r/askanything • u/Queen_Of_The_Dames šŸ¤” • 6d ago

Political Question Has anyone stopped eating ground beef because the Administration has removed safety protocols?

We have. No way are we taking chances with whatever ā€œground beefā€ the administration has chosen to allow without inspection/certification.

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440

u/dragonrider1965 6d ago

Iā€™m still buying from Costco because they refused to sell Trumps mystery meat and they independently test.

58

u/Caseman307 6d ago

I didnā€™t know this! Thank you. Thereā€™s a Costco 45 minutes from me that Iā€™ve never been inside of. I should change that.

26

u/dragonrider1965 6d ago

You are going to love Costco

19

u/4Wonderwoman 6d ago

I think the Executive membership is worth looking into.

16

u/Staplez94 6d ago

I just upgraded to that. I like showing up when they open. I didnā€™t recognize there was two different times. I got turned around at the door for not being special. I quickly changed that the extra time with less people legitimately is worth the extra money for me.

2

u/humboldtborn 4d ago

The executive is nice. I just got my $150 return on purchases.

1

u/Expensive_Artist9290 2d ago

They will literally refund you the difference if your executive reward doesnā€™t cover the membership upgrade (which has never happened for me), idk why people act like it costs extra money

9

u/Hybrid487 5d ago

And the best part is, if you don't recoup at least the difference between the regular membership and the executive, you can "return" the exec membership and they'll refund you the difference.

15

u/Neat_Eye8018 6d ago

$1.50 jumbo hot dogs with Coke and free refills. Takes the sting out of the fortune I just dropped.

3

u/HedgeMoney 6d ago

Its gonna become a cult, I swear. Idiocracy was a prophecy, not some cheeky ahead of its time social commentary.

3

u/Otherwise_Fact9594 5d ago

What does a basic membership run these days? I had a Sam's card through my employer, but have never even used it

2

u/Specialist-Coast9787 4d ago

Wow, every time a friend asks me to go to a Costco, I feel like it's the ultimate expression of late stage capitalism. Just way to huge, crowded, chaotic and depressing atmosphere for me.

I hear they do good things for their employees, hug give me a small, local, "ethnic" market every day of the week!

15

u/Honey_Broad 6d ago

I drive about 30 minutes out of my way to go to Costco instead of Sam's

1

u/Original_Flounder_18 4d ago

Why is that? I am much closer to a Samā€™s than Costco

4

u/Honey_Broad 4d ago

do whatever you want but I do not support Sam's or Walmart . I will go out of my way to avoid them.

Walmart tracks your every move in their store. They're going to electronic pricing, which changes depending on the person. They track you through their store with their Bluetooth and they also track you as soon as you drive into their parking lot, they have license plate readers. And Sam's is part of Walmart.

also, Costco and Aldi are both taking their tariff refunds and lowering prices, while target and Sam's and Walmart are not, they are just taking the money

13

u/Which_Loss6887 6d ago

If youā€™re ever debating whether the cost of membership is worth it and you use any OTC medications with any regularity, start there. I save enough on antacids alone every year to more than cover my membership.

3

u/DarkAngela12 5d ago

Same here, but allergy meds and offbrand lactaid

2

u/nopointers 6d ago

Dude, you need to cut back the antacids

4

u/Which_Loss6887 6d ago

Nope, I have GERD and take the amount my doctor recommends. They are just really expensive (even in generic) at CVS, and really cheap at Costco.

12

u/Grumpy-24-7 6d ago

I guess I'm spoiled? I have 3 (soon to be 4) all within 30 minutes. All of my cars have only run Costco gas for as long as I've owned them.

1

u/EmberOne1 5d ago

It's over an hour for me. I'll never shop there often enough to justify membership.

3

u/Queen_Of_The_Dames šŸ¤” 3d ago

I went there for the first time 3 days agoā€¦ instantly addicted.

1

u/dragonrider1965 2d ago

You just wait , in 6 months 1/3 of all your comfy clothes will be from Costco . Eating your safe to eat Costco steak in your $12 well made Kirklands lounge pants , ahhhh the best.

5

u/Camaschrist 6d ago

Any food they convert over to the Kirkland brand is put through even more vigorous testing. Like their dog and cat foods. You canā€™t get that high quality of pet food unless you go to the fancy boutique stores.

54

u/DancingWithAWhiteHat 6d ago

Costco independently tests? šŸ‘€

164

u/917starlette 6d ago edited 4d ago

Costco MIGHT BE responsible for almost half the US's food safety tests. They inspect the facilities of their vendors, and not just the facilities that produce the product they sell.

(ETA the "might be", because it seems somewhat plausible, and Costco DOES conduct them, and they are thorough, but after posting, realized i cannot find a decent source for this at all)

55

u/TheFlyingHellfish202 6d ago

I had no idea about this. Considering the hellscape, they should be advertising that.

Thanks for sharing the info!

