10 Costco Kirkland Signature Products That Completely Failed

An argument could be made that there is no single grocery store brand more celebrated than Costco's Kirkland Signature. Each year, millions of people acquire and renew memberships to the worldwide wholesale organization, seeking cheaper rates on furniture, toiletries, tires, and food slapped with Costco's private in-house label. The Kirkland Signature brand promises top-notch quality while subsequently charging for fewer of your hard-earned dollars — and for the most part, satisfied Costco-goers feel it delivers on its dual pledge in spades. It's not uncommon, in fact, for shoppers to declare Kirkland's products superior to the more expensive name-brand options on other grocery store shelves.

However, that's not to say that Kirkland is without its flops. Even the most celebrated of brands can occasionally produce a product that doesn't quite hit with consumers, and despite its overwhelmingly positive regard, Costco's beloved label is no exception. From breakfast spreads that couldn't compete with Ferrero Group's Nutella to beer so bad-tasting, patrons dumped it down the drain, here are 10 Kirkland Signature products that completely failed.

Creamy chocolate spread on toast? Why not! Across the United States, consumers shamelessly strew the celebrated hazelnut cocoa spread known as Nutella on lunchtime sandwiches, dessert pizzas, banana splits, and more. But at one time, believe it or not, there was a mock Nutella sold for a fraction of the price at Costco. Known as the Kirkland Hazelnut Spread, this obvious market competitor was introduced as a cheaper bulk alternative to the name-brand favorite, and quickly built up a following of fans.

But unfortunately, it appears this following was just too modest to keep the product's sales in the positive. The Kirkland Hazelnut Spread allegedly lasted only a short time in American stores, with shoppers speculating that its failure was due to an inability to compete with the firmly established Nutella preference in the U.S. Interestingly enough, however, the spread has persisted internationally, reportedly thriving in countries like Germany where name-brand Nutella is not sold and does not subsequently dominate the market. Looks like you'll need to purchase a plane ticket if you want to get your hands on one of these vanished Kirkland jars again.

Beer is one of America's favorite alcoholic drinks, so it's no surprise that when Costco started offering a lower-priced version of a bulk 48-can box, thirsty, bargain-seeking consumers happily hopped on the train. But sometimes, the money saved on a less-expensive but bad-tasting product variant just isn't worth the price your taste buds pay — and this was most certainly the case in regard to Kirkland's widely-hated Signature Light Beer.

Horrendous customer reviews followed Kirkland's attempt at a lower-priced, lower-calorie beer for the duration of its presence on Costco shelves, which ended in 2018 — much to the celebration of disgusted tasters. Its failed legacy lives on, however, with shoppers years later pledging never to forget. "Throwback memory to the worst beer the world has ever known," reads the title of a Reddit thread, under which the notorious beverage was ripped apart. "I am not a proud man," the original poster divulged. "I will drink Coors light, natty light, warm beer, opened beer, someone else's beer. This [Kirkland Signature Light Beer] might have been the only beer I have ever thrown away whatever was left." Yikes. We're not sure there's anything else we can say to further convince you of this one's justified collapsed. 

Sometimes there are products so lost to modern memory, it takes the shoppers of old to remind the rest of us of their previous existence on grocery store shelves. Such is the case with this next epic Costco flop on our list: the Kirkland Signature Cola.

Back in the early 2000's, consumers report that Costco made a fleeting attempt at breaking into the soda market with one private-label canned beverage. The Kirkland Signature Cola, hand in hand with the Kirkland Signature Diet Cola, was a brown soda developed with a flavor similar to that of Pepsi or Coca-Cola, but with a more economical price tag. Sold in bulk pallets, Kirkland's soda wasn't hated, exactly ... it just wasn't loved as much as other well-established dominating brands. And this, unfortunately, was enough to put it on the chopping block. "They [Pepsi and Coca-Cola] are such iconic brands and have dominant market share," answered a consumer in an old Reddit post discussing the product's ultimate failure. "It's virtually impossible to compete. In supermarkets, private label colas don't do very well for that reason." Sadly, this rule appears to have rung true for Kirkland's take, but we have to applaud them for trying. 

