Brioche bread is a type of bread with a much higher egg and butter content than typical bread. This makes it a much sweeter and doughy bread. For a while, Trader Joe’s was one of the leading stockists for brioche bread, which made sense. Trader Joe’s is a grocery store that loves to stock more unique products.
Trader Joe’s brioche bread has been temporarily discontinued. It is unknown whether it will be returning to the store. Thankfully, Trader Joe’s does have a few brioche bread alternatives that you may find in stock.
We want to tell you a little more about brioche bread at Trader Joe’s.
History of Brioche Bread at Trader Joe’s
Trader Joe’s has stocked brioche bread for as long as we can remember. Several years, at least.
They stock a variety of brioche products. Customers absolutely loved their standard brioche loaves. However, in the freezer section, you could find brioche toasts. These were essentially sliced brioche bread that was ready to put in the toaster.
According to many customers, they make great breakfast food. It also meant that you could store brioche bread for a little longer than normal.
The popularity of brioche bread at Trader Joe’s meant that the company eventually introduced a variety of other brioche products. This includes hotdogs and burger buns.
Near the end of 2021, brioche bread suddenly disappeared from the bakery section of many Trader Joe’s stores. According to Trader Joe’s staff, this was down to a problem with the warehouse that produces the brioche bread.
This has made it difficult for Trader Joe’s to now source the bread. While it hasn’t been officially discontinued (it does come into stock every so often), it certainly can be difficult to track down.
Impact of Brioche Bread’s Discontinuation on Trader Joe’s Customers
When brioche bread started to disappear from the shelves of Trader Joe’s, the same thing happened that happened with every single Trader Joe’s product disappearance.
People took to the internet and started to complain. Turns out that brioche bread was a lot more popular than many other products that have disappeared from the store, so there was a lot of support.
People that work at Trader Joe’s said that if they wanted to get brioche bread from the store, they had to turn up early. It wasn’t discontinued but a limited number of loaves were filtering through the supply chain and a person had to be quick to get them.
Some people suggested using the alternative brioche products at Trader Joe’s if you are really craving brioche e.g. the bun range. They aren’t fresh, but they do still have that beautiful brioche taste.
Of course, brioche is not some magical bread that has disappeared from existence just because Trader Joe’s do not have it in stock. If you really want brioche bread, then most of the other major grocery store chains will have brioche in stock.
If you want high-quality brioche bread, then most reputable bakers should have some in stock. It is probably going to taste far superior to anything that you would find in a grocery store anyway. This is because they will be cooked from fresh, while the Trader Joe’s brioche breads are cooked from frozen.
Trader Joe’s Response to the Discontinuation of Brioche Bread
As with all of their product discontinuations, Trader Joe’s has not released a statement on the discontinuation of their brioche bread. We doubt that they ever will.
The company is discontinuing products at a fairly regular rate, and we can’t imagine they will want to release continuous statements to customers whenever a product is discontinued. Honestly, if you love Trader Joe’s then, sooner or later, a product that you like will get discontinued.
The only information that we have from Trader Joe’s comes from employees that have posted on social media.
They have claimed that the brioche bread is not discontinued, but they are limited in the number of loaves that they can purchase at once.
This is because there was an issue with their suppliers. This happened at the tail-end of 2021, and it seems to have continued right the way into 2023.
The fact that Trader Joe’s still stocks a variety of other brioche products (no doubt sourced from another supplier) does give us hope that the real brioche bread is going to eventually come back into stock. In fact, some stores are getting a couple of loaves per day, but they are selling out almost instantly.
Trader Joe’s has always listened to their customers when it comes to considering the types of products that it should be stocking in its stores.
We doubt that this is something that is going to change any time soon. They know that their customers want brioche bread in stock, but they just can’t seem to get hold of it.
Sadly, the product has currently been delisted from their website (only the brioche buns and hotdog buns are currently listed). This means that Trader Joe’s knows that they are unlikely to be bringing the product back into stock in the near future.
Frequently Asked Questions
How Much Is Trader Joe’s Brioche Bread?
The price can vary a little bit. Expect to be paying anywhere from $2.99 to $3.99 per loaf.
Is Brioche Healthier Than Bread?
No. Brioche contains more carbs and fat than standard bread. Remember, this is a much sweeter bed. Brioche is not a good option if you are looking to get healthier.
Final Thoughts
While you cannot find fresh brioche bread in Trader Joe’s, it has not been officially discontinued.
The product is not currently in Trader Joe’s due to supply chain issues. Nobody knows when these supply chain issues are going to be cleared up.
Trader Joe’s does offer a select number of brioche products but, as you can imagine, they do not taste quite the same as fresh brioche bread does. Thankfully, most other grocery stores should offer some sort of brioche bread alternative that people can use.