It’s out with the old and in with the new for Costco, at least. The wholesale club has revamped its food court menu with healthier and hipper options.
New on the menu are an acai bowl and a meatless salad. Meanwhile, the Polish dog and soda combo, long cherished by frequenters of the retail company, has been taken off the menu.
The cheap combo, ringing in at just $1.50, came with the caveat of a 970 calorie count. Health conscious millennials just don’t find that appealing. As a result, Costco expressed its vision of providing healthier options such as super foods and plant-based protein salads.
Fans of the Polish dog-soda combo are staging a campaign to revive the food court special. There’s a Change.org petition and a #SaveThePolishDog campaign on Twitter, which has already taken off with stories filled with nostalgia and outrage.
My entire childhood is eating a polish hot dog after shopping at Costco. And not to mention y’all took off the berry sundae and added an açai bowl. You also took off the chocolate ice cream and only have vanilla and this vanilla açai swirl. Genuinely mad. #SaveThePolishDog
— Olivia (@mylifeasliv11) July 8, 2018
Hey @Costco, any way we could skip the acai bowls or whatever super food garbage you’re adding and keep the polish dog? If you have to replace something get rid of those nasty chicken bake things. #SaveThePolishDog
— Jeremy (@AttackTH67) July 9, 2018
Not usually one for strong-stanced, controversial posts, but here goes: I’m not mad about the addition of an açaí bowl to Costco’s food court, but getting rid of the beloved Polish Dog to make way for a “meatless al pastor salad” is absolute lunacy. #SaveThePolishDog @Costco
— Jayquelin (@jacquosland) July 10, 2018
Costco has been vigorously promoting its new vegan and vegetarian options, but even its CEO Craig Jenilek is lukewarm on the healthy fare.
“This new plant-based protein salad, I know that excites you,” Jenilek joked at an annual Costco shareholder meeting in late January. “But it is healthy. And, uh, actually, it tastes pretty good, if you like those kind of things. I tried it once.”
Jelinek said the recent introduction of vegan and vegetarian options is an effort to reach health-conscious millennials.
Wholesale clubs like Costco and Sam’s Club are fighting for younger customers due to more convenient services such as Amazon Prime and Boxed. Competition from these new, millennial-friendly companies incited vocal concerns at a recent Costco shareholder meeting. This has Costco looking at e-commerce and millennial courting in a new way.
“There is a method to this madness,” Jelinek cryptically claimed back in February in response to Costco’s proposed revamping of online buying and delivery. For the most part, the company still sticks it to its mantra of cost minimization for in-warehouse goods. Jelinek reassured that the e-commerce aspect of Costco remains only 5 percent of the company’s profit.
Fans of the Polish dog may take comfort in knowing that the company still plans to keep the all-beef hot dog-soda combo.
“The all-beef hot dog remains,” CFO Richard Galanti reassured.
The all-beef hot dog is almost as old as Costco itself. Introduced in 1984, the hot dog-soda combo’s price has never been adjusted for inflation, remaining at $1.50.
“We’re known for that hot dog,” Costco founder Jim Sinegal claimed in a 2009 interview. “That’s something you don’t mess with.”
However, Sinegal retired from the Board of Directors earlier this year and now Costco seems intent on devising more methods of reeling in millennial membership, even at the Polish dog’s expense.
