What Company Is Behind Costco's Kirkland Brand Water Bottles?

Costco's Kirkland Signature brand is a favorite among members because with it you'll find high-quality brand name products with huge Costco savings. The retail chain doesn't actually produce its Kirkland products but outsources them to existing brands — offering shoppers great deals and producers an extra revenue stream while still retaining brand names for proprietary use. And bottled water is a huge seller for Costco. In the book, "The Joy of Costco," David and Susan Schwartz reported that, in 2022, Costco took in $730 million in bottled water sales, following only toilet paper and paper towels in revenue.

So where does all this Kirkland bottled water come from? Kirkland Signature bottled water is produced by Niagara Bottling in California. Niagara has been a family-run business since 1963, with production facilities located throughout the U.S. In addition to its own proprietary brands, Niagara is a private label bottler, meaning it produces for many other companies beyond Costco. It produces purified water, spring water, sparkling water, vitamin enhanced water, and teas, among other offerings. While the company doesn't share information about its outsourcing clients, it is one of the largest private label bottled water providers in the U.S., so if you drink bottled water, you've likely tried Niagara.

Behind many Kirkland brand products, there's often quite a lot of speculation. Among the most sought-after products in the Kirkland Signature brand universe are the premium wines and spirits. A popular legend in recent years was that Grey Goose produced Kirkland's French vodka, but this was recently debunked, with the actual product coming France's Distillerie de Gayant. Another French favorite, Costco's Kirkland Brut Champagne, isn't just a sparkling wine, but a truly authentic Champagne — coming from Manuel Janisson in Verzenay, France. And while the scotch is made in Scotland by Alexander Murray & Co., and the tequila in Mexico by Corporativo Destileria Santa Lucia, Kirkland Signature London Dry Gin is actually produced in the U.S. by Tennessee Distilling.

Some products, like Kirkland toilet paper, are produced by huge multi-national corporations, such as Georgia-Pacific and Sofidel. While others are made by small, local co-ops, like Kirkland Signature Vanilla Ice Cream from Humboldt Creamery in California. Much of the coffee comes from Starbucks and Green Mountain; its albacore tuna comes from Bumblebee; diapers are made by Kimberly-Clark, the parent company of Huggies; and Kirkland Aluminum Foil is produced by Reynolds. As you can see, with Kirkland Signature you're often getting a premium product at discounted Costco prices — it just takes a little detective work to find it out.