Costco Commits to Hot Dog and Soda Combo Price, Possibly 'Forever' (2024)

FAQs

How much is Costco hot dog and soda? ›

Costco's food court and its famous $1.50 hot dog and soda combo meal. Inflation has touched nearly everything these last few years — even Trader Joe's 19-cent bananas. But Costco is holding the line on its hot dog-soda combo price.

Many a Costco shopper have capped off their warehouse retail experience with an iconic soda and hotdog combo, which has stayed at its $1.50 price point since 1985 despite inflation.

The $1.50 deal helps create customer loyalty, he said. “It reminds customers of who Costco is.” Costco loses money selling more than 100 million hot dogs every year, but the company offsets these losses by raising prices on other goods it sells. Costco has increased prices of pizzas and other items at its food courts.

But Costco's $1.50 combo is a strategic decision, known as a loss-leader: The company is willing to lose money selling the hot dogs at that price — inflation be darned — so long as it helps Costco draw in and retain customers. “It's branding,” said Scott Mushkin, a retail analyst at R5 Capital.

The membership-only retail warehouse's decision last November to undercut Costco's $1.50 hot dog-and-soda combo with its $1.38 deal helped catapult Sam's Club ahead of the rival chain.

It sells more hot dogs with each passing year as more members sign up and as new locations open worldwide. In 2022, the store sold a whopping 156 million hot dog and soda combos, only to one-up itself in 2023 by selling just shy of 200 million.

But all told, it didn't profit from those combos. That's okay, though. See, the reason Costco is able to take a loss on its hot dog and soda combo, and the reason the chain is able to offer such competitive prices in general, is that it generates a ton of revenue from membership fees.

During a 2022 earnings call, he joked that "lightning just struck me" after he was asked if the hot dog would raise its prices. Galanti said at the time that Costco would leverage the other parts of its business to keep the ¼-pound all-beef frank at the same price it has had since the Reagan administration.

A: The hotdog deal has been a staple at Costco since 1985 and hasn't changed in price since then.

Why did Costco discontinue the Polish Dog? In order to simplify our menu and make room for healthier options, we have decided to offer only the all-beef Hot Dog. Sales show this is what the majority of members prefer. Though we understand many members loved the Polish Dog, we hope you enjoy our new offerings.

What brand of hot dogs does Costco use in their food court? ›

Luckily, Costco answers this question with a 100% beef dog. Rest assured, you won't find any other meats in the chain's Kirkland Signature food court dogs. Costco used to use Hebrew National's wieners for its food court hot dogs. But eventually, the brand switched to the in-house Kirkland wiener.

Costco makes its own hot dogs, no supplier needed

According to Costco's magazine Costco Connection, the stand's all-beef kosher hot dogs were originally supplied by two national Kosher hot dog brands — CNN says one of those was Hebrew National.

Costco is mainly owned by institutional investors, who own over 70% of shares. The largest shareholders in December 2023 are: The Vanguard Group (9.10%) BlackRock (6.90%)

The Hot Dogs Are 100% Beef

While premium cuts were never going to find their way into Costco's budget wieners, the suspicion is that all manner of animal parts are used. Luckily, Costco answers this question with a 100% beef dog.

What makes Costco's hot dogs so good? It's understandable that if you've never had a hot dog at Costco, you might not get what all the hype is about. But as any frank-lover knows, not all dogs are created equal. The Kirkland dogs are made with 100% USDA-inspected beef and contain no fillers, byproducts, or corn syrup.

Costco Hot Dog | TikTok. How to justify $1.50 hot dogs at Costco. Its like a reward. Its like a reward.

The calories in the 1 hotdog and bun is 580. Then you can add a drink to it and suddenly you are easily at 900 calories total for the price of $1.50.

6 ⅜ oz of hot dog & soda (Costco Food Court) contains 960 Calories. The macronutrient breakdown is 59% carbs, 31% fat, and 10% protein. This is a good source of protein (43% of your Daily Value).