In a continuing series from the Costco Packaging Guys, let's have some fun with a few amazing pieces of Costco trivia. This edition focuses on Costco food facts and of course there is always a tie-in with packaging.
The food highlighted below is big part of why Costco's 99 million global members have an almost 90% renewal rate every year. Rotisserie chicken, hot dogs and pizza are serious business at Costco and there is a reason why rotisserie chicken is located in the very back of each warehouse.
Rotisserie chicken
$4.99 selling price hasn't changed since 2009.
Over 91 million rotisserie chickens are reported to be sold annually by Costco.
In Oct 2019, Costco opened their own $450 million poultry complex in Fremont, Nebraska in an effort to reduce costs and ensure supply.
Once fully operational the Costco complex will process 100 million chickens per year which is 40% of Costco's annual chicken needs.
The National Chicken Council predicts the average American will eat 100.5 lbs of chicken in 2020 which is up from 96.2 lbs in 2019.
Hot dogs
$1.50 price for a hot dog and soda hasn't changed since 1985.
On average, Costco sells 100 million hot dogs annually which is more than 4 times the number sold in every MLB stadium combined.
In 2009 Costco moved manufacturing in-house and produces hot dogs in Los Angeles and Chicago.
In North America hot dogs are 100% beef although in Japan and Taiwan they are 100% pork.
Pizza
$9.95 price for an 18" whole pie hasn't changed since 1989.
With over 500 locations, Costco is the 14th largest pizza chain in the US.
At each warehouse, 1.5 lbs of cheese is applied by hand although there is an impressive amount of engineering and automation applied to the dough forming and sauce application. Check it out on YouTube.
In Taiwan, Costco sells a pizza topped with seafood.
4 billion pizzas (including 1 billion frozen) are sold in the US annually. It's no wonder that 93% of Americans have eaten pizza in the last month.
How does this apply to packaging design:
After your customers stop at the Costco Food Court to fuel up before a big warehouse shopping trip, make sure your pallets are recognizable and communicative to get those customers to see, stop and touch your product. Remember, the Costco 5x5 rule is critical for success since your pallet display IS your salesperson.
It's a long walk back to the Rotisserie Chickens!!
Until next time.
Cheers,
TCPG