Here's Who Makes Costco's Legendary Food Court Hot Dogs
Bulk buys aren't the only thing that brings people through Costco's massive warehouse doors. The wholesaler's food court has a dedicated fan base, and it all started with the brand's consistently priced hot dog.
Costco sells its hot dogs, which come with a soda, for $1.50 and has been doing so since the mid-1980s. The steady price of the hot dog combo is part of its lore. The cost of the ¼-pound Kirkland Signature hot dog and 20-ounce refillable soda has been heavily protected over the years. In fact, when presented with the idea of potentially raising the combo's price, a former Costco CEO reportedly responded, "If you raise the effing hot dog, I will kill you" (via 425 Business).
You might be wondering who is behind this wondrous hot dog deal. As it turns out, while Costco's price for the hot dog combo has remained consistent, the company behind the meat has not always been the same. At first, Hebrew National supplied Costco with kosher all-beef franks and did so for almost 25 years before the chain chose to bring the sausage making in-house — a decision it made to protect the hot dogs' price point.
Costco makes its own hot dogs today
Regular Costco shoppers know that many of the products from its successful in-house brand Kirkland are actually produced by other name-brand companies. So, it should come as no surprise that the wholesaler's hot dogs were originally supplied by a third-party vendor.
However, in the 2000s, demand for kosher hot dogs began to dwindle, which led Hebrew National to raise its prices. The price increase put Costco in the unfortunate position of having to decide whether to keep Hebrew National as its supplier and thus raise the price of its hot dog combo, which, as previously mentioned, was completely out of the question.
In the interest of hanging onto its beloved food court deal, Costco chose to start making its own hot dogs. The wholesaler began making hot dogs in its own meat facility in California. The warehouse chain's CFO told The Wall Street Journal that Costco began making its own non-kosher beef hot dogs in 2011 and did so to increase its supply and keep costs low.
This facility makes both the ¼-pound hot dogs sold in the chain's food court and smaller ones distributed in packs for customers to buy. Eventually, in 2018, Costco began making hot dogs at a second facility in Morris, Illinois, as well. So, while they may not be kosher anymore, you can take comfort in the fact that Costco's inflation-defying hot dog combo comes right from the source.