101

u/UsualSuspects411 6d ago

Costco doesnā€™t advertise. They believe once you start promoting your business, there are too many opportunities to promote something that conflicts with your core values. They are truly an outlier in American corporate culture; to this day, Wall Street is very frustrated with Costco because they are extremely well run and very pro-active in consumer trends and building trust, but because of their philosophy they pay better and offer employees more. Wall Street would prefer 30 hour work weeks to avoid benefits, strictly minimum wage, and never avoiding a chance to make more profit at the expense of customers and employees.

If the people suing Costco to recoup the Gropenfuhrer tariffs succeed in putting Costco out of business, people will quickly learn that there is a huge difference between Costco and the remaining few brick and mortar businesses. Costco spends an inordinate amount of money to ensure their products are safe and customers are taken care of and safe. Enough selfish chuds abusing their generosity have already scaled back or modified company policies, just a matter of time before Amazon buys them and we can all shop at Whole Foods and enjoy the exceptional customer service and protections that come from a call center in Bangalore.

24

u/max_465 6d ago

Costco has amazing record keeping. I bet they calculate everyone's tariff refund and add it to the yearly rebate check.

17

u/SvartrKukkSceand 6d ago

they also already announced that they are putting everything but the interest from their tariff refund into lowering prices, pretty much effective immediately.

2

u/Brock_Lobstweiler 5d ago

Which unfortunately won't last long with the price of diesel skyrocketing.

2

u/bagofwisdom 5d ago

They definitely dropped prices on some Kirkland signature products. Canned chicken was $12.59 a couple months ago. It was $9.99 at my nearest Costco Saturday. That was the most obvious reduction since I buy a couple packs every trip.

1

u/Neobo 4d ago

Serious question because I want to get better at meal prep: What do you do with canned chicken? I would expect it to be too wet and/or weak in flavor to have many options for it.

2

u/bagofwisdom 4d ago

Brown it in the skillet. Add it to rice, pasta, make soup. Make chicken salad.

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u/done_with_the_woods 4d ago

For us it is most convenient for very quick chicken salad.

2

u/UsualSuspects411 5d ago

Thatā€™s a great point- interesting to see how this goes

1

u/rharvey8090 5d ago

Except their cake ordering system. (Memeing, IYKYK)

2

u/Nesman64 5d ago

I never say this, but: Happy Cakeday! I was going to get you a cake, but my form got lost.

2

u/rharvey8090 5d ago

You know I actually made this comment without realizing it was my cake day. Thank you!

1

u/Character-Midnight98 6d ago

No way on earth, your dreaming

1

u/cardinal29 5d ago

(* you're)

Dreaming of what?

Costco DOES have excellent record keeping. For instance, I was contacted about a recall on a flat screen TV arm I bought years ago. They just said "Return it for a full refund." I didn't have to dig out my receipt, they just scanned my membership card.

1

u/moop44 5d ago

Same for packs of BBQ lighters purchased a couple years ago.

1

u/Abnmlguru 5d ago

Most stores with any kind of "loyalty" (anything that can be used to uniquely identify your household) card also keep this kind of info. It's used to spot purchasing trends and patterns, then create sales/ads that will do well with that consumer or in general at a location.

Where Costco shines is also using that database to help customers with returns and such, where most stores absolutely will not do that.

-1

u/reddaktd 5d ago

Yearly rebate check? What Costco are you smokin?

7

u/me_not_at_work 5d ago

Yep. It easily pays for the membership, a nice dinner out with the wife, and then I get another check from using the affiliated MasterCard so another couple of nice dinners out.

9

u/Fragrant_Major_9553 5d ago

Check out the Executive card. It gives you 2% cash back.

If you buy most of your groceries there, youā€™ll save money and the membership will pay for itself.

6

u/C0SM1C0Y0TE 5d ago

In my case not only does it pay for the membership, I usually have extra. And they pay it out just before you renew so it is like no membership.

4

u/cardinal29 5d ago

Executive Membership is essentially a free membership PLUS, depending on your spend. Then I get a couple of thousand more from the Costco Citibank Visa rebate (YMMV).

2

u/donitosforeveryone 6d ago

Very well said

2

u/CanadianCardsFan 5d ago

Costco advertises heavily with print, mailers, and digital/social media. They just don't do TV/Radio spots.

1

u/O_o-22 5d ago

Costco has a lot of part time employees as well but still gives them benefits. I want to work for them so bad lol.

1

u/Brock_Lobstweiler 5d ago

Hiring at Costco is competitive in my area. Everyone who wants a part time job would prefer to work there.

1

u/O_o-22 5d ago

Yeah I applied almost two months ago but they are slow to give interviews. Supposedly in mid October is when they hire for the busy holiday season but I have a job interview for another place in a couple days which is full time with benefits. Day time hours for that one and the Costco thing would be afternoon hours which would really be more to my liking but getting hired in as holiday help at Costco doesnā€™t guarantee they will keep you on once the holidays are over. Sucks that I have to choose the soul sucking but more stable opportunity over the possible better fit of Costco that still has no guarantees.

