The labels might read "Kirkland" but the companies behind Costco's name brand might be even more well-known. Here's who makes your favorite Costco products.
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00:00The labels might read Kirkland, but the companies behind Costco's name brand might be even more
00:05well-known. Here's who makes your favorite Costco products.
00:10Why would Starbucks, the world's best-selling fast food coffee chain in 2021, willingly
00:15subsidize several of Costco's generic bags of whole bean coffee, including the Kirkland
00:20Signature House Blend medium roast? We're not entirely sure. It's not as though Starbucks
00:25branded products aren't available at Costco or sold right alongside the cheaper Kirkland
00:29Signature products. Then again, perhaps it simply comes down to the idea that any potential
00:34profit outweighs the complete absence of sales. After all, it seems fair to assume Costco
00:39could provide a Kirkland coffee product if Starbucks didn't assist in its production.
00:44And since the coffee conglomerate can almost certainly afford the additional manufacturing
00:48costs of producing the Kirkland brand coffee, it's actually fairly obvious how selling
00:53both Kirkland and its own products at Costco is advantageous to its own singular offering.
00:59You know, this is, excuse me, a damn fine cup of coffee.
01:05As Green Mountain told Reuters in 2012, the decision to partner with Costco on the production
01:10of two of its generic Kirkland brand K-Cups, like the 120-count Breakfast Blend K-Cup box,
01:16was driven by a desire to create more options for value-oriented consumers. But facing an
01:22increasingly crowded K-Cup market at the time, the need to help its own bottom line
01:26clearly played a factor as well. Since the coffee company found its stock shares boosted
01:31by 9% in the immediate aftermath of the announced deal with Costco, it's no wonder the partnership
01:36continues more than a decade later. Some may choose whole bean brewed coffee, but if you
01:41love K-Cups, save yourself some cash with the Kirkland brand.
01:46The general origins of an alcoholic beverage, or the type of liquor used therein, may not
01:50matter if your only mission is getting drunk. Of course, if your main concern is obtaining
01:55a cheap drink, consider Costco. After all, many Kirkland brand liquors offer the chance
02:00to imbibe severely discounted alcohol, all while obtaining a surprisingly top-shelf product
02:05in the process. This includes Kirkland Signature Blended Scotch, which is actually made and
02:10bottled by the distillery Alexander Murray & Co.
02:13Now, unless you're hip to each of the more than 140 Scotch distilleries in operation
02:18in 2023, you may not realize the caliber of Scotch produced by Alexander Murray. Named
02:24for the uncle of founder Stephen Lipp, Alexander Murray & Co. has been the source of Kirkland
02:28Signature Scotch since 2007, and after more than 15 years, it seems unlikely the collaboration
02:35will end anytime soon.
02:37Of all the generic food items we've purchased and sampled through the years, the most consistently
02:42decent product across the board was canned tuna. In that sense, we wouldn't expect anything
02:47less than excellence when it comes to Kirkland Signature tuna products, and that was before
02:51we learned Kirkland's solid white albacore canned tuna is made by Bumble Bee Seafoods.
02:56Now, while the general rule of thumb dictates that any Kirkland Signature product will be
03:00cheaper than its name brand counterpart, that hasn't always been the case when it comes
03:05to solid white albacore canned tuna. In fact, in 2003, Bumble Bee's solid white albacore
03:11canned tuna somehow cost 9 cents less per can than Kirkland Signature.
03:18As you've likely noticed, a fairly wide variety of Kirkland brand products across the food
03:21and drink spectrum are made by top-notch companies, but few food or beverage categories are more
03:26stellar in more ways than Kirkland Signature alcohol products. This includes Kirkland brand
03:31tequila, which isn't made in some random Costco warehouse. Rather, it's made by the Tessistan
03:37Mexico-based corporate distillery Santa Lucia.
03:40While Costco isn't ostensibly forthcoming with its tequila's places of origin, it's
03:45actually fairly simple to determine where any Mexican-made tequila came from. After
03:49all, as dictated by the Mexican government, each and every bottle of tequila must feature
03:54a NOM, a four-digit ID code that alerts consumers which distillery produced the liquor in question.