Ah, plastic-wrapped American Cheese — the dairy-ish product we all hate to love. This slightly-controversial ingredient has made headlines and caused arguments among consumers for years, amassing both die-hard fans and haters alike. But for a while, Kirkland had the backs of those consumers who still crave the classic, super-salty, slightly-fake-tasting slices with its bulk Kirkland Signature American Cheese product. Resembling name-brand Kraft Singles, the item was generally heralded as a triumph by Costco-shopping American cheese eaters. 

However, sometime around 2019, the slices were quietly discontinued and leached from the shelves of U.S. warehouses everywhere, never to be re-stocked. While no official statement has ever been released regarding the suspicious flop of the otherwise problem-free product, shoppers theorize that society's move away from American cheese consumption as a whole may have contributed to poor sales, and the ultimate decision to put the slowly dying product out of its misery. While the product has persisted in some international locations, Kirkland has left the actual American American-cheese-loyalists bummed. Guess we'll have to settle for one of these 9 ranked Kirkland cheeses for our sandwiches, instead.

Boxed macaroni and cheese is every parent's saving grace for quick weeknight dinners. Whether it's Annie's or Kraft, the pantries of moms and dads everywhere often find themselves stuffed with go-to boxes of name-brand noodles and powdered cheese. And for a short time, Kirkland was among the labels stacked up in many cupboard mac-and-cheese stashes. Though the exact dates of the product's release and subsequent discontinuation are unclear, consumers on online threads have confirmed that Costco's Kirkland produced a boxed macaroni and cheese that was universally considered bad — so bad, in fact, it was called a thing of taste bud nightmares. 

"I donated it to a food pantry and felt guilty about it," admitted one user on a Reddit thread discussing one of Kirkland's most disappointing makes. "How did they manage to make boxed Mac and cheese so bad?" While this answer remains lost to the disappointing liquid-cheese-and-noodle dinners of the past, we can likely all share in the relief that our pantries are clear of this stomach churning product, and stocked heavily with fan-favorite Kraft Macaroni and Cheese once again. 

Bakers everywhere flock to Costco for its unbeatable prices on bulk flour, oil, sugar, and the most important ingredient for satisfying a sweet tooth, of course: chocolate chips. When it came to a cookie's perfect mix-in, there was a gold star winner to be found in Kirkland's long-standing Signature Chocolate Chips product. Unlike some of our shorter-lived flops, this one was an established favorite among warehouse shoppers — until suddenly, it wasn't.

In the summer of 2024, the internet lit up with the awful news: Costco would be discontinuing its time-honored chocolate chips for good. Confused, devastated consumers clamored for a reason — and, surprisingly or not, a representative from Costco answered. One chocolate chip fanatic took to Reddit, sharing a response they'd received and confirming that the decision had been financially motivated. "Cocoa costs have risen near 200% compared to last year and this is impacting all items in this category," the representative's message read. "[...] This was a decision we put an extreme amount of consideration into, but the reality is, the cost our suppliers were presenting us, would no longer make our Kirkland Signature Chocolate Chips a value against national brands like Nestlé Tollhouse, which is the commitment we make on our Kirkland Signature items." Since this one can be classified as a financial failure rather than a quality one, perhaps there's a chance for a reboot in the future — if cocoa prices ever come down, that is. 

There's nothing more American than a loaded cheeseburger, and Washington-based Costco tried to harness the spirit of one of the United States' most quintessential dishes by trying its hand with a take on a savory, drippy burger. The Kirkland Signature cheeseburger was released in only a handful of select food courts in 2017 on an experimental basis, and though the company may have had dreams of releasing the world's next favorite fast food burger, the attempt ended up a beef-induced nightmare. 

