• The TUGBBS forums are completely free and open to the public and exist as the absolute best place for owners to get help and advice about their timeshares for more than 30 years!

    Join Tens of Thousands of other Owners just like you here to get any and all Timeshare questions answered 24 hours a day!
  • TUG started 31 years ago in October 1993 as a group of regular Timeshare owners just like you!

    Read about our 31st anniversary: Happy 31st Birthday TUG!
  • TUG has a YouTube Channel to produce weekly short informative videos on popular Timeshare topics!

    Free memberships for every 50 subscribers!

    Visit TUG on Youtube!
  • TUG has now saved timeshare owners more than $24,000,000 dollars just by finding us in time to rescind a new Timeshare purchase! A truly incredible milestone!

    Read more here: TUG saves owners more than $24 Million dollars
  • Sign up to get the TUG Newsletter for free!

    Tens of thousands of subscribing owners! A weekly recap of the best Timeshare resort reviews and the most popular topics discussed by owners!
  • Our official "end my sales presentation early" T-shirts are available again! Also come with the option for a free membership extension with purchase to offset the cost!

    All T-shirt options here!
  • A few of the most common links here on the forums for newbies and guests!

Costco produce - yes or no

DebBrown

DebBrown

TUG Lifetime Member
Joined
Jun 6, 2005
Messages
2,577
Reaction score
215
We have a new Costco near us so DH and I went on a "stock up" outing last week. They had some great prices on produce, items I usually buy. However, some were a big disappointment. I am wondering if we just got unlucky or if I should avoid Costco produce as a whole. I hate to buy a large quantity at a bargain price that we can't use.

I buy fuji apples every week and have never had a mushy one until Costco. Now I have a dozen mushy fuji apples. Same with the roma tomatoes and cut broccoli. It's just not as good as what I usually buy at the grocery store.

Deb
 
I don't find their produce as good as other stores here. I attribute it to being some distance from their warehouse, and being in a small market, they have to combine fresh (produce) on the same refrigerated trailer as frozen. No matter how good the barriers are between sections of the trailer, it's hard to keep one area at -10 and 6" away at +34.

When their stuff is good, it's very good- grapefruit this time of year and the huge avocados and cherries in season. This time of year, apples have been stored since Sept/Oct and you just can't be sure of the conditions. Their 12oz baked potatoes are fantastic. A meal in themselves.

You'll remember there was a freeze in Florida recently that did in much of the tomato and broccoli and corn crops. It'll be a while before those are available as good and as reasonably as a month ago.

Jim Ricks
 
Last edited:
We've had consistently good luck with the Chilean Avocados, the Cameo apples and the multi packs of Romaine. We occasionally buy berries and pineapple, and they've been decent as well.
 
We always buy the bananas because they are so cheap, but they are usually very green and you have to wait for them to ripen. Occasionally they don't and we have to get rid of them.
 
DebBrown said:
We have a new Costco near us so DH and I went on a "stock up" outing last week. They had some great prices on produce, items I usually buy. However, some were a big disappointment. I am wondering if we just got unlucky or if I should avoid Costco produce as a whole. I hate to buy a large quantity at a bargain price that we can't use.

I buy fuji apples every week and have never had a mushy one until Costco. Now I have a dozen mushy fuji apples. Same with the roma tomatoes and cut broccoli. It's just not as good as what I usually buy at the grocery store.

Deb
Click to expand...

Like most things there are "grades" of produce. Also like most stores Costco shops for the best cost/value - often getting that cost side down means accepting a slightly lower grade of product. Sometimes it makes virtually no impact - other times it means a noticeably different, often negative, difference in taste/size / texture whatever. Shop carefully and verify that what you are getting meets the standards you are used to or if not that it still represents a good value for the money. Often times we find it does not and we have to pay the little more to get the best quality elsewhere. This is not unique to Costco but applies to every store.
 
I buy the Campari tomatoes when tomatoes are not in season here, and they are always very good. I also buy the Romaine lettuce and it is always good. I often give some lettuce away because we can't use it that fast, but you get twice as much as the grocery store for the same price.

