If I mention a product on my blog, it’s because I really like it and most of the time, it’s because I love the product or item.
Unfortunately, many of my favorite products have recently pulled a disappearing act. All I need to do is blog about something, profess my love for it, and then poof. It goes out of stock, becomes sold out, temporarily unavailable, or permanently discontinued.
They’re seasonal in San Diego, although I have been told by readers that some Southern Trader Joe’s stores carry them year-round.
Now that I know the seasonal situation, I buy a dozen bags or so in December because by December 31, and many times sooner, they are gone for the year and they’re my favorite white chocolate to bake with and the price is also a steal.
Hot Pepper Jelly is gone, too. I’ve been told it’s seasonal.
And I’ve been told they’re just having a hard time keeping it in stock.
Either way, they’ve been out since before 2012 at my store and in surrounding stores, because I’ve checked. Hot pepper jelly and cream cheese makes a great dip.
My next plan was to make a hot pepper jelly and cream cheese stuffed puff pastry appetizer like the Avocado, Cream Cheese, & Salsa-Stuffed Puff Pastry, but that plan is on hold until I find another type of hot pepper jelly.
I blogged about the national travesty the nationwide shortage.
I’ve been told thisfor a few months now that this is on its way back, but so far, it’s still M.I.A.
I’ve also seen that there’s a new Dark Chocolate Bar with Cookie Butter Spread inside of it, but that’s not really what I want. I want jars of Speculoos Cookie Butter spread back.
I have high hopes to make more Cookie Butter Spread Ginger Molasses Cookies (No Bake, Vegan, with GF option). I better locate some Biscoff, stat.
Whoopie Pie Pans are sold out now at my local BB & B San Diego Mission Valley store. I bought the last two pans, but other stores may have inventory and you can order online.
Unfortunately, sometimes stores like BB & B or Target will have seasonal merchandise in the fall and early winter for the holiday baking season and for gifts, and then when those things sell out, they’re gone for good and not restocked.
I need to make another batch of Deep Dish Chocolate Chip Cookies with PB Cups & PB M&M’s in the whoopie pans.
You can make the cookies without a whoopie pie pan and on cookie sheets; they just won’t be deep dish.
Or try a muffin pan.
There were about 20 cans of Cafe Bustelo Coffee for sale at the grocery store when I bough it about 10 days ago, but after blogging about it and professing my love for it, it’s disappeared and is sold out from my local grocery store.
I need to check other stores in the area for it, but in the meantime, I found this Cafe La Llave on the store shelf next to the open space where the Cafe Bustelo is normally kept.
It’s really dark and even bolder in flavor than the Cafe Bustelo, with a bit less “bite”, and it was on sale for $5.99 for the 12 ounce can.
I’ve been brewing it up in my new coffee maker the last two days.
In that sense, the disappearing act of Cafe Bustelo had a silver lining because this was a nice find.
Have there been any items that have pulled a disappearing act from your stores?
This happens to me frequently as I mentioned at the bottom of this post.
I also mentioned here that items like my favorite Balance Bar to seasonal Victoria’s Secret body sprays to hair, makeup, and beauty products that are no longer being made. Fall in love with something and watch it vanish.
Have you found anything as a replacement to replace what disappeared? Is it as good? Even better perhaps?
Sometimes disappearing acts force me to seek out new products that are even better (or just as good). Gotta look for that silver lining.
The winner of the Chobani Yogurt Giveaway is Kris
And thanks for your entries on the new $50 Spa Gift Card & Tropicana Giveaway
They discontinued my favorite white chocolate at Trader Joe’s – it was a bar, not chips and it was cheap and good! So bummed I can’t get it anymore. They do have the cookie butter at my TJ’s in stock, but I haven’t tried it yet since I’m still working through a stash of Biscotti spread in my pantry :)
That’s good to know that your TJs has cookie butter in stock (either they never sold out or it’s coming back!)…girl buy it. You could probably sell it for 3x the price, you know, in all your spare time on ebay or something. Lol
And I have the hardest time finding white blocks of choc to bake with. I’ve heard that Walmarts of all places have a good selection but it’s not easy to find white bars (that aren’t like 20 bucks for a 1 pound bar or something)
It is so frustrating to fall in love with a product and then have it completely disappear! I hope you’re able to find some good hot pepper jelly soon. I’ve gotta go stock up on all of the food should taste good chips for the super bowl next weekend. Even though they don’t make my favorite kind anymore, it did force me to try the other flavors!
