Costco Food Favorites That Keep Getting More Expensive

Maybe it's the way the $4.99 rotisserie chickens and the $1.99 pizza slices have stood their ground against years of inflation. Maybe it's the thrill of stocking up on ungodly amounts of soda and toilet paper. Whatever the reason, there's something about Costco that's inspired almost cult-like dedication from its shoppers over the years. The warehouse chain has established itself as one of the nation's favorite retailers, luring in customers with the promise of selling bulk items at fair prices (and offering equally reasonably priced treats at the food court as a post-shopping snack).

But customers aren't impressed by all of the prices. While Costco famously goes to extreme lengths to keep its prices as low as possible — and has been known to reduce its prices, even offering customers the option to request a price readjustment when they do — some items have gradually grown more expensive in recent years.

Admittedly, price increases are a fact of life at any food retailer. In fact, according to NerdWallet, average food prices increased by 31% in the U.S. between 2019 and 2025. However, that doesn't mean Costco customers aren't growing concerned or frustrated about the toll some products take on their wallets. Here are 10 of the food items growing more and more expensive at Costco as of late.

In general, olive oil has crept up in price in recent years. In 2023 and 2024, reports noted that the cost of olive oil has been heavily impacted by soaring temperatures and extensive droughts — particularly in Spain, where 40% of the world's olives are produced. Other European countries exporting high quantities of olive oil face similar complications, worsened by additional factors like the Xylella fastidiosa bacterium, which has corrupted trees in Italy's olive tree hotspot, Puglia.

With that in mind, it shouldn't come as a major surprise that even Costco has had to charge more for its olive oil. In 2024, one customer took to Reddit to share a $50.99 price tag for two 3-liter bottles of Kirkland Signature 15% Virgin Olive Oil that allegedly cost just $25 back in 2021. One person was shocked to find that the same product now costs $59.99 in their local store. That same year, another claimed that their go-to store had gradually increased the price of olive oil over the span of six months, with one product going from $22 in August 2023 to $33 roughly six months later.

For a cheaper alternative, some have noted that avocado oil – which has a reputation for being expensive — has actually become more affordable options in the meantime. If your Costco stocks it, customers also report that Kirkland California olive oil also tends to boast a lower price tag while still tasting delicious.

Few things instill quite as much fervor in retail as the sanctity of the Costco food court. While the nation grows increasingly concerned about the cost of living, Costco's hot dog and soda combo has stood firm at a respectable $1.50 since 1985 – something Costco founder Jim Sinegal feels so passionate about that he once famously told former CEO Craig Jelinek, "If you raise the [price of the] effing hot dog, I will kill you. Figure it out" (via 425 Business). Concerns over how long this will remain the case came to a head in 2024, causing CFO Gary Millerchip to assure analysts that the combo price wouldn't change any time soon.

Sadly, the same can't be said for the soda alone. In January 2025, it was reported that Costco's food court soda would increase by between $0.10 and $0.20, depending on the location. This came hot on the heels of the announcement that Costco would stock its soda machines with Coca-Cola products instead of Pepsi, 11 years after making the initial switch in an effort to maintain its low price point. It also followed another soda price increase back in 2022. At that time, the 20-ounce sodas went from $0.59 to $0.69, while the chicken bake also went up by $1. Admittedly, the sodas are still pretty cheap, even after two price increases, but when it comes to the Costco food court, change is rarely welcomed with open arms.

In October 2024, the U.S. Department of Agriculture raised its U.S. butter forecast to $3 per pound, up 15% in 2023. This came amid plummeting cattle numbers and a decrease in the amount of milk produced by said cattle. Concerningly, this followed yet another butter shortage in 2022, when the average butter prices skyrocketed by 33%.

Costco has seemingly felt the pinch of the more recent butter crisis. One customer took to Reddit in early 2025 to complain that the butter sold under Costco's private label brand, Kirkland Signature, had jumped by around $1 in the space of a week. While the butter was $13 upon their last visit, it had since increased significantly to $14.68. Other users located in the New Jersey and New York area and Wisconsin confirmed that they'd made similar discoveries after tracking down butter at their own stores.

