Costco announced during its annual shareholder meeting on Jan. 23 that its food court will no longer serve Pepsi products. The big-box warehouse is switching over to Coca-Cola, which was its primary beverage vendor up until 2013.
The recent news was confirmed during a question-and-answer portion of the meeting when a shareholder asked, “Is the food court truly switching back to Coke products?”
“Yes, that is accurate,” Costco CEO Ron Vachris said, per TODAY. “This summer we will be converting our food court fountain business back over to Coca-Cola.”
After 27 years of exclusively serving Coca-Cola products, Costco began serving Pepsi across warehouses nationwide in 2013. The beverage was a staple in the retail chain’s famed $1.50 hot dog combo.
Costco has made several changes to its menu items and membership programs in recent months. However, the chain said it wouldn’t change the price of its hot dog combo, which has consistently been $1.50 since the 1980s. Last May, Costco CFO Gary Millerchip said during the chain's Q3 2024 earnings call that the combo’s longtime price will stay put.
Costco’s hot-dog-and-soda combo is “a secret weapon for the big-box warehouse club,” CNN’s Nathaniel Meyersohn wrote in 2018. The $1.50 offering is “one of the perks that helps persuade shoppers to dish out $60 or $120 for a membership every year” and is part of the chain’s “broader strategy to distinguish its warehouses,” Meyersohn added.
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