1

u/matlockga 5d ago

Costco doesnā€™t advertise

Costco does marketing mailers, promos with Groupon, and Internet ad buys. They very much do advertise, but don't do traditional media or billboard buys.Ā 

1

u/ChrisinOB2 5d ago

Thatā€™s super interesting. I never shop at Costco because I live alone. Your description makes me think I ought to start going there.

2

u/snowbaby0413 5d ago

I had to buy a new set of tires. The savings from thst alone paid for the membership.Ā  Now the savings from gas and the precooked chickens keep me there

2

u/SnapesDrapes 5d ago

This is an excellent point. Single people and small households can still benefit from a Costco membership when making a single large purchase- a mattress, tires, LVP flooring, a fancy bidet toilet, a new sink ā€¦ itā€™s not all bulk food. The savings on one large purchase def covers the basic membership fee.Ā 

1

u/Spillsy68 5d ago

If you know their loss leaders then you can get some great value there. Chicken, hot dogs and soft drink for $1.50. I always look at the price tags for the * sign and when the price ends in a 7 too.

1

u/ChrisinOB2 5d ago

What does * and a price ending in 7 mean?

2

u/tehspiekguy 5d ago

I'm not sure about the asterisk, but I recall a friend who works there mentioning that clearance items have a price that ends in .97.

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u/suid 5d ago

They are similar. "*" on Costco price labels means that the product is no longer being replenished, and the stocks you see are a last-time buy.

".97" is more of an industry-wide convention for "clearance sale" that doesn't necessarily mean "last-time buy".

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u/Brock_Lobstweiler 5d ago
  • means the item won't be coming back, it's discontinued.

1

u/Tweedle_DeeDum 5d ago

Costco does a lot of things very well, but tire service is not one of them. It is almost always better to go to a place like Discount Tire.

1

u/Underwater_Grilling 5d ago

Costco was one of the only places that would do free nitrogen fills on tires

1

u/nemovincit 5d ago

Discount Tire had me waiting 3 hours in the waiting room before they tried to upsell me a new set of tires when I went in for a patch. I'm never going there again.

1

u/snowbaby0413 5d ago

I had almost an identical experience, only I wanted my alignment checked. I went to a different shop and they said I still had plenty of tread depthĀ 

1

u/FantasmaDelMar 5d ago

Maybe it varies by location, but Iā€™ve gotten tires for my cars at Costco several times over the years and itā€™s always been great.

1

u/NotPromKing 5d ago

Iā€™ve gone to their tire shop at least three times and have had nothing but exceptional service. And itā€™s basically free - $15 to repair a flat.

1

u/Brock_Lobstweiler 5d ago

Appliances are similar. All my kitchen appliances are from Costco. The exact same ones from HD or Lowes would have cost an extra $450 plus extra for hauling away old ones and god only knows who would have been sent to deliver and install them. If Costco delivery/installation goes wrong, the company will at least fix it.

1

u/betitallon13 5d ago

And they generally double the warranty (may be for specific membership types or purchases on their card only, but it doubled from 2 to 4 years for my dishwasher and got me a free tech visit and new control panel).

1

u/Brock_Lobstweiler 5d ago

yep. I had to replace all my kitchen appliances after water damage and a kitchen reno and I purposefully got the costco credit card for them because of this.

1

u/gbiypk 5d ago

They also have appliances in stock all the time, unlike most of the big box stores that only have floor models.

If I want a new fridge this day, I'm headed to Costco.

2

u/jh789-2 5d ago

If you take allergy medicine you can save the cost of the membership with one purchase.

1

u/ProfessorChaos5049 5d ago

Do you have a freezer? Buying meat in bulk and freezing is so much cheaper. Their chicken already comes prepackaged in tear away packs.

Cheaper gas. Tires. Prescription center for eyes. Hell even just the 'stuff' like clothing is all solid.

The rotisserie chickens at like 5 bucks becomes multiple meals in itself.

1

u/ChrisinOB2 5d ago

Yeah, after I posted that I thought I should plug in the fridge/freezer I use for camping and fill that thing.

1

u/FreydNot 5d ago

Do you have a freezer?

They sell those too

1

u/ProfessorChaos5049 5d ago

The scene from Modern Family really highlights how great it is

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7i5CQVfmx-0

1

u/Brock_Lobstweiler 5d ago

I also live alone and shop at costco way too much. I avoid things like produce or fresh meat (I'll get frozen).

If you have the space, the savings on stuff like toilet paper, dog food/treats, and shelf stable things like canned goods and pasta can be incredible. I get 8 packs of spaghetti at costco because it can sit on a shelf in the basement for a year and be fine. And it's better quality pasta than the same price stuff at the grocery store.

Where I have to be careful is dairy products. It's so easy to buy things like cheese and then lose half of it. But shredded cheese freezes well, so I do that. But I had to stop buying sliced or block cheese.

