Customers Upset After Costco Changes Rotisserie Chicken

Some Costco customers are calling out “birds” after the retailer changed the packaging of its mega-popular rotisserie chickens.

Previously, rotisserie chickens were packaged in a plastic “shell” container. Now, in what the warehouse club says is an environmentally friendly move, rotisserie chickens are sold in plastic food service bags.

The packaging shift began in March 2024 and has gradually spread across the United States, Consumer Reports magazine reported.

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In the June 2024 edition of its magazine, Costco Connections, Costco explained that the packaging switch would save millions of pounds of plastic each year.

“You may have noticed a classic Costco item in another container: Kirkland Signature™ Roasted Chicken now comes in a bag. Based on projected 2024 U.S. rotisserie chicken sales, the new packaging will save about 17 million pounds of plastic each year,” Costco said.

Costco’s new packaging for its rotisserie chickens is angering some longtime consumers. (Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images / Getty Images)

“The bag also takes up less shipping space; one pallet of new bags is equivalent to five pallets of old packaging, so Costco can take 1,000 of its freight trucks off the road each year. Using less transportation vehicles will eliminate over 4,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year,” they said.

On social media, many people have expressed their displeasure with the new packaging, which they say is inferior to the previous rigid plastic model.

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“This was a rare Costco L tbh,” business writer Trung Phan posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, on June 22.

The bags, he said, are extremely leaky, are less good for storing waste, and customers “can’t pick good chickens.”

Costco chickens used to be sold in a rigid “in the shell” type container. (Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images / Getty Images)

Another user on X complained that the bags were leaking.

“Your new bags of roast chicken are leaking like crazy. The whole log was soaked when I got home. Two bags both leaking,” said X user @rengle83.

On Reddit, the r/Costco subreddit has been abuzz with posts about the bags hitting stores across the United States over the past few months.

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“New rotisserie chicken packaging looks leaky,” Reddit user “LoveOfSpreadsheets” posted on March 28, along with an image of a leaky bag of rotisserie chicken on a store shelf.

Multiple Reddit users noted that the new bags were not recyclable in their cities, while the hard shell containers were.

Costco is the first known company to go from 0 to $3 billion in sales in less than six years. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images/Getty Images)

“Unfortunately, at least in my area, the bags are not acceptable for curbside recycling. As a result, most of them will end up in the landfill,” said Reddit user “bonsree,” adding that the packaging change is “a step back in my book.”

“We can’t recycle plastic bags in my town. But we can recycle hard plastic,” said user “trowdatawhey”

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Costco’s rotisserie chicken has been priced at $4.99 at all warehouse locations for decades and is one of the chain’s most popular items sold.

In January 2024, Costco CEO Ron Vachris said he found the company sold 137 million rotisserie chickens in 2023, an increase of 20 million over 2022 sales figures.

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Fox Business reached out to Costco for comment.