Thank you, Trader Joe's!!!
Those three exclamation marks don't begin to describe the joy I felt when I learned that the Breaded Turkey-less Stuffed Roast has returned for 2024 holiday eating, after being discontinued in 2023.
In November 2023 I sadly wrote, "Bummer! Trader Joe's Breaded Turkey-less Stuffed Roast discontinued for 2023." That post started out with:
Oh, Trader Joe's, I'm so disappointed that you have put a piece of metaphorical coal in my vegetarian stocking this 2023 holiday season by discontinuing your marvelous vegan Breaded Turkey-less Stuffed Roast -- which is the favorite meatless alternative of its kind for my wife and me.
I bought several extra last year and put them in our freezer. Here's a photo of one of the last survivors of the Breaded Turkey-less Stuffed Roast purge before I took it out of the box and put it in an oven for Thanksgiving dinner. Now we're down to zero. Sob...
Yesterday I looked for the roast in the frozen food section of our Salem, Oregon store. Not seeing it, I mentioned to my checkout person that I was disappointed that the Turkey-less Stuffed Roast wasn't available again this year.
To my surprise, and pleasure, she said, "We have it. Want me to show you where it is?" "Absolutely," I told her. Somehow I'd walked right by it.
Not only did I buy one, I bought three. One for our meatless Thanksgiving, one for our meatless Christmas Eve, and one to have in the freezer whenever my wife and I want to eat it at some other time.
The check-out person said she wasn't sure if the ingredients had changed. They haven't. I included the photo below in my 2023 blog post. I just compared those ingredients and nutrition facts with the 2024 version of the roast. They're exactly the same. Trader Joe's was wise not to mess with a good product.
I ended my 2023 post this way. It's great that Trader Joe's realized that the Turkey-less Roast was much beloved, so a replacement wasn't called for. All that needed to be done was bring back the roast.
But all is not lost. In a November 8, 2023 story, VegNews reported on the much-beloved Breaded Turkey-less Stuffed Roast being discontinued by Trader Joe's. There's hope.
VegNews reached out to Trader Joe’s and the company has confirmed that the product is discontinued and they will not have a meat-free roast offering this year.
The cult-favorite holiday product will not return to shelves this holiday season because “it wasn’t meeting expectations,” according to one Reddit user. Some commenters suggested the reason might be because the recipe changed at some point and it was never as good as the original.
However, store managers have told customers that a replacement could come to stores in 2024.
“The notes in the internal system do say we are sourcing a replacement for 2024, it just didn’t come together this year,” another Reddit user confirmed.
LOVERS OF THE ROAST, TAKE ACTION! Head to the Trader Joe's Product Feedback page. Tell them that you adore the Breaded Turkey-less Stuffed Roast more than life itself. Or if you prefer life to the roast -- my personal view, since if I'm not alive, I can't enjoy the roast -- tell Trader Joe's that you hope so much for a return of the roast, or a new and improved version, in 2024.
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