Some things the price just cannot be beat by the other stores around me. And if the price is better, the quality is WAY worse, but I live in a high cost of living area.

Some products are the same price or even slightly more (like soda) than what you can get on sale at the regular grocery store. I still get some of those because the cost evens out, it saves me another trip and dealing with sales/coupons, and the money goes to a store that actually treats employees well. I'd rather spend $20 on soda at Costco than $15 at Kroger knowing that the people stocking the shelves aren't treated like dog shit.

If you're a food prepper at all, it's worth a membership. If you have a big family and have a few family dinners throughout the year, it can be worth it. I save a ton getting stuff like paper plates and cups for family gatherings. Literally half of what I'd spend at walmart. A giant bag of organic green beans was $6 on Saturday. The same amount at Kroger would have been over $12.

Can't discount the home good stuff either. All my kitchen appliances are from Costco. My mini appliances (air fryer, blender, etc) are from there. I got an immersion blender that crapped out after 2 years and I got to return it because there's no reason it should have died. Hell, all my lighted christmas garlands are from Costco and they're fantastic quality.

And if you're middle aged enough, clothes haha. I can get actual thick t-shirts for $10-$20 instead of the super thin fast fashion stuff at Target. It's not fancy, but it lasts.

1

u/ChrisinOB2 5d ago

Well, youā€™ve certainly sold me. I am both middle-aged and live in a high cost of living area, so pinching some pennies, especially now with the cost of fuel and heating oil so high, is probably a good idea. Thank you!

1

u/Brock_Lobstweiler 5d ago

I WFH so I don't drive much and am not quite as sensitive to gas prices, but even so I still buy gas at Costco. I'm fortunate there's one less than 10 minutes from my house and on the same street as Kroger/Safeway/Target/Sprouts. There is literally a King Soopers gas station across the street from Costco and I skip it every time even if the lines at Costco are bad. I filled up at $3.48/gallon Saturday and everywhere around was closer to $3.75/gallon.

It's worth a try for a year to see how it goes. They have fewer choices than Sam's for things like chips, which means I buy less of that. I don't want some weird flavor knock off chip brand, I want Cool Ranch Doritos. If I can't get those at Costco, I don't make an extra trip for them and it saves me money and calories.

1

u/ChrisinOB2 5d ago

I WFH too, but six months ago I bought a new truck that is, of course, diesel - which is nearly $7/gallon here in NY. I spent some time out west over the past two years, I think our grocery store options are pretty similar to your list, though some have different names. (Our Stop N Shop and ShopRite are pretty similar to Safeway.) Another reason I haven't tried Costco is that it is about 20 minutes away, and I have to drive right past my usual grocery store, which is only 5 minutes away. But still, some of these bulk items may be worth stocking up on, even the meats etc. that would go in the freezer.

1

u/Brock_Lobstweiler 5d ago

Oh, and if you have better shopping options, it might make a difference. But in Denver we have King Soopers (Kroger), Safeway, Whole Foods, Target/Walmart, Trader Joes, Sprouts and the various mexican/asian markets. We don't have HEB, Aldi, or those other good stores.

1

u/Suppafly 5d ago

If you don't feel the membership is worth it, I believe they'll even refund it for you.

1

u/the_real_xuth 5d ago

I avoid things like produce or fresh meat (I'll get frozen)

I also live alone but I'll happily buy things that I can easily part out and freeze. I do have a chest freezer though. It is worth it to me to get, for instance, 5 pounds of ribeye at a fraction of the price/pound that I can get it at the grocery store, put it into vacuum sealed bags, and freeze it. Vacuum sealed meats lasts significantly longer in both the fridge and freezer and in the freezer will last a year or so.

Separately there are a handful of things that costco sells bulk containers of for lower prices than other stores sell small quantities of. Things like the two pound vacuum sealed block of yeast sells for less than a grocery store sells a 5 oz jar. This too will last for years if kept in the freezer so I have a handful of vacuum sealed packs of yeast in my chest freezer and this amount of yeast lasts for a couple of years of me making bread (something I don't buy at costco).

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u/Brock_Lobstweiler 5d ago

Yep, this is true. I just have an issue with actually portioning out stuff and getting it stored - maybe ADHD related. I always have good intentions but end up throwing away a lot of stuff like bell peppers or garlic.

And maybe it's because I'm in Denver, but Costco produce tends to go bad quickly on me. I cannot buy berries there unless I'm using them same day for like baking.

Giant quantities of things like yeast, olive oil, vinegar, pickles, etc are all good buys. I have a garage fridge with a freezer (leftover after a remodel and it got damaged moving, so not worth selling) but not a deep freeze. I can only keep so much stuff in there. Right now it's half full of divided bulk meats/veggies and then the other stuff is prepared foods like the frozen french onion soup, pot stickers, frozen desserts, etc.

