15 Popular Foods Costco Stopped Selling And Why

From the moment it introduced its first food court items in 1984 (a hotdog and a soda for $1.50), America fell in love with the Costco shopping experience. Where else could you stock up on bulk groceries and grab a hotdog and a soda on your way out the door? In 1995, Costco developed its own brand, Kirkland Signature. Like the food court, Kirkland Signature soon developed a loyal fanbase (Costco's store brand is worth $56 billion dollars, with a "B," and is bigger than Nike and Coca-Cola).

Costco shoppers are nothing if not passionate about the products they buy, and Costco has received more than one angry petition from customers who are upset when the brand removes a much-loved product from its shelves or, even more painfully, an item from the food court (please never take the pizza, Costco). But sometimes, even the best things come to an end. Here are some popular Costco items that have been discontinued and will likely never be seen again.

Costco's Polish hot dog had an impressive cult following but didn't have enough sales to keep it on the menu. Removed from Costco's food court menu in 2018, fans still lament the loss of their favorite dog. The Polish dogs were such a popular item that Costco felt compelled to address the situation on its customer service home page. Costco claims it removed the Polish dog to make room for healthier options, such as its current offering of the all-beef hot dog. It also mentioned that the all-beef dog is a better seller, and it's hard to blame a brand for weeding our poor-performing items (still, we know it hurts for those who loved the Polish version best).

Costco still offers its all-beef hotdog for just $1.50 — a price that includes a soda and hasn't changed since the 1980s. While you can no longer purchase a Polish hot dog from the food court, you can get a similar experience with the Kirkland Signature brand Polish sausage links. Use these to create your own Polish hot dog heaven at home.

You can no longer buy liquid eggs from caged hens at Costco. 100% of Costco's U.S.-sold Kirkland Signature Liquid Eggs come from cage-free hens, and Costco has been phasing out the sales of shelled eggs from caged hens, too (as of 2022, 97% of the eggs Costco sells in the United States come from cage-free hens). Costco announced it would be moving toward carrying only cage-free eggs in 2007, but it took some celebrity superpowers to light a fire under the company.

In 2015, Brad Pitt appealed to the big box store , asking why it hadn't made more progress on its cage-free initiative and pointing out the inhumane living conditions many hens were subject to. Costco listened and even addressed its egg policy on its website, confirming it is increasing its percentage of cage-free eggs in the United States and worldwide.

Cage-free means just that – the chickens are not raised in cages and have room to walk and peck the ground. To see if your store sells cage-free eggs, look for the designation on the carton. However, you can be sure your Costco eggs are cage-free with the liquid version. Because of their convenience and longer shelf life, many people like liquid eggs, which are already cracked, blended, and pasteurized. You can use liquid eggs for the same things you'd use shelled eggs for, from scrambling eggs for breakfast to baking your favorite treats.

Many things didn't make it through the pandemic, and Costco's fan-favorite combo pizza was one such casualty. Loaded with cheese, pepperoni, Italian sausage, black olives, bell peppers, and mushrooms, the combo pizza's popularity was so great that fans started a petition to bring it back. Costco claims cost concerns behind the removal of the cherished combo pizza. Costco's food court is known for having low prices, and you can't beat a $1.99 slice of pizza — especially when it's as big as the one Costco sells. While the price has stayed the same, the pizza options have changed over the years, and it isn't likely we'll see the return of the combo pizza to the food court anytime soon.

However, it appears Costco might be listening. Rumors abound that the beloved combo pizza is making a return as a take-and-bake option in the frozen section. While it's not quite the same as getting a hot slice on your way out the door, it would be a nice consolation prize for the Costco customer looking to take home a grocery store frozen pizza for dinner.

Costco's All American chocolate cake provided chocolate lovers with layers of chocolatey goodness in a beloved cake so large it could handily feed 20 people. Unfortunately, for reasons unknown to customers, Costco pulled it from the shelves in 2020 (another sad by-product of the pandemic, perhaps?). This cake was so popular that sad fans started a petition to bring it back, pleading with Costco to return it to shelves or at least offer it as a custom cake order in the bakery.

It appears Costco wasn't quite done with the All American cake. While customers in search of a full-sized All American chocolate cake are out of luck, chocolate lovers can still find their joy. Costco has released a mini version of the cake in cupcake form, which is sure to please even the more devout chocolate lover (and yes, it's loaded with icing, just like its larger counterpart). And if you don't have time for a Costco run, you can always make your own chocolate cake at home.