Kirkland's burger trial fell flat on its face, coming to an end after an unremarkable run in 2020. Aside from consumer reports of a mundane and unexciting taste, there were also operational elements that simply didn't add up. "Everything about it was a failure," said an alleged Costco employee on Reddit discussing the long-gone patty. "Equipment was a huge cost hit, having to order Pattie's just for the Food court was costly. And it was hard to maintain without having someone stand at the grill the entire time which does not work in Foodcourt unless you are a VERY busy location." Despite rallying a small number of fans, this Kirkland burger just didn't have the following to justify its expensive, lackluster existence. Sorry, Kirkland — they can't all be winners.

Fruit cake is one of those desserts that seems to be split down the middle when it comes to consumer approval. But whether you love it or hate it, the controversial traditional cake was ripe for the picking in Costco's bakery for a time. The Kirkland Signature Traditional Fruitcake was a Christmas-time special, packed with cherries, pineapples, pecans, and walnuts. Though some appear to have approved of this particular fruit-and-nut-stuffed dessert, many customers complained of a lackluster quality — and it may have contributed to the item's ultimate nosedive.

The Kirkland Signature Traditional Fruitcake didn't leave the impression that many of its other cake creations did, such as the drooled-over All-American Chocolate Cake or the crave-worthy half sheet cake. A dry, brittle texture was often cited by eaters, with some shoppers going so far as to refer to Kirkland's take on the dessert pastry as one of the worst versions they'd ever had. When you take into account Costco's self-professed dedication to quality when it comes to its in-house brand, we have to believe that this disparaging feedback made the fruit cake unworthy of resurrection after its post-Covid 19 discontinuation. Guess we'll just have to settle for stuffing our faces with another of Costco's many holiday bakery treats come the Christmas season.

While successful pizza company Papa Murphy's has managed to build an entire business on take-and-bake pies, it's harder than it looks to do right — at least, for Costco, that is. Despite the wholesaler's seeming ability to dominate in every other market, Costco failed enormously in the take-and-bake sector with its attempt at selling Kirkland make-from-home pizzas out of its food courts.

Though the disappointing Kirkland take-and-bake pizzas were slashed back in 2022 (likely as a result of poor sales and even poorer feedback), consumers continue to discuss their notorious unpleasantness in online forums. "One is good for kids birthdays, feeding folks who helped you move, and for bribing husbands to go to Costco with you," jested a user on Reddit discussing the company's regular pizzas versus the take-aways. "The other you have to bake at home, then throw in the trash because it's disgusting." Though it sounds harsh, this was a widespread shared opinion — leading us to believe wholeheartedly in the product's classification as a flop. Let's just leave the take-and-bakes to the above-mentioned masters from now on, shall we?

For a few years, they seemed to be featured on every restaurant menu and in every online blog's recipe bank: acai bowls. Açaí are small purple berries native to South America recognized for their numerous health benefits, and bowls made from a base of these blended little super fruits, along with add-ins like bananas, nuts, seeds, milk, and others, were a culinary trend in the early-to-mid 2000s. And while the Costco food court — with its $1.50 hot dogs, sodas, and greasy pizza slices — doesn't exactly present like the place you stop when you have a healthy meal on your mind, the wholesaler experimented with açaí bowls for a time, along with the rest of the world. 

So why did such a trending health-forward entrée flop so miserably? Simply put, Kirkland's take just wasn't that good. Called the worst item on the food court menu by Business Insider in 2019, the Kirkland Açaí Bowl had a controversial and short-lived run in warehouses before its discontinuation in 2020. Called artificial-tasting and overly tart by a myriad of shoppers, this appears to have been one trend Kirkland should've left alone ... all while sticking to its well-established hot-dog-and-pizza roots, of course. Don't let this one failure dissuade you, however: there's plenty that Kirkland gets right. Head on over to your nearest Costco, and fill your cart with some of its many existing winners.