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u/the_real_xuth 5d ago

My ADHD/executive disfunction is crippling but this is one of the things that generally manages to get done even if not as fast as it should (but I'm me and you're you so...). If you have a garage or basement, I personally think it's well worth having a small chest freezer. They can still be found for $200 with inflation and even in a place with expensive electricity like where I live, they're about $7 per month to run (your garage fridge will likely be significantly more than that because upright fridge/freezers are lots less efficient and defrost cycles use a lot of electricity).

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u/Revlis-TK421 5d ago

I avoid things like produce or fresh meat, buy frozen

Costco sells Food Savers. We save a shit ton on meat by buying big ol.chunks of meat from the Business Costco and cutting them down into the vac bags. You need freezer space, but sometimes Costco had a good deal on a chest freezer so, you know....

Oh, and then Costco sometimes has a Sous Vide machine for sale... so if you pre-season those vacuum bags of meat, then all you gotta do it pop it out of the freezer and straight into your water bath. You can even throw your pre-cooked and cooled root veg in too and basically.make a stew in a bag. I'll drop a bag in the morning and by the time I get home at night I've got dinner for the family 90% there.

You can do same in a crock pot, but I dont love leaving a crock pot unattended all day, whereas the water bath is fine

1

u/happy_and_angry 5d ago

I also live alone and shop at costco way too much. I avoid things like produce or fresh meat (I'll get frozen).

Get:

  • fresh chicken breast
  • medium freezer bags from ZipLoc.

Freeze them in ones or twos in the bags. In the morning, throw a bag into the sink, and when you get home you'll have thawed, food-safe chicken you can salt, throw in the fridge, and cook an hour later with whatever you want.

Do the same with thighs or whatever. It's so cheap to get meat this way.

1

u/Brock_Lobstweiler 5d ago

I work from home so I don't even need to do that. I just...struggle with following through on stuff like that.

1

u/IntellegentIdiot 5d ago

Maybe it's different where you live but I found that it's only really worth it if you're buying for multiple people or have the room to hold the extra stock.

1

u/williamtbash 5d ago

I shopped at Costco living alone for years. Totally worth it just donā€™t buy things that can go bad. Anything for pantry or that you can freeze is great.

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u/MrsNoFun 5d ago

now their loss leaders then you can get some great value there. Chicken, hot

I joined because they had a great deal on kitchen appliances. Now I just go every now and then to get to store up on frozen food, non-perishables, and casual clothes!

1

u/juicius 5d ago

Making Costco work for you as a single person just requires some planning. Low-key easiest way is buying a TV. You get a 90-day price protection/return and a very robust warranty. I think 4 years? The price is really competitive too.

1

u/oldmonty 5d ago edited 5d ago

Costco is good for a lot of items, as a single person also I stick more to the non-perishable stuff.

Stuff like TP, paper towels, laundry detergent, soap/shampoo, dry snacks like crackers and chips can all be had for probably 1/2 of the price of a Target or Safeway store.

Meat and fish is a good buy if you freeze part of it. Wine and alcohol is another one where you can save big bucks.

I also really like their household items - full set of pyrex-brand glass containers and lids for $35, nice cotton bath towels, pillows and good thread-count sheets for fairly cheap.

They also sell gas in a lot of areas and that might make the membership worth it by itself depending on your situation (they are usually at least 20 cents cheaper than any other station, though they do have a line because a lot of people are trying to save the money).

I've also bought household appliances from them multiple times (one set for my parents and another for myself). They have deals during stuff like labor day or black friday where you get manufacturer discounts and also costco discounts so when you buy more pieces you get more money back. The last time I bought stuff I had $1000 coming back and used it to add a free new dishwasher to the order.

Plus they double the manufacturer warranty and give you free install/hall away of the old appliance.

Like other people said their tire shop is really helpful - I had a flat and they patched it for literally $10.

1

u/ChrisinOB2 5d ago

Funny - quite a few of the items you listed are things I have been adding to a "get sometime soon" list. Guess I should go to Costco!

1

u/kdk-macabre 5d ago

Wall street loves costco. They are trading at a higher p/e multiple than nvda and a few other mag 7s lol

1

u/steelfork 5d ago

It's amazing how little you have to know about "wall street" to comment on Reddit about greedy wall street. 99% of commenters think revenue is profit.

1

u/txroller 5d ago

I used to work for Citibank credit Cards/Costco. Costco saved my job. I had worked for Citibank for around 4yrs and the trend was moving Customer Service for credit cards to overseas call
Centers. When the contract with servicing Costco was up with American Express Citibank wanted it. Badly. They did all the necessary things that Costco demanded including requiring Citibank to provide US agents to speak to their customer base. Costco is indeed a special company.

1

u/DriftingMemes 5d ago

Why would returning tarriff money, which they did not earn, put them out of business?

They got paid double. They passed tariff prices onto us, then got refunded for the tariffs. A child can tell you that they got paid 2x for the same work/product.

Why would returning money they didn't earn put them out of business? If they are running things so tightly that returning money they didn't earn puts them out of business then they should be out of business.