04:01We can't say we always comprehend the logic behind certain companies agreeing to manufacture
04:06Kirkland Signature products. Additionally, since we clearly aren't privy to the structure
04:10of these corporate deals, or precisely how Costco makes it financially worthwhile, it's
04:15likely more profitable than we're imagining. In other words, it shouldn't take a financial
04:20wizard to understand why Blommer Chocolate Company has provided the chocolate for certain
04:24Kirkland Signature products since at least 2013.
04:27Now, we can't say with complete certainty which Kirkland Signature chocolate products
04:32are made with or feature Blommer chocolate, but based on the October 2013 edition of the
04:37Costco Connection newsletter, it seems Blommer is the likely chocolate found in Kirkland
04:42chocolate-covered almonds, chocolate-covered raisins, and macadamia clusters, among others.
04:47More than anything, Blommer's commitment to impeccable quality and customer satisfaction
04:52seems to make it a perfect match for Costco's Kirkland brand. Of course, being a rich, decadent
04:57chocolate doesn't hurt its cause either.
05:00Now, we do have to wonder whether there's ever a need to purchase or eat jelly beans
05:10outside of the brief Easter-time window each spring. Frankly, even during that different
05:15each-year holiday season, it's tough to justify spending our hard-earned pay on what we've
05:20generally found to be a lackluster candy. Hot takes aside, if there's one food group
05:25that calls for the premium, name-brand option in almost every situation, it's candy. So
05:30if you're determined to obtain a jar of Jelly Belly jelly beans but want to pay generic-level
05:35prices, take a trip to Costco.
05:37It can be tricky purchasing generic meat, particularly depending on the store. Of course,
05:42while some chains have a plethora of skippable generic items, Costco doesn't offer many subpar
05:48products in any capacity. That includes their farm-raised frozen shrimp, though that may
05:52be in part because it's produced by cater exports. Actually, considering the verifying
05:58source for this name-brand masquerading-behind-Kirkland product is an FDA recall notice from August
06:032020, perhaps we should be a bit more cautious the next time we purchase a bag of generic
06:08frozen shrimp from Costco. Then again, while the salmonella risk is unquestionably cause
06:13for alarm, it's a fairly standard food-based concern, and it doesn't seem like anyone became
06:18ill, mildly or otherwise, as a result of the potentially contaminated products. So
06:24we feel fairly at ease about the general safety of Kirkland's farm-raised frozen shrimp products,
06:29and perhaps you should too.
06:32Sometimes we're wholly uninterested in purchasing the name-brand version of a product. Mainly,
06:36those items where the difference between brands tend to be negligible, and the rationale for
06:40paying a premium is entirely moot. Take food service or aluminum foil. In our experience,
06:47no kitchen item better encapsulates the idea of all brands are equal, like food service
06:51foil. So if there's an avenue to obtain the so-called superior, at least in name, version
06:57of a product, we're immensely appreciative, as in the case of Kirkland Signature Reynolds
07:01Food Service Foil, which is made by, you guessed it, Reynolds Brands. In fact, you may already
07:07be aware, and take advantage, of the generic Kirkland price for this Reynolds-made product.
07:13But if you've been paying an extra couple bucks to get yourself Reynolds Brands foil
07:16through the years, do yourself a favor. Reach for the Kirkland Signature Reynolds Food Service
07:21Foil. Your wallet will thank you for the switch.
07:24In some ways, we'd have to imagine a non-US-based company has more incentive to partner with
07:29Costco and slyly produce a Kirkland-brand product than a domestic one might. After all,
07:35the logistical challenges of exporting foods into the US are daunting enough on their own.
07:40Any opportunity to ease the transition into American markets, then, may be welcomed with
07:45open arms. In that vein, it's no surprise the France-based Isigny Saint-Mère produces
07:51Kirkland Signature imported French brie for Costco. With more than 120 million members
07:56worldwide, there's no shortage of potential new and recurring customers for Isigny Saint-Mère
08:01to obtain through its Kirkland Signature production. Additionally, the fact the French dairy cooperative
08:06doesn't have to compromise on any brand credit when its brie is sold under the Kirkland name
08:11only further illustrates the appeal. The company's logo is square in the middle of every circular
08:16package, after all. As for consumers, you never know when you'll be able to indulge
08:21in the unparalleled creaminess of brie cheese, let alone an authentically imported variety.
