COSTCO fans are breathing a sigh of relief after company leaders again promised to never raise the price of its iconic hotdog and drink combo.
While many shoppers love Costco for its bargains on bulk purchases, others head there for another reason — the food court.
Costco has been selling a hotdog with toppings and a drink for $1.50 since the combo debuted in 1985.
And Costco’s former CEO said that will not change any time soon.
Former CEO W. Craig Jelinek reiterated the promise at a luncheon in 2018, according to the New York Post.
Jelinek recounted the story of when he last debated the price of the combo as a COO with then-CEO Jim Sinegal.
“I came to [Sinegal] once and I said, ‘Jim, we can’t sell this hot dog for a buck fifty. We are losing our rear ends,’” Jelinek said.
“And he said, ‘If you raise the effing hot dog, I will kill you. Figure it out.’”
Sinegal had reportedly made a promise to his late co-founder Jeffrey Brotman to never raise the price when they started the company.
Brotman’s first business endeavor was operating a hotdog cart in Seattle with his brother in the late 1970s, creating his affinity for the food.
Brotman later founded Costco with Sinegal in 1983.
Maintaining the combo’s price at $1.50 has been a struggle for the company.
With inflation over the last four decades, the cost of the combo should be at least $4.25, financial analysts at The Motley Fool estimate.
To make up for some of the loss, the company built its own hotdog production factories in Los Angeles and Chicago to avoid paying more for third-party weiners.
The factories were a game changer, Jelinek said.
The company had “enough money to get a fair return,” after the plants were functioning, he said.
Jelinek was questioned again about the hot dog combo price tag during a July 2022 interview on CNBC — and he again promised to keep the $1.50 price tag.
Jelinek retired as CEO in 2023 and Ron Vachris assumed the role.
Although Vachris hasn’t commented on the hotdogs, other Costco leaders have repeated the price guarantees in the past.
“We really don’t look at it that way,” Costco’s then-CFO Richard Galanti said in 2022 referring to the profit loss of the hotdog combo.
“Some businesses that are doing well with margin… those things help us be more aggressive in other areas, or, as you mentioned, hold the price on the hot dog and the soda a little longer — forever.”
And fans cannot get enough of the killer combo.
One man survived off hotdogs and soft drinks from Costco for a week for just $43 to try to save money as chronicled on TikTok.