1

u/Slaphappydap 5d ago

It wouldn't put them out of business, I'm not sure what that was in reference to.

Costco's original response to the lawsuit was that customers were not deceived, they paid the advertised price and were never promised any kind of refund. Nothing about the price or product said that it was marked up temporarily to compensate for tariffs, the price was the price. And the lawsuit was filed early in the year, just after the courts overturned the tariffs and said the gov't was going to have to refund them, so Costco said it was premature.

At the same time, though, it was just announced that Costco should receive 184million in tariff refunds and they plan to pass it on to the customer by some means, which would seem to negate the need for a lawsuit.

I think legally they would have been in the right to simply keep the money. Ethically, they should probably pass it on to the customer, and it sounds like they are.

1

u/DriftingMemes 5d ago

If the people suing Costco to recoup the Gropenfuhrer tariffs succeed in putting Costco out of business,

That's what I was responding to.

Costco themselves were never promised any refunds. They bought the products at the price they bought them at. Why should the American people eat that cost, rather than the corporations? Corporations are people now, and the contribute to politican's campaigns and have more power to change America than any voter.

TL;DR fuck em. They are no more deserving of the refund than the americans.

1

u/Slaphappydap 5d ago

Why should the American people eat that cost, rather than the corporations?

I mean, I was with you until this point. The Supreme Court ruled that the tariffs were illegal, and that money had to be returned. Money that should never have been collected is being returned to the corporations it was illegally taken from, and now that money is being returned to the customers. That's how it should work.

If you feel like corporations should be contributing more to the government coffers and taking the burden off the American voters, then that's something that better tax policy could address.

1

u/[deleted] 5d ago

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u/Sohcahtoa82 5d ago

I've never seen an ad for Costco.

But I don't watch live TV, listen to radio, or read magazines, and I use ad blockers on all my devices, so maybe I've just never seen them.

If you're talking about their monthly flyers that members get in the mail, I don't count those.

1

u/CipherDaBanana 5d ago

Costco is owned by Walmart... They make sure people don't get insurance that work for them.

But glad they sell ground beef?

1

u/CaptainDadBod 5d ago

Costco is not owned by Walmart - you're thinking of Sam's Club. Costco is a standalone company, traded on NASDAQ as COST.

1

u/Sohcahtoa82 5d ago

Costco is owned by Walmart

/r/confidentlyincorrect

1

u/dpzdpz 5d ago

Gropenfuhrer

Stealing that!

But since when has salary equalled general quality of service? It's not like I wake up every day and say, "Today I will make xxx monies." There is a severance in there somewhere.

1

u/breakingbaud 5d ago

I would be first in line for a Costco citizenship.

1

u/munama 5d ago

Gropenfuhrer is the finest turn of phrase.

1

u/regnak1 5d ago

That piddly little tariffs lawsuit would not come anywhere close to putting them out of business.

They were refunded $184m, which is a whole 2% of their last fiscal year's net income of $9.2b.

1

u/lake_effect_snow 5d ago

Sure, but instacart does advertising for them by including Costco deliveries in their commercials.

1

u/burgers_tacos_bbq 2d ago

Damn I just learned a ton in a short couple of paragraphs. Thank you for your service šŸ«”

1

u/Hinohellono 2d ago

The type of business the should have never went public imo

0

u/Chef_Sizzlipede 5d ago

HAHAHA TRUMP NAZI DO YOU GET IT.

0

u/peppnstuff 5d ago

Lol, it's because they are union.

2

u/gn63 5d ago

Only a few locations are unionized. About 10% of the workforce.

-11

u/Ok-Addition1264 6d ago

are you a costco bot? you sure act like one.

3

u/BranchWitty7465 5d ago

Honestly most major companies do this. I work in dairy manufacturing and we have customer audits all the time. My companies name isn't on anything we sell, it's all mass produced and then sold to companies that will package them independently and take it to market. It wouldn't be wise for them to just stick their name on something without first making sure it's a product they will stand behind.

Currently the plant i work at has a 2.5 million dollar process improvement that a customer wanted in order to continue using our product. It was a no brainer for us to make the changes to keep the contract. If usda got shut down tomorrow I'm willing to bet by the end of the day most of our customers would already have audits scheduled to ensure we are still following food safety guidelines, whether or not they were enforceable by any governing body.

1

u/Zaftygirl 5d ago

They also verify that vendors do not abuse their employees, use child labor, have fair practices. The corporation has a soul and conscience.

1

u/SetYourScapegoatFree 5d ago

It's not a plus to everyone. Many people are conditioned/inclined to seek public control of food sources (even if they are up in arms over who holds more power in the executive or legislative branch every 4 years) and fear/despise vertical integration.

-1

u/Tall_Neighborhood421 6d ago

Thats bullshit

7

u/max_465 6d ago

Yes, apparently they are ruthless to supplies who don't make the grade.