But this wasn't the first time customers voiced concerns about the price of Costco butter. In 2024, another customer claimed that 4 pounds of Kirkland butter had gone up by $1 over the weekend. "The butter price is nuts," they wrote on Reddit. "It was just 12.99 last week than before that 11.99 a few months ago." With butter reportedly still growing more expensive as of late 2024, there's a chance this trend may continue.

Thanks to a wave of bird flu, it's thought that over 166 million wild and domestic birds have died in the U.S. since 2022. Less birds obviously means less eggs, which is why the nation also found itself shelling out (pun intended) the big bucks to make their morning omelettes. It's thought that egg prices surged by 50% from 2024 to 2025 and, like many stores, some Costco locations seemingly struggled to keep up with the demand.

According to Business Insider, one New York location ran out of eggs in just eight minutes in February 2025, despite higher prices. While the exact price tags varied from store to store, customers reported paying between $7.69 and $8.59 for two dozen eggs in early 2025 (still lower than the U.S. average, as per the Bureau of Labor Statistics). Costco was also forced to introduce purchase limits. In comparison, shoppers on Reddit alleged that the same number of eggs cost them between $4.99 and $5.99 in 2023 and 2024.

Costco has hiked egg prices in the past, too. During the pandemic, it was one of multiple retailers named in a lawsuit that claimed some companies had violated California's anti-price gouging statute and used the state of emergency declaration as an excuse to charge more for eggs. Costco denied price gouging and instead argued that it had actually lodged its own complaints with the authorities over egg suppliers charging the company more during this period.

Milk is one of those everyday necessities that require pretty frequent purchases. That's what makes it so much easier to notice when it starts creeping up in price. At Costco, customers have noted that they're paying more for their dairy lately — although one Reddit user went as far as to insist that "milk has never been a good deal at Costco."

In 2024, one customer noted that multipacks of Costco's Kirkland A2 Organic Whole Milk had at some point jumped from $10.99 to $13.79, while another claimed that it had gone up to as much as $16.99 at their local store. This followed a separate complaint back in 2023 in which a customer was outraged that the same multipack of organic milk would now set them back $12.69, working out to roughly $8.50 a gallon. Two years earlier, yet another complaint pointed to the fact that Costco was charging the same price for 1.5 gallons of milk as it previously did for 2 gallons.

These prices have led to some forgoing the milk at Costco altogether, instead opting to pick it up from rival retailers such as Target, Trader Joe's, and Walmart. Some have also cited the fact that select stores don't sell individual gallons of milk as an added frustration. "Costco is almost twice as expensive for organic milk as our local grocery store," complained one Reddit user in 2023. "And you have to buy 3 on top of that. I can't believe anyone buys it there."

Costco's bakery is a thing of wonder. Offering everything from chocolate fudge cakes to mini cookies, this is arguably the best perk of a Costco membership for those with an overbearing sweet tooth. This makes it all the more devastating when Costco decides to discontinue fan-favorite bakery items – and when your favorite item is suddenly hit by a price increase.

Several Costco bakery products have grown more expensive over the years. Customers noted that its croissants went up by $1 to $6.99 in early 2025. The croissants had previously jumped from $4.99 to $5.99 in 2022. Considering the fact that you get 12 croissants in a box, this is still a relatively good deal, equaling $0.58 per pastry as of 2025 (which is far more reasonable than some of the astronomical prices we've paid at coffee shops in the past). As one Reddit user put it, "Been paying $5.62 for ONE croissant at a hotel for 3 days since I was on business trip last week, I have no complaints about paying $6.99 for 12 croissants at all."

But it's not the only item that has increased in price. In 2024, Costco also switched to selling packs of eight muffins for $6.99 instead of offering two mix-and-match six packs for $9.99. That may sound cheaper at first glance, but actually meant that the cost of each muffin went up from $0.83 to $0.87 — a minor difference, but enough to trigger backlash in the Costco community, nonetheless.

If you prefer to chug bottled water over tap water, there's no denying that Costco is one of the best spots to pick up H20 in bulk. Shoppers can purchase up to 48 cases of water from the warehouse chain in one go (although finding a place to store that much water may make doing so more trouble than it's worth). The price you pay for Costco bottled water, however, has apparently been on the rise in recent years.

