COSTCO shoppers have claimed a fan-favorite item shrunk, and they can prove it.
Several have allegedly conducted a fool-proof test that confirmed the warehouse retailer’s famous rotisserie chicken is smaller.
Rotisserie chicken at Costco is offered for $4.99 and has been since around 2009.
Even despite inflation rates, the rotisserie chicken price has stayed the same for years.
For the most part, the first time things changed for the rotisserie chicken was earlier this spring.
Costco went from selling the item in a clear hard plastic encasing with a black bottom to zippered bags at many stores, causing controversy.
The move was to reduce plastic usage, with each bag taking away at least 75% of the plastic it used to use per product.
Not only that, but Costco said it would reduce about 4,000 metric tons of carbon emissions annually and promised that there was still the “same product quality” despite the packaging adjustment.
Still, members are starting to question the same-ness promise from the retailer this summer, claiming the move to bags allowed Costco to quietly reduce the rotisserie chicken’s size.
“I feel that recently the rotisserie chickens are now smaller,” a customer wrote in a Reddit thread recently.
SHOCKING RESULT
They explained that they used to be able to tell the size by how close the chicken was to touching the outer shell of the old packaging.
After their local Costco switched to bags, they kept the old shell packaging and put the bagged rotisserie chicken inside to see if it matched up visually with what they’re used to.
It was a sort of “container test” that several members have seemingly conducted on their own.
“It is definitely not as filled as before,” they claimed.
“Does anyone else notice this?”
Several Costco members responded with similar suspicions.
A Little History
Here's what Aurielle Weiss, Assistant Consumer Editor with The U.S. Sun, has to say...
Costco has been selling rotisserie chickens since around 2000.
Starting in 2009, the warehouse retailer started selling them for $4.99, despite rising inflation.
In fact, Costco cut its costs by opening a poultry processing plant in Nebraska in 2019 to raise its chickens.
According to experts David and Susan Schwartz, the company only allows the chickens to sit on display for two hours.
After two hours, employees remove the chickens from shelves and use them in other dishes like soups and salads.
The experts also claim to grab the chickens once you hear the ring of a bell.
The bell lets employees know that a fresh batch of chickens is ready to be sold.
While the $5 item remains a staple for many, the company’s decision to change its packaging bothered some members.
The chickens used to come in a clear plastic encasing with a black plastic bottom.
They now come in bags with a zipper and contain 75% less plastic.
NOT ALONE
“They are definitely smaller,” someone else replied.
The second member also argued that “it does not fill my container like it used to.”
Another member claimed they found a weight difference of nearly two pounds between the rotisserie chicken in the old shell packaging and the new bags.
The U.S. Sun has contacted Costco for an official comment.
Costco members also claimed that a fall dessert brought back this month at $5.99 also “changed.”
Others raged over a new “escort policy” implemented at some locations.