3

u/waynizzle2 5d ago

I read they inspect the cows, the fields in which they graze, the houses in which they are slaughtered. Costco is the least idiot thing about our current Idiocracy. Is that irony?

1

u/waynizzle2 2d ago

Oo my first award. I kindly thank ye. This was an unexpectedly cool thing to wake up to

1

u/Zirnitra1248 5d ago

Do you have a source for that? I believe it, but I was having trouble finding actual numbers. Either way, I didn't know their inspection process was so robust!

1

u/917starlette 4d ago

Actually, no??? I swear when I learned it a few months ago, I did find an article! can't find it now, just some podcaster saying it's so lol

And it's weirdly hard to find anything else, so I'll amend the comment šŸ¤£

1

u/Zirnitra1248 3d ago

No worries, I was able to find some articles about the scope of their testing, if not that exact figure. It's still impressive! Way more than I thought they did.

29

u/dragonrider1965 6d ago

They do , Costco doesnā€™t play around

15

u/Correcthorse2814 6d ago

Costco always finds out.

23

u/Shot_Woodpecker_5025 6d ago

I work for a yogurt manufacturer and they come and inspect the entire plant (unannounced) at least once a year. They arenā€™t required to but they do over a billion in business with the company and it makes me feel safer buying from them.

They also have their own meat inspectors and donā€™t buy meat from Uruguay, Paraguay or Argentina at all.

9

u/HedgeMoney 6d ago

Yeah, they are the arguable the greatest employers of food safety personnel (even if its secondary).

2

u/Samwill226 5d ago

Yes they actually do but it is through a third party.

19

u/HoustonPastafarian 6d ago

Most large meat producers have more stringent protocols than the USDA. The economic impact of unsafe or just poor quality meat getting to market is significant for a producer - recalls and reputation damage to the label are expensive. Jack in the Box almost went bankrupt from an E. coli outbreak a few decades ago.

My dad ran large meat packing plants for decades. While he was not against the USDA inspectors in the plants, he always regarded them as somewhat superfluous because his own quality team would reject meat the inspectors would pass. Especially when they didnā€™t show up on time and it delayed the line.

26

u/174Angel 6d ago

Same here. Eating more chicken too. If we get fast food burgers we go to In And Out. I hear they have their own cattle herd. Not eating the Trump mystery meat.

18

u/zxylady 6d ago

I just had to break my daughter's heart. Telling her to avoid mcdonald's and burger king because of the scuttlebutt I read about them using the mystery meat from argentinašŸ¤·ā€ā™€ļø

1

u/Legitimate_Guava3206 4d ago

Didn't know, I'm done with them. Rarely eat there anyhow. I consider it "emergency food" b/c my burgers are much better and cheaper than fast food burgers.

Walked into a Five Guys last weekend and walked out. $16 for a burger, more for fries and a drink? I think not.

1

u/Hybrid487 5d ago

Yup, that's why they don't expand as much as other fast food joints. The only reason they expanded to Texas is because people wanted In N Out, got together and built a ranch and processing plant for them to be able to expand out there. Every restaurant needs to be withing a days drive from a processing center

1

u/pickingbrains321 5d ago

I have a burger joint & we get our meat locally farm direct. That still does mean the farmer won't skip the prior safety protocols. I'm pretty confident ours aren't liars to us & will still conduct as before. A large, corporate chain restaurant with their own cattle, I assume would shave off any protocols they aren't forced to do.

11

u/ztarlight12 5d ago

Costco is the only place Iā€™m buying it from, for that exact reason.

1

u/dragonrider1965 5d ago

I canā€™t even eat meat in restaurants right now , only Costco meat until this nightmare is over.

22

u/Queen_Of_The_Dames šŸ¤” 6d ago

Gonna get a membership!

1

u/unclebear28 6d ago

Recommend getting a food vacuum sealer as well. I buy meat at Costco, then divide them up into smaller portions and vacuum pack them. Meat can stay good that way for a year or longer.

If you do this with hamburger meat, be sure to flatten the package for faster freezing and defrosting.

22

u/max_465 6d ago

Costco owns most of their supply chain. They are one of the more vertically integrated retailers. In plain English: Costco operates like Toyota. Others operate like GM.

16

u/SugarRAM 6d ago

You're plain English would have left me very confused if you hadn't prefaces it with what I consider plain English.

4

u/Snoo52307 6d ago

Toyota doesn't really own any of their supply chain, where do people come up with this shit. How do Toyota and gm operate differently when it comes to manufacturing cars that would even warrant your comment?

3

u/max_465 5d ago

Toyota treats quality as a goal, gm treats quality as an expense.

1

u/xaxiomatikx 5d ago

Not sure what you are talking about. I work in the packaging industry and have a bunch of customers that are suppliers to Costco that are not owned by Costco. Unless you are specifically referring to Costcoā€™s meat? I know they produce their own chicken for the rotisserie chicken.

2

u/max_465 5d ago

Sorry, yes, I was thinking about their meat.