08:26So we can't deny it's nice having Kirkland's imported brie as a standard, affordable option
08:31to turn to.
08:33Not unlike our initial confusion surrounding Starbucks' decision to partner with Costco,
08:37it wasn't quite clear why Ocean Spray would want to supply the wholesale store's line
08:41of generic cranberry juice. But in all honesty, one look at the Kirkland Signature Ocean Spray
08:46cranberry juice label seems to tell the entire story. After all, while the Kirkland Signature
08:51logo is plainly visible on the bottle along the top edge, by and large, the overall design
08:57of Costco's generic brand is eerily reminiscent of a regular old bottle of Ocean Spray. Still,
09:03it doesn't really matter whether the Kirkland brand cranberry juice design is too similar
09:06to the original name brand. Because if Ocean Spray, Costco, and its consumers are happy,
09:12then who are we to make a fuss?
09:14Who actually makes Kirkland wine is a question many consumers have found themselves asking
09:18through the years. Of course, while some speculation is bound to lead nowhere, other hunches are
09:24right on point. This includes the presumptive origin of Kirkland's Signature Marlboro Sauvignon
09:28Blanc, which, according to Reverse Wine Snob, is produced by the New Zealand-based Tye Point.
09:34Now, if you remain unconvinced about the vineyard of origin for the generic Marlboro
09:39Sauvignon Blanc from Costco, consider the eye test. In other words, take a long look
09:44at the logo on the Kirkland Signature bottle of the white wine, then compare it to the
09:48logo on Tye Point's own Sauvignon Blanc. Does the plus sign and oval illustration being
09:53replicated on both bottles definitively prove Tye Point produces Kirkland's similar white
09:58wine? Maybe not. But we see no reason to dismiss the notion and, frankly, wholeheartedly accept
10:04that the name brand vineyard is behind Costco's popular Kirkland product.
10:09While numerous Kirkland Signature items proudly wear the successful company producing it on
10:13its label, others only revealed themselves through less-than-ideal circumstances. This
10:18includes Townsend Farms, the company responsible for supplying the fruit for Kirkland Signature
10:23Three Berry Blend, a fact only confirmed after a recall was issued by the FDA in 2019. Now,
10:30while any FDA recall gives us pause, we were particularly shaken to see the 2019 Townsend
10:35Farms recall was due to a possible hepatitis A contamination. Unfortunately, this wasn't
10:41a new experience for the berry brand. Frankly, this makes it tough to be particularly enthused
10:46about purchasing a generic bag of berries from Costco, even several years later.
10:51What do we do with that information?
10:53What do you do with any information? You just stuff it deep down inside and keep an eye
10:56on it.
10:57Everyone deserves a second chance, of course. But the disturbing nature of the Townsend
11:01Farms 2019 FDA recall haunts us. So, while we never considered ditching Costco entirely,
11:07we can't say we'll reach for a bag of Kirkland or Townsend Farms Three Berry Blend anytime
11:12soon.
11:14While Kirkland Signature batteries don't come right out and say they're manufactured by
11:17Duracell, Costco's CEO Craig Jelinek did, telling WSB-TV as much in 2016. Jelinek was
11:24somewhat forthcoming with the fact Duracell makes Kirkland batteries, but he was also
11:28quick to note Costco didn't advertise the batteries, it's just a brand. This allows
11:33the chain to control its overhead costs battery-wise, keeping the price low while concurrently increasing
11:38the profitability of each package of batteries.
11:41The idea is to create greater value for our members and they'll buy more.
11:46Frankly, it always helps to have batteries on hand at one's house. After all, you never
11:51know when you'll lose power. And with Kirkland Signature batteries, you can ensure you'll
11:55have plenty of high-quality, long-lasting batteries if the need arises.