"Kirkland Water is up 30% since last year," said one Reddit user while highlighting price increases for Kirkland water in 2023. "I'm not as much complaining cause it's still cheap, more sighing with words. It was $3.29 at my Costco as recently as 5 months ago. Now it's up to $4.19." In 2022, another customer noted that the same bottled water had jumped from $2.99 to $3.99 at their local store. Chiming in with a similar experience, another Reddit user said at the time, "Bought my first case since last year and that price jump immediately stuck out." Like all Costco products, the price of Kirkland bottled water varies from location to location, but the general consensus is that it's getting pricier and pricier to quench your thirst.

There's a long list of health benefits that come with eating salmon, so it helps that it also tastes delicious. Sadly, it also happens to be getting more expensive, even at Costco. One customer took to Reddit to highlight some of the price increases they'd recently noticed at the chain, with Kirkland Signature salmon undergoing one of the biggest jumps, allegedly going from $24.49 in 2021 to $35.99 in 2024.

Other Costco regulars have noticed these increases over the years. Another customer claimed to have found fresh-farmed Atlantic salmon with a price tag of $35 at their local store in 2023. Going even further back, a customer also highlighted a slight increase in the cost of salmon per pound in 2021. 

Fresh salmon isn't the only kind of salmon affected. Smoked salmon has also fallen victim to price increases. In 2023, a Costco regular raised the alarm after noticing that Kirkland smoked salmon had gone from $19.99 to $20.99, then up to $23.99. "We used to buy this all the time," lamented one Reddit user, frustrated with the current prices. "It was a staple but the price hike was just too much. Might buy once in a while but definitely will shop around for better deals." Meanwhile, in 2025, the cost of canned salmon was also reported to have increased, with one shopper claiming it had done so by as much as $5. Yikes.

Everyone has their favorite Costco snacks (for the record, we're partial to the giant chocolate chip cookies from the food court), but Kirkland Signature Milk Chocolate Almonds are definitely up there among the biggest crowd pleasers. While you can find similarly sweet, protein-dense snacks at plenty of stores, there's something about Costco's offering that gives it a distinct edge — even if customers need to pay more now for the pleasure of Kirkland Signature chocolate almonds than ever.

In the U.S., the cocoa-coated nuts jumped from $12.99 to $18.99 at one customer's local store in 2024. While the price increases don't seem to be quite as extreme at all Costco stores, there was a point when you could apparently snap up the treat for just $10. Canadian Costco stores have also been stung by price increases. In early 2025, multiple customers took to social media to question the soaring costs of the almonds. "They used to be $17 then they went to $20," said one Reddit user. "Now they are $27!!"

Like a lot of the price increases on this list, it's pretty easy to track the external factors edging up the cost. Both cocoa and almond prices soared in 2024, with shortages of the former also causing Costco to discontinue its Kirkland chocolate chips after acknowledging that it couldn't compete with the costs offered by the likes of Nestlé Toll House. Frustrating though the price increases may be, we'd take that over losing our chocolate-covered almonds for good.

We don't mean to keep harping on about global shortages, but such is the state of the world. Oranges are, like plenty of other food goods, in short supply in recent years, which has inevitably led to premiums on orange juice that not even Costco can ignore.

When visiting a store in early 2025, one customer was shocked to discover that their go-to cartons of OJ had soared from $9.99 in 2022 to $14.99. Making this price increase tougher to swallow are the allegations from Costco customers that Kirkland orange juice has simultaneously dropped in quality, both tasting and looking watered down. "Now Kirkland OJ tastes like the cheap stuff they give you at hotel breakfast buffets," one Reddit user wrote in 2024. "$15 for two 59 oz containers is way too much for crappy OJ."

You can thank Huanglongbing (HLB) for the toll orange juice may take on your wallet lately. Also known as citrus greening, the disease swept through orange groves in Florida before also impacting some farms in Texas and California. Caused by a bacteria called Liberibacter, it causes a drop in both the number and quality of fruits produced by citrus trees and has halved the amount of planted area in Florida over the past 20 years. Tropical storms that hit the Sunshine State in 2024 also had a devastating impact on its citrus supplies, with production losses totaling as much as 40% in some parts of Florida after Hurricane Milton.