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When was the last time you enjoyed a good, quality trip to the grocery store?
If your answer is closer to “last weekend” than “never,” you probably have a Costco (it costs) membership.
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Costco members pay $60 or $120 a year for the ultimate opportunity to enter these warehouse doors and enjoy the splendor and savings that await them. And while $5 a month may seem like just a hefty fee to cover groceries, once you step inside, you begin to understand why you’re paying for this privilege. There are a few other stores that sell kayaks, grills, flat-screen TVs, diamonds, toilet paper, and organic strawberries under one roof.
Of course, the cost saving benefit is also a big attraction. Costco offers a wide range of samples throughout the store, so customers can try the product before they buy it. Its Kirkland interior brand products typically offer quality at competitive prices.
It doesn’t hurt that many of the things Costco sells also come in bulk sizes, reducing grocery trips over time for busy families. Buying in bulk also usually helps keep costs down, as stores can’t get away with charging extra for boxes of individually packaged tissues or bottles of water, for example.
Costco often changes its offers
There are usually a few constants that most customers at Costco rely on. On the one hand, the price of a hot dog was – and will remain, at least for the foreseeable future – $1.50.
Costco’s leadership feels strongly about maintaining the premium meal price.
“If you raise delicious hot dogs, I’ll kill you. Find out,” Costco co-founder Jim Singal warned its CEO around 2009. Now, more than 10 years later, it has seen several recessions, pandemics, and food prices reach record levels. This dog is still under $2.
But Costco has been known to change things up from time to time, too. It attracts shoppers by stocking new and innovative items. at recent days Storage started Gimbap, a Korean-style frozen sushi, has proven very popular among more adventurous shoppers.
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They also sell trendy home furnishings. Discount Warehouse has started selling a ubiquitous gold mirror, which costs just $149.99 and looks very similar to the one sold at upscale fashion boutique Anthropologie — but retails for closer to $1,200.
Costco coffee is getting a makeover
Most of these changes are often welcomed – and quickly noticed by devotees who often post their findings on social media.
However, one change may upset some consumers, which may be why it’s been done fairly quietly over the past few months.
Some eagle-eyed customers have noticed that Costco has changed the packaging for its popular Kirkland Brand House Blend coffee, which typically comes in a large 2.5-pound bag. Previously, every bag wore Starbucks with pride (Sex) Partnership logo. The bags are labeled “Custom Roasted by Starbucks Coffee Company,” indicating that they are a special blend prepared as part of an agreement between the two companies.
But now this label has noticeably disappeared. Newer bags sold at Costco simply say the mixture is “balanced and smooth” with a medium to dark flavor.
Although both companies have remained quiet about any changes, most food bloggers speculate that the contract between Costco and Starbucks has just expired and the warehouse is now sourcing the coffee blend from elsewhere.
More food and restaurants:
- A famous restaurant chain declares bankruptcy and closes all its locations
- Starbucks is making a big change that customers will notice right away
- Nespresso and Keurig are making their biggest changes in coffee yet
“It is possible, in light of the change, that the Starbucks contract has expired and the two brands have parted ways — on this product, at least — but that has yet to be revealed,” Tasting Table writes.
Plenty of anecdotal evidence on Reddit supports this claim.
“In Chicago, I was just told that Starbucks has not renewed their deal with Costco. They are no longer doing roasting,” one user wrote on the Costco subreddit.
“Very upset because the old beans were cheap, tasted good, and really dry/medium hard roast,” another wrote.
“I finally tried my new bag. It’s really sad. I need to find a new option that I won’t get again,” said one frustrated user.
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