Why You Can't (Easily) Turn A Costco Sundae Into A Root Beer Float

Although there are plenty of ways to hack the Costco food court, some of these hacks depend on your specific Costco location. For instance, not every Costco is equipped to make root beer floats — as simple a dessert as it may seem.

As noted by TikTok user Hellthy Junk Food, you could theoretically make a root beer float by ordering a soft drink and a vanilla ice cream cup. However, some Costco locations do not serve root beer at their food courts, so you either have to opt for buying a full 36-pack of A&W root beer or make do with a different kind of soft drink.

If your Costco doesn't have root beer, you could always go more of a creamsicle route. To make a creamsicle-inspired float, add your cup of food court vanilla ice cream to orange soda. Or, if you aren't an orange fan, you can use any other soft drink available. Easy peasy, ice cream squeezy.

Costco's food court menu items are more or less the same from one location to the next. However, where we see major discrepancies is in the soft drinks. As Reddit users have pointed out, most Costcos now carry only Pepsi products, although a handful still carry Coke products.

But why? Well, it all comes down to money. Between Costco wanting to keep its hot dog price consistent and Coke being unwilling to negotiate its contract in 2013, the grocery chain ultimately chose to go with Pepsi products. Goodbye, root beer.

According to the Seattle Times, Costco revisits its soft drink contract every five years, meaning Coke has had a few opportunities to outbid Pepsi and, for one reason or another, has not done so. Of course, this doesn't rule out some locations still having Coke vending machines, so you could find one at your nearest Costco and have an easier time making a root beer float.