Costco announced in August 2024 that it would be discontinuing its store-brand chocolate chips. Just like with past discontinued items, fans were upset — and in this case, the people of Reddit called for a protest, going so far as to share screenshots of how to give Costco feedback about the removal. Costco removed both of its chocolate chip products — Kirkland Signature semi-sweet chocolate chips and Kirkland Signature semi-sweet 51% chocolate chips.

According to Costco, the cost of cocoa has shot up more than 200% when compared to 2023, and Costco can no longer provide its chocolate chips at an affordable price. The rising cost of cocoa stems from a plethora of problems, but one cause is a drop in production, which is an unfortunate result of an unstable climate and El Niño.

But don't worry – Costco will still carry chocolate chips. They just won't be the Kirkland Signature brand because they are being replaced in stores by the Nestle brand. If Nestle's not your jam, you can find a variety of chocolate chip options at your local grocery store. You just won't be finding the Kirkland Signature brand any time soon.

Another food court item, the barbecue beef brisket sandwich, was packed with shredded brisket, tangy barbecue sauce, and a sweet coleslaw. This sandwich, which cost $4.99, was a favorite for many, but it didn't sell well enough to stay on the menu. It's also been suggested that it was removed from the menu as Costco turned its focus towards healthier food court items. The barbecue brisket sandwich was replaced with chili.

While we can't be certain about Costco's reasoning for removing the sandwich, one Costco employee on Reddit spoke out about how time-consuming they were to make, stating, "That sandwich was more of a pain in the butt to prep and go through all the procedures for than making 50 chocolate nut covered ice cream bars in a row." 

In an operation as streamlined and efficient as Costco, even the most popular food court items would likely have to go if they were too labor-intensive to be sustainable. It can also be said that brisket is notoriously difficult to prepare properly, which may have impacted Costco's decision to nix it from the menu.

One would think that every time Costco discontinues a product, petitions for its return are created and fans run to the internet to voice their complaints. That would be mostly true. However, in the case of Costco's Kirkland Signature light beer, nobody was sad to see it go.

Costco is known for having an affordable and robust selection of alcohol, and its Kirkland Signature brand has been a popular choice for adult beverages since 1995. When Costco tried to jump on the beer bandwagon, fans weren't having it. Its light beer just didn't deliver. Customers hated the taste, and consumers were harsh, to say the least. Reviewers on RateBeer.com used words like "awful," "stinks," and "rubber smell, a bit like a garbage disposal" to describe their beer-drinking experience. Even the low price (about $.50/can) couldn't save it from the disdain of beer aficionados and budget drinkers alike. Suffice it to say, no one was sad to see it go. Costco discontinued the beer in 2018.

It's unclear, yet again, why Costco stopped selling its Kirkland Signature turkey burgers, but they were discontinued in 2018. This bag of frozen turkey burgers could be found in the frozen aisle. Costco's turkey burger patties weighed in at ⅓ of a pound and had just 200 calories per burger. They also clocked in at 35 grams of protein, making these a perfect choice for anyone on a low-carb, high-protein diet. It's easy to understand why they were so popular, and people were sad to see them go.

For reasons we'll never know, Costco pulled the turkey burger patties from the shelves. Disappointed fans started a petition (of course), but Costco has not responded to their pleas for more turkey burgers. If you're missing the turkey burgers, you can still buy ground turkey from Costco with which you can make your own turkey burger, being sure to avoid any mistakes along the way.

Costco says it's dedicated to sustainability, which includes sourcing foods responsibly from both land and sea. In 2011, Costco stopped selling endangered fish or fish at risk of being overfished. These include Atlantic cod, bluefin tuna, Atlantic halibut, swordfish, and shark, to name just a few (initially, the company pulled seven types of fish from the shelves before expanding to 12). Costco promised that it would not resume sales of those fish unless certified sustainable by the Marine Stewardship Council, an organization dedicated to sustainable fishing.

So, where does Costco get its seafood from? Costco gets its seafood from wild fisheries or farmed aquaculture (aquaculture is the breeding, raising, and harvesting of seafood). You can check out the label on your next Costco seafood purchase for more information – many of its oceanic offerings will state if they were caught in the wild or sustainably farmed.

As times change, so do the collective tastes of our society. It seems that millennials aren't huge fans of American cheese, and that, along with other factors, may have trickled down to the dairy aisles in Costco as it pulled the Kirkland Signature American cheese slices from its shelves in 2019. While America may be eating (slightly) less American cheese than we used to, some customers were deeply disappointed by the removal of this longstanding product.

