People are passionate about their favorite Costco items and they often bristle at any major changes announced by the wholesale retailer. Most recently, muffins have been a source of pain for certain shoppers.
A recent Reddit post cited by Delish and Fox News Digital sums up the change. It features a piece of paper that appears to be tacked up on an in-store message board in Southern California that on one side reads: “No more mix & match muffins” along with a photo.
Costco has offered the 12-muffin mix and match deal for $9.99. Now, according to the post, it is being replaced by a single-flavor eight-pack for $6.99.
“[Four] individual flavors for new smaller muffins (blueberries & cream, triple chocolate, lemon raspberry, cinnamon chip muffins),” said the post.
Many in the comments section were not pleased to hear about the change.
“I really wish they had a variety pack,” said one comment. “I don’t want to buy 8 of the same muffin flavor.”
“My grandma and I used to split these before she died, so this is really bringing me down,” said another.
“One of my best friends is a baker at Costco and she’s told me she’s preparing for lots of angry customers,” claimed one commenter. They added that the new muffins are also expected to have “completely different” recipes compared to the other muffins and that some will get toppings, such as streusel topping on the blueberry muffins.
“Bakery employee here, we all hate [streusel],” said another commenter. “All the muffins have a topping. More steps suck. But they’re made with real butter now, so yay?”
Audacy has not independently confirmed the new muffin recipes.
Three months ago, another Reddit poster cited by Fox News Digital that claimed to be a Costco bakery employee offered their take on the new muffins.
“Costco Bakery employee here. The TX Region already has the new muffins. They are a bit more ‘elevated’ flavor-wise than the large ones,” they said, adding that the taste is “very good.”
This poster offered a slightly different flavor list than the one from California – cinnamon chip was replaced by butter pecan. According to their comment, the new muffins were successful when rolled out this July in Texas and now they are expected to be rolled out to more locations.
While Costco’s muffins didn’t land on CouponBird’s map of favorite items from the wholesaler this summer, they obviously have some loyal fans.
In early December, another Reddit user shared a photo of muffins from Costco labelled “pumpkin streusel muffins” at the $6.99 price.
“Not impressed with the muffin change at Costco,” said the post. “Can only buy one pack for $7, the chocolate muffins taste awful, the pumpkin muffins just fall apart into tiny pieces, and the almond poppyseed muffins are discontinued. I’ll be passing on buying muffins from now on.”
Around one month ago yet another post slammed the muffin change up.
“I have come here today to lament the death of Costco muffins. What was once a treasured piece of my childhood are now but a distant memory. For in their place an abomination was left, a sacrilegious contemptuous mess of a product,” said the post. “Costco tried to play God. Corporate engineers, conceited and wicked as they are, spat on the natural order. My disappointment is immeasurable. The tides of woe that surround my heart pull me under in an anguishing current. The devastating realization that my future prodigy will never garner the same tantalizing experience.”
That Reddit user urged others to complain about the new muffins to Costco. They even went as far as encouraging people to reach out to elected officials.
“For once, I’m glad my Costco is the last to get everything new,” said a different post from around a month ago by a user proudly showing off their vintage-style Costco muffins.
Strong opinions about Costco products are nothing new. For example, the store’s founder, James Sinegal, once sternly warned CEO Craig Jelinek: “If you raise the [price of the] effing hot dog, I will kill you. Figure it out,” as 425 Business reported in 2018, regarding the price of its beloved $1.50 hot dog deal.