticized for their branding with “ethnic” names, but the food itself is not cultural appropriation.

Since 1977, Trader Joe’s has sold a variety of frozen meals with roots all over the world.
From Indian butter chicken to Italian gnocchi, ethnic food has become a staple of the grocery chain’s freezer section. But in recent years, there has been some controversy about whether Trader Joe’s is committing cultural appropriation by selling international cuisine.
Let’s get one thing straight: selling frozen ethnic food itself is not cultural appropriation.
Cultural appropriation is generally defined as the inappropriate adoption of a culture that is not one’s own, or when people try to pass off an aspect of another culture as their own.
Arguments that Trader Joe’s is committing cultural appropriation point to the latter. Trader Joe’s has been accused of rebranding ethnic foods as its own creations and erasing the rich history that surrounds many of these dishes.
But reading the descriptions for their frozen items paints a different picture. Trader Joe’s attributes the origin of these dishes and makes it clear that it’s simply serving a Trader Joe’s version of that dish.
For example, the description of their vegetable biryani states, “Trader Joe’s vegetable biryani is based on a traditional South Asian recipe.” It isn’t claiming to have invented vegetable biryani, only that it’s made its own version based on the original recipe.
TikToker Pragadish Kalaivanan brought up another argument against Trader Joe’s in his viral video posted on May 25, 2022. He argues that Trader Joe’s ethnic foods are watered-down versions of the dishes that inspire the national grocery chain. Specifically, he was referring to Trader Joe’s garlic achaar.
Sure, there is some truth to that. The Trader Joe’s mini chicken tikka samosas were indeed rather bland and dry. But the taste of the samosas is the only offensive thing about them. Selling bland food isn’t cultural appropriation. Rather, this sad excuse for a samosa has made me appreciate the culture behind and flavors of the real deal even more.
All this isn’t to say that Trader Joe’s is perfect. In 2020, the brand faced major backlash for labeling its ethnic foods with stereotypical names such as “Trader Jose” for Mexican-inspired food or “Trader Ming” for Chinese-inspired food.
The controversy made headlines when Bay Area resident Briones Bedell, 17 at the time, started a petition calling for Trader Joe’s to remove these labels from their foods.
The petition briefly prompted Trader Joe’s to consider removing the alternative branding. They later backtracked and decided to keep it, defending their decision by stating the labels were not racist and the company doesn’t make decisions based on petitions, according to an official statement on Trader Joe’s website.
There’s no doubt that this decision is inexcusable. It isn’t up to Trader Joe’s to decide what is and isn’t offensive, especially when it’s the ones doing the offending. The backlash the company received was well-deserved.
In this instance, however, the problem lies with the branding, not the food itself.
Despite the controversy, one thing is clear: whether it comes from a five-star kitchen or a grocery store’s frozen food section, food is definitely meant to be shared. Between people, between countries, and between cultures, ethnic food is a uniting force.