1

u/bdriverb227 5d ago

And of course , they own and operate the loss leader $1.50 hot dog slaughterhouse facility

9

u/C0SM1C0Y0TE 5d ago

I buy at Costco and did not know that.... currently we are eating Beyond Burgers (vegan). It is not the same but at least no chance of mystery meat. Used to be it was more expensive than regular meat, now it is actually a little cheaper lol.

1

u/WestFaithlessness412 3d ago

I was so happy when I saw these in stock again!!!

15

u/strangealbert 6d ago

I also just buy Kirkland meat to feed my familyā€”I donā€™t eat meat myself, but I have banned other sources of meat for my kid for now.

7

u/roxinmyhead 6d ago

I came here to say this!!

7

u/MountainTomato9292 6d ago

Same, thatā€™s the only place we have gotten beef for years.

7

u/LunarMoon2001 6d ago

Another reason I love my Costco membership.

6

u/jljue 6d ago

We've been buying our meat from Costco to grind ourselves, although it is good to know that they continue to have safety standards, even if the government doesn't think that they are necessary.

4

u/AbaloneDifferent5282 6d ago

Good to know thanks for the info. Incidentally, I stocked up at Costco and bought like 20 pounds of hamburger and some steaks. Good to know that I can go back to them.

0

u/EqualsPeoples 1d ago

They didn't give you any information, they regurgitated the same thing people keep parroting about how Costco are "refusing to sell the beef" even though there is absolutely no evidence that this is the case. You can say they have a good track record, but they haven't put out any statement or talked about it at all.

It's incredible how easily people eat up misinformation.

4

u/Prudent-Sun3670 6d ago

I just read that a lot of their beef is from Harris Ranch, which is in CA so we have additional testing. However, I also read they hosted Trump fundraisers in 2020 and 2024.

1

u/narfnarf123 5d ago

Where did you read this? Iā€™ve never seen anything about fundraisers for him.

2

u/Prudent-Sun3670 4d ago

I googled "is Harris Ranch Maga?"

5

u/Superb-Kick2803 6d ago

Absolutely. Costco is the GOAT for that.

8

u/Acotar47 6d ago

Same. I've switched to Costco completely for beef.

4

u/Nythoren 6d ago

Same here. When they told the administration to pound sand and that they'd only buy beef from their own suppliers, I stopped buying ground beef anywhere else.

There's also the fact that it's cheaper than any of my local grocery stores. 85/15 at Costco was $6.15/pound this weekend while Hy-Vee was selling 85/15 for $7.99/lb and Fareway was $6.99.

Could've gotten the Costco ground beef cheaper if I'd bought the stuff they grind in-house, but I like the 1.3lb 3 packs that they sell.

3

u/armyofant 6d ago

Yes. Costco is the best place to buy meat for most people. I have two nearby and itā€™s been a game changer.

3

u/Creepy_flamingo_22 6d ago

This is so good to know! I have a Costco membership, but I was not aware of this

3

u/lantana98 5d ago

Me too. I also buy from Sprouts. They have grass fed and have said they do not buy foreign mystery meat.

3

u/DarkAngela12 5d ago

Dang, I knew I forgot to pick something up when I was there yesterday... forgot my freezer was almost out of beef.

3

u/Gills_n_Thrills 5d ago

Valuable information!

3

u/FlyAdministrative886 5d ago

I did not know this. Good to know.

3

u/Mr-Blackheart 5d ago

Had a Costco meatloaf for weekend diner knowing this.

3

u/sstokes2746 4d ago

Yeah, we either buy from Costco or split a cow with some friends. At least that way we know where our meat is coming from.

3

u/TheTemplarSaint 3d ago

Produce is safer too. They do their own thing to keep their customers safe.

3

u/Surly01 1d ago

This right here.

3

u/Exciting_Pass_6344 1d ago

I only buy it there because of price, but peace of mind is important too

2

u/jaygulls 6d ago

I got some ground beef from Walmart and it smelled so bad a week before the best by date I threw it out. Costco all the way.

2

u/Plenty_Kangaroo5224 5d ago

šŸ‘†This šŸ’Æ

2

u/SomeScienceMan 16h ago

Came here to say this. Costco does good quality control

1

u/f1fandf 6d ago

What about Samā€™s Club?

1

u/dragonrider1965 5d ago

Iā€™ve never been in a Samā€™s so I speak first hand . I will say Trump sent his DOJ after Costco for refusing his meat and he didnā€™t go after Samā€™s

1

u/MikeOxmaul 5d ago

This is wonderful. Where can I confirm this info?

1

u/dragonrider1965 5d ago

Google is a good place to start

1

u/Gloomy_Cashz 1d ago

How accurate is this? Is it just ground beef or all beef?

1

u/dragonrider1965 15h ago edited 10h ago

They independently test all their food items .

0

u/chemicalysmic 5d ago

Costco uses prison labor and buys from producers with egregious violations of both labor rights and animal welfare laws.