This is not a sponsored post, I wasn’t paid to write this. However, I did go on a really fun trip to Sam’s Club headquarters back in September for which they paid my airfare and hotel. Now with that little disclaimer out of the way, I want to share with you some very honest opinions about Sam’s Club. And of course I chose this beautiful cake as the top picture to entice you to read more. :)

First off, I was already a Sam’s Club member when I was invited on this trip. There was no need to sell me on joining, I was already a happy customer. What I didn’t know however was just how special Sam’s Club customers really are.

Did you know that Sam’s Club has a fully staffed test kitchen where potential products are tasted, rated, tested, rejected, and rated on a rigorous scoring scale before they are sold in clubs? I didn’t know that either.

Or how about that they have horticulturists that have traveled the world looking for the highest quality fruit available? Driscoll is their sole supplier of berries, they have a special contract with them and I have to say the blueberries and raspberries on display are some of the most beautiful I have seen.

All of the produce was stunning, just look at these amazing peaches!

And these little sugar pears? I’m in love! Tiny little pears that fit in the palm of your hand, perfect for a sack lunch or quick healthy snack.

Have you ever heard of Pluots? It’s a hybrid fruit, a cross between a plum and an apricot, 70% plum and 30% apricot. The picture above is actually of a Plumcot, which is the same marriage, only the ratio is different. Whether it be plum, plumcots or pluots, they all looked fabulous! Sam’s Club is very particular about what is allowed on their store shelves and they work closely with suppliers to ensure that only the freshest, highest quality produce makes it through their doors and into the hands of their members.

Sam’s has also been listening to their members. Members have influenced the redesign and flow of clubs all over the nation. My local Sam’s Club has this new design and I love it. The flow is so much nicer, freezers and coolers are now labeled so it’s easier to find things, and the flow is more like that of your local grocer.

They’ve reorganized their spice area so that everything is in alphabetical order, making it much easier to find everything. If you take a look at the picture here, you’ll see that each spice or herb starts with not only a capital letter, but an oversized letter, making it much easier to pinpoint! You will see small changes like this all over the store.

If you’ve been concerned in the past that buying in bulk is too cumbersome or difficult, especially if you have to repackage everything into manageable portions, you’ll love the changes being made in this area. Sam’s listened again and has started packaging products in manageable sizes within larger packages. While in the past you used to have to buy a 5 pound bag of spaghetti, now you can purchase a box with five one-pound packages instead, making it much easier to store and use.

While we were visiting the corporate office we were given the opportunity to sample many of the products that would be available at your local club throughout the holidays. There were TONS and we were stuffed to the gills, so I’ll just give you a quick preview here. Everything you see here is now available in the clubs!

This Rosemary and Sea Salt Focaccia pull apart bread is one of my favorites. In fact, I have one on my kitchen counter right now! It’s delicious, fresh, high quality, and comes in a resealable bag. Love. They were several varieties of Artisan breads on display, you definitely need to hit your local Sam’s and try some of them out.

Cheese, glorious cheese! I was overwhelmed by the amount of cheese that was on display, and so impressed by the quality and stories behind each supplier. Sam’s Club literally travels the world to find the finest cheeses at the best prices for their members.

I was really impressed with what was available, especially for the holidays. They have some truly delicious appetizers that require almost no preparation, just pop them in the oven.

They are selling a Ghirardelli candy making and dipping bar kit, with which you could make something like this to impress your guests.

Maybe you want to skip the hassle of baking cookies or brownies, just grab one of these amazing kits, they include everything you need!

Now on to the holiday dessert table! You are going to absolutely love me, even if the only thing you buy from Sam’s is one of these holiday cakes. You all know me, and you know I would bake a cake over buying one any day of the week.

However, I (and those on the trip with me) was so impressed with the flavor and texture of these desserts that I will be serving one on my Christmas table this year. I’m buying the red velvet cake, that’s the one with the beautiful edible red bow on it! The chocolate cake is a chocolate truffle fudge cake that is to die for (the one at the top of this post) and the one on the right is an Italian cream cake.

There’s also a red velvet cheesecake this year…

a turtle cheesecake, and I spotted a tiramisu cheesecake just last night at Sam’s! Oh! :) This is just a sampling of the amazing desserts available to members. And these cakes, right around $13-$17! Excellent prices!

Aside from all the deliciousness available, they have some really beautiful decorations too.

I was just at the club last night and all the holiday decorations are right out in the front so you don’t have to go all the way to the back of the store to find what you want.

The presents you see above make a gorgeous table display and were available in several different themes. Then there were these super pretty chair decorations! A giant ornament decorated with huge ribbon, so simple and so beautiful!

The last thing I want to tell you about, and I’m so sorry about the cruddy picture, are these premade meals that Sam’s sells. Everything you need is in this tray, just take off the plastic lid and pop it in the oven. The picture above is of the cheese stuffed shells, which was delicious. We’ve had the shells, chicken enchiladas (made from their rotisiree chicken), pork roast, and the chicken alfredo (below). They have all been wonderful and a marvelous time saver on those nights when it’s just too busy to cook.

There’s a lot more to tell, but the bottom line is that I highly recommend Sam’s Club. I would have done so even before this trip as I’ve always been a happy member, but now that I have seen the behind the scenes action, I’m even more impressed. From the green design of their corporate office, the quality of their products, and especially just how genuinely happy their employees seemed, what’s not to love?

If you’re not already a member, you can find out more on the Sam’s Club website here. You can also follow Sam’s Club on Twitter and like Sam’s Club on Facebook.

photo courtesy of Dine and Dish

Here’s a quick picture of all of us that went on the trip.

From Left to Right: Lori from Recipe Girl, Peabody from Culinary Concoctions by Peabody, Me, Kristen from Dine and Dish, Ann Marie aka This Mama Cooks, Maria from Two Peas and Their Pod, and Estela from Weekly Bite.

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