Costco Shoppers Are Reporting a Major Quality Issue With a Popular Bacon
Many of the products that Costco sells under its flagship house brand, Kirkland Signature, are beloved among shoppers for their value and quality. Look no further than the widely praised, always affordable $4.99 Kirkland Signature Rotisserie Chicken, or the Kirkland Signature Breakfast Sandwiches that have been garnering buzz ever since they hit shelves in the fall of 2023. However, shoppers have been reporting lately that one staple Kirkland Signature item hasn't been living up to the standards of the popular private-label brand overall.
The item at the center of these reports is the Kirkland Signature Bacon (90 calories per serving), which is hickory-smoked and sold in packs of four that weigh one pound each. A Costco customer took to Reddit this week to complain that the product just isn't as good as it used to be.
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"Has anyone else noticed the quality of the bacon getting really bad the last few years? I am noticing inconsistent slicing, too much fat, some slices are even paper thin!" the customer wrote.
As it turns out, scores of other shoppers have noticed similar issues with the item. The post has received dozens of comments from other Redditors, many of whom also complained about the declining quality of the breakfast offering.
"The fat content is ridiculous. You can't even separate them sometimes because the fat just sticks and then [separates] onto the other piece. There is next to no meat just fat," one Redditor wrote.
"So glad I'm not the only one. I thought I was going crazy. The last two packs I bought were ridiculously fatty. I resorted to placing them on a rack and sheet in the oven to render some of it off," another commented.
Others complained that the flavor of the bacon was inconsistent, or that they've purchased packs where some of the bacon was sliced super thick and the rest was sliced extremely thin, resulting in uneven cooking. Many said that they began noticing the quality issues during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the problems have remained so persistent that they've stopped buying the product altogether.
"We quit buying it about 6 months ago because the quality was horrible! It started during COVID and just got worse," a shopper lamented.
"Agree! I stopped buying it several months ago, really went downhill fast," another wrote.
Fortunately, several shoppers said that another bacon sold at Costco—the Kirkland Signature Thick Sliced Bacon (70 calories per serving)—tends to be better and more consistent in quality. Still, they advised shoppers to carefully inspect packages before buying them because even the extra-thick bacon can sometimes be overly fatty.
Costco did not immediately respond to our queries for comment on the Kirkland Signature Bacon complaints.