Whoopie pie cookies? Can’t wait to have these with ice cream!
No Whole Foods or TJs here, but my boyfriend and I have noticed lemon products seem to get the boot pretty quickly! :( He told me a few minutes ago that his family used to always get these lemon doughnuts from the bakery at the grocery store and then one day they just stopped making them. It sounded like it was a bit stressful! :P
That’s always my luck with Trader Joe’s and why it can be so frustrating to shop there for me, I never got to try the Cookie Spread because it was gone by the time I got around to looking for it. Oh well.
better than you never even tried it b/c now you don’t know what you’re missing :)
Oh I hate it when I find something I love and then it disappears on me. I had found a running shoe I loved and then they changed the model and I could no longer wear the newer models. It’s kind of funny, I think about some products from childhood that I adored that you don’t ever see like those super extra crunchy O’Boisie (sp?) chips. Not that I “need” those mind you LOL
I hate it when they “upgrade” a shoe. There are some that I wish they would just have never touched and that if I could buy them forever, I would have!
I just saw Biscoff last week at one of the health food stores around here. And generally hot pepper jelly is easy to find here, as well.
trader joe’s cookie butter is the best invention ever. it’s dangerous. i think biscoff spread tastes pretty similar, just a bit more expensive!
oh man that’s so many items, I would be a bit saddened i think. Honestly I can’t think of a single product that that has happened with for me except when I was younger- quaker oats used to make a fun kids variety pack box of oatmeal with cookies and cream, apple cinnamon etc. and poof it was gone one day. I wrote to the company asking them why they removed it… when I was like 5 no joke ahhaa.
No TJ’s for me in NE Indiana which I am chronically bummed about! There is a TJ’s about 120 mi away so I hope they make it here someday. I have been able to find cafe bustello at Wal Mart and Kroger around here. Good luck getting re-stocked!
Averie, I have a hunch that everyone is reading your blog and then they go buy the items because your pictures make it look so good…
…I’m seeing a correlation here!
We’re supposed to be getting a Trader Joe’s in Knoxville in the coming year– it will be interesting to see whether these items come into the store…(I wish they’d hurry and build it!)
I was seriously thinking there are stealth San Diego readers who cleaned out the coffee in the last week from the grocery store. It was just too strange; like 50 cans…vanished but it could be a coincidence of course. I’m not crazy enough to think me and my little blog are that powerful or anything…haha!
I now must find that cookie butter!
Good luck finding it!
Yeah, that happens to me often! Tonight, could not find one bag of dried chickpeas anywhere in the grocery store and have been to 5 stores looking for cans of our household’s favorite seltzer water. Screw it, I’m getting a CO2 tank, lol.
5 stores?!! Omg you need a drink. More than just seltzer water…after all that!
Every time you post of your long lost tj’s loves i’m tempted to go to my local tj’s and see if i can stock up for you. I *know* I can get those white chocolate chips (since I just had a bag in hand yesterday but put it back because I have “too much chocolate I need to use before I can buy more” which isn’t true at all by the way, there’s never enough chocolate). Anyway if you’re in a true bind for them gimme a shout and I’ll be happy to send some to you ;)
Right now my only “omg gotta have it every time” product is South River Chick Pea Miso Paste (totally random, I know but I go through that stuff FAST). Apparently it’s really popular because I frequently have to go to more than one Whole Foods/health foods store to find it lately. One time I couldn’t find the brand I liked and ended up going home with another brand of chick pea miso…mmmmm never again. It was great, though- I finally deigned to bring it home and when I got to the counter, the girl couldnt ring it up for some reason, so as is Whole Foods’s policy, I went home with it for free. So I didn’t have to pay for the product, and it’s good because I decided I wouldn’t buy it again anyway.
Well if I’m ever hard up, I will holler at you for white choc chips! We can do a trade :)
:( I hate when my favourite products go MIA. I’m very brand-loyal, and tend to stick to what I know and like. Thankfully it hasn’t happened lately. I’m still DYING to try that cookie butter!!
Hm, interesting – I wish certain things were around yearlong! ^^ As for the jelly – have you ever thought of making your own? Its really simple with just some salt, lime juice, sugar, water and minced peppers! ^^
I have but feel like it’s going to be more complicated that that. I make chutney but not jelly. Jelly is different; chutney and preserves seem more forgiving because they can retain chunky and don’t have to be strained and as precise..but I need to try jelly making. I have memories of my mom and grandma canning jelly and it was *serious* business with vats of boiling water everywhere!