7 Costco Kirkland Items Shoppers Say Have Gone Downhill
Costco doesn't always abide by the "if it isn't broken, don't fix it" philosophy—the giant warehouse chain often changes the way Kirkland Signature items are made, and not for the better. From food, meat, produce, to basic household items, many Costco members believe the quality of certain beloved products has gone drastically downhill, to the point where they simply refuse to ever buy it again. In some cases it's simply down to a change of manufacturer, but in others it's all about value for money. Here are 7 Kirkland items shoppers swear have been changed for the worst.
Orange Juice
Costco shoppers swear the orange juice just doesn't taste the same as it used to. "I have been buying Kirkland OJ for many years, there is normally some small variation since the product uses only orange juice, but now it has an additional strange taste, a sort of liquorice flavor that is very strong. The flavor is VERY different now…it tastes like Tropicana calcium fortified oj. I was always impressed with the fresh squeezed taste, high quality flavor of Kirkland oj, but now it's BAD," one person commented on Reddit.
Toilet Paper
The Kirkland Signature brand toilet paper had deteriorated in quality and now has the texture of "dust", some Costco members say. "I just won't buy the product again. We've given up on Kirkland toilet paper and get the more expensive Charmin now, I'd be too embarrassed to wait in line to exchange my poor quality tp," one person commented.
Disposable Wipes
The quality of Kirkland Signature disposable wipes has noticeably dropped, shoppers say. "Bought the Kirkland disposable wipes last week instead of the Cottonelle disposable wipes. They are garbage. Basically disintegrate out the container. Super thin. Much worse quality than non-generic (I bought Kirkland brand before and they were much better than whoever the new manufacturer is)," one unhappy shopper posted on Reddit.
Raw meat
Some Costco members say the Kirkland brand raw meat is often bad right when the pack is opened. "I've had a problem with their meat too, for the first time in my life as far as I can remember I had to return a raw meat product to Costco because upon opening the package it smelled rotten," one customer said. "Same here. It was never a problem until recently. Higher-quality, never-rotten meat is one of the reasons I switched from Sam's club to Costco about 7 years ago," another agreed.
Diapers
Kirkland diapers aren't what they used to be since switching from the Huggies manufacturer to the Cuties manufacturer, members say. "Around a year ago the Kirkland diapers changed. They don't re-seal as well as the old ones. I don't need to remove and then re-seal them often though," one customer said.
Eggs
Some shoppers think the Kirkland eggs have gone down quality-wise. "I am a former employee, and have been a member for 25 years and the quality of many things have gone down, everything from a simple white tee shirt to their paper products and produce which is sometimes spoiled while it's still on the shelves in the refrigerator area. Their chicken breasts and eggs also went down in quality," one Redditor commented. "Agree on the eggs. I buy Eggland's Best at the grocery store because they taste better. The Kirkland eggs taste flavorless," another agreed.
Fruits and Vegetables
Costco shoppers are convinced the produce quality is much worse now. "I get we are out of season, but grocery/produce/fruit items seem way worse than they used to be. Everything goes bad so much faster," one Redditor said. "They used to be consistently great for me but have been much worse lately. I know produce at a lot of stores has been weak lately because of various issues but a lot of the nicer grocery stores in my area still have consistently fresh produce. I think Costco could source better stuff if they wanted to try," another agreed.
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