The Specialty Produce At Trader Joe's That Tastes Like 2 Fruits In One Luxe Bite

As much as we love shopping at Trader Joe's, the grocery chain is better known for its inventive snack foods to satisfy any craving, condiments, and premade meals than its produce. The fruit and veggie selection tends to be pretty standard and of middling quality, with some customers complaining that their produce from the retailer goes bad quickly due to its use of plastic containers. However, there are still some hidden gems to be found in the Trader Joe's produce aisle, and one special fruit even made Chowhound's list of expensive Trader Joe's items that are absolutely worth it: golden kiwi.

Trader Joe's golden kiwis aren't actually a proprietary product of the Trader Joe's brand. Instead, like most of the store's produce, they're purchased from external fruit vendors and sold with their original branded packaging. In this case, SunGold kiwis (as they're officially named) are sold by New Zealand-based company Zespri, the largest marketer of kiwifruit in the world.

What sets these golden kiwis apart is their uniquely sweet, tropical flavor. Often described as a crossover between mango and strawberries or melon, SunGold kiwis are a perfect summery treat. They also have a smoother skin in comparison with green kiwis, making them an ideal kiwifruit variety to enjoy with the skin on (plus, the skin has lots of beneficial nutrients). As noted, at $6.99 for a pack of four, golden kiwis are a tad more expensive than Trader Joe's usual produce, but we certainly think they're worth it.

Some people might assume that SunGold kiwis are a genetically modified type of kiwifruit, since their appearance and flavor is unlike the traditional green kiwis we're used to. However, according to Zespri, its gold-colored kiwis are actually a product of selective breeding, not DNA modification.

To better understand these sweet, yellow-fleshed fruits, we have to briefly explain the geographical backstory of kiwifruit as a whole. Kiwi is native to China, but was brought to New Zealand in the early 1900s, and it eventually became the country's major horticultural export. The name "kiwi" actually comes from the national bird of New Zealand, which sort of resembles the fruit. Interestingly, all kiwifruit grown in New Zealand is exported beyond Australasia through the Zespri cooperative, meaning it essentially controls the entire industry — and it did over $5 billion in sales in 2024-25.

Zespri developed its original gold kiwi strain in the 1990s, and it quickly became popular. But the New Zealand kiwi industry was struck by disaster in 2010, when a bacterial vine disease called PSA decimated many of the country's kiwi plants, with the golden variety being most affected. Thankfully, Zespri was already developing a new strain of gold kiwis, which proved to be PSA resistant. Thus, SunGold kiwifruit was born. These days, over two-thirds of kiwis grown in the country are SunGold, and they taste even better when eaten in their native New Zealand.