The Kirkland Signature package of American cheese came with 120 slices. Consumers loved that the slices were unwrapped and staggered, making it easy to grab a slice when needed. The lack of individual wrapping also made this a less wasteful option when compared to other brands. Costco didn't strip us entirely of our American cheese, though. Today, you can find Kraft brand American cheese at Costco for all your American cheese needs.

The food court at Costco is known for its inexpensive hotdogs, generous pizza slices, and sweet treats. One sweet treat Costco used to provide that we won't be getting back is the cinnamon sugar pretzel. Today, Costco customers reminisce about the good old days, when you could walk away from the food court with a hot, chewy pretzel doused in cinnamon sugar and butter.

It's unclear exactly when the cinnamon sugar pretzel was available, but Reddit users seem to agree it's been at least a decade and maybe even as long as 20 years since the cinnamon sugar pretzel graced the Costco food court. Although no one can say why they were discontinued, cutting them could have been based on a laborious preparation process if the pretzels were made in-house. However, it was likely due to a lack of sales and Costco's push for healthier menu items. That said, the pretzels were replaced with the churro.

The churro may have replaced the pretzel at Costco, but if we've learned anything, nothing lasts forever in Costco land. In 2024, the long-enduring churro was replaced by a chocolate chip cookie. The churro had seen a few variations and price points over the year. It originally appeared in a traditional churro shape — a long ridged cylinder of fried dough coated in sugar. This version of the churro was just a dollar. It got a new look in 2021 when Costco introduced a twisted churro that rang up at $1.49.

Costco's not sharing why the churro was replaced, but some customers think they never quite returned to their original glory after the revamp. Customers complained that they were stale, and the quality went downhill with the new version. The chocolate chip cookie has filled the space the churro left behind. The cookie, which is quite large, has more calories than a slice of Costco's pepperoni pizza – and costs more, too, at $2.49.

It's been over a decade, but fans still lament the removal of Costco's chocolate dipped ice cream bar from the menu in 2013. Dipped in chocolate and rolled in toasted almonds, the ice cream bar cost just $1.50 and was guaranteed to satisfy the sweet tooth of any ice cream lover. The dipped ice cream bar has become one of Costco's most-missed food court items, with one Reddit customer even saying, "I would gleefully pay $5 for them," which is more than triple their original price.

Costco is always changing up its menu, but the hand-dipped ice cream bar was likely too labor-intensive and expensive to make. It is also thought that rising dairy and almond prices at the time contributed to Costco's decision to pull the ice cream bars from the food court. The good news is ice cream bars are really easy to make at home, and anyone who remembers the glory days of Costco's hand-dipped ice cream bar can easily recreate it at home. Just make sure to toast those almonds first.

Another food court victim of the pandemic was Costco's beloved turkey provolone sandwich. This sandwich consisted of oven-roasted turkey, provolone, basil, garlic aioli, onions, and tomato served hot on a torta roll. The sandwich retailed for $3.99 each, giving shoppers a hearty and affordable lunch option. One Redditor called it "the perfect sandwich to eat at the food court on a rainy day."

Costco has remained silent regarding why the sandwich was discontinued, but employees claim it was hard to make and didn't bring in enough profit to justify the labor. There is also speculation that the ingredients were expensive. However, turkey sandwich lovers can take heart knowing that Costco has rolled out a new turkey sandwich. It might not be the same (the price certainly isn't), but the new sandwich will run you $6.99 and includes brown turkey, Swiss cheese, lettuce, mustard, and a sun-dried tomato spread.

It's possible you never even knew Costco sold a cheeseburger. Available in the food court from 2017 until about 2020, the Costco cheeseburger was introduced in about a dozen stores nationwide before being removed from the menu. The cheeseburger was organic, cost $5, and had been compared to the smash burgers at Shake Shack. The cheeseburger weighed ⅓ pound and included organic beef, cheddar cheese, a tomato, and a tangy sauce. Now that sounds like a tasty burger, right?

It wasn't long before Costco pulled the plug. Not long after being introduced, the burgers were pulled from the trial food courts. This happened in 2020, but it doesn't look like we can blame the pandemic for this one. They appear to have been removed from the food courts in early March of that year — just before the pandemic hit. They likely didn't make it out of the test locations due to poor sales and lackluster reviews. Despite its quick rise and fall, Costco loyalists still wanted to try it.