Costco Shoppers Are Furious Over A Major Change To A Popular Holiday Sweet Treat
That infamous practice known as "shrinkflation" has seemingly struck again. This time, a customer holiday favorite from Costco has seemingly taken the hit: Kirkland Signature Peppermint Bark.
Users across social media are furiously claiming that Costco's beloved chocolatey, minty treat is definitely not as good as it once was. Specifically, complaints are mounting that the popular holiday bark is much thinner and less substantial than it used to be. And, at $15 per pack, which some claim is up $5 from previous years, shoppers aren't happy about the alleged quality cut.
Photos of the peppermint bark from past years do indicate a difference, with previous package labeling showing 2-pound containers, whereas the currently available packages for the 2024 holiday season are labeled as being 1.5 pounds. The pieces of bark visible inside older images also appear significantly thicker than the pieces shown more recently, which were easier to snap in half.
What may have caused the increase in price and decrease in quality?
While customers aren't happy about the change, one person claiming to be a Costco bakery employee offered an explanation: "It's the exact same bark as years previous but the reason it's so expensive this year is because the price of cocoa is crazy high!" they wrote in a TikTok comment. Global cocoa prices are, in fact, on the rise, with The International Cocoa Organization reporting a nearly 50% percent increase in just the last few months. So, although it poses an annoyance to shoppers, Costco does have reason to raise the price of its Kirkland Signature Peppermint Bark — and any other cocoa products it may carry.
This isn't the first time Costco has come under fire for reducing the quality or size of its products. Complaints have previously arisen that the company's croissants have decreased in size, along with its toilet paper, Kirkland brand salsa, and other merchandise.
Reduced product size alongside un-reduced or even inflated prices is nothing new, and consumers are never happy about it. Social media has recently clamored that the famed rolls from Texas Roadhouse are under suspicion of having been downsized. Alarm has also been raised over soda cans increasingly getting smaller, though in that case, the taller, slimmer cans still reportedly contain the same amount of beverage. Folks also swear many favorite products simply don't taste as good as they used to.