The pineapples are consistently good and a good price. In the spring I buy the California strawberries and they are good. Most of the other things are in too large of a quantity and I can get better at my local market.
 
We don't buy much produce there, but we LOVE their meat.

We have bought pineapples, and they're always good and a good value. We've bought their bags of salad, and those are a good value. We've bought their baking sized potatoes. Probably not the best value, but they're very convenient. Bananas (both there and at Sams) aren't as good of a value and aren't as ripe.
 
asian grocery stores (like h mart and lotte) are great for produce, can be MUCH cheaper (and high quality) than the "average" place
 
Take them back to the store and tell them the apples, etc. aren't any good and they will refund your money.

Here is what I find a good/value at Costco:
apples (I get Gala)
avacodos
oranges
romaine lettuce
grape tomatoes
pineapples
english cucumbers
asian pears

Here is what I find to be bad values or poorer quality:
bananas (quality)
strawberries (quality)
blueberries (taste)
regular pears (value)
asparagus (value)
mixed salads and spring mix (quality)
regular tomatoes (quality)
garlic (value)
sweet potatoes (value)

DebBrown said:
We have a new Costco near us so DH and I went on a "stock up" outing last week. They had some great prices on produce, items I usually buy. However, some were a big disappointment. I am wondering if we just got unlucky or if I should avoid Costco produce as a whole. I hate to buy a large quantity at a bargain price that we can't use.

I buy fuji apples every week and have never had a mushy one until Costco. Now I have a dozen mushy fuji apples. Same with the roma tomatoes and cut broccoli. It's just not as good as what I usually buy at the grocery store.

Deb
Click to expand...
 
The nice thing about Costco - if you are unhappy with the quality, take it back and get a refund. I once bought peaches and found them mushy so I returned them. They prorated the box and refunded the ones I returned. I guess I cannot blame them for charging me for the ones we ate. There is produce I buy there and others I don't. Eventually you will probably do the same. Sometimes I cannot deal with the quantity. One thing I have noticed is, you usually get more that what you pay for. Their 4 lb box of grapes often weighs closer to 5 lbs.
 
Thanks everyone. We did have blueberries, blackberries and papayas that were just fine so it was definitely hit and miss for me. However, I can't remember the last time I had bad produce from our local store.

I'm not wasting my time taking back a few apples. I'm going to cut them up with some butternut squash and bake them. They will not be wasted!

Deb
 
Mixed reviews...

DebBrown said:
We have a new Costco near us so DH and I went on a "stock up" outing last week. They had some great prices on produce, items I usually buy. However, some were a big disappointment. I am wondering if we just got unlucky or if I should avoid Costco produce as a whole. I hate to buy a large quantity at a bargain price that we can't use.

I buy fuji apples every week and have never had a mushy one until Costco. Now I have a dozen mushy fuji apples. Same with the roma tomatoes and cut broccoli. It's just not as good as what I usually buy at the grocery store.

Deb
Click to expand...

First, I am a Costco cook, meaning I rarely buy food elsewhere. We love their baby bellpeppers, strawberries, Fuji apples (ours are 99% of the time very crisp), tangerines, baby tomatoes.

I won't buy their cut mangoes anymore. They aren't ripe and have a slight smell of bug spray.:eek:

Not crazy about their prepared salads in a bag -- the lettuce doesn't last. Love the Costco vegetable/chicken soup and their other soups.
 
Costco is the only place I buy grapefruit, seedless watermelon, baking potatoes, salad mix (in a box), and Campari tomatoes. In the summer, their pluots and cherries are really good. Berries are a bit hit-and-miss. I don't buy oranges there (the crates smell moldy to me, and I feel like one bad orange can spoil the taste of a whole lot of oranges around it), or apples, peaches, or pears (I like to pick all of those one by one). Their nectarines and raspberries are almost always very good in season. Bananas are usually good. Onions are good if you need a lot of them. The English cucumbers--you have to check them very carefully b/c sometimes one will have a squishy end. My kids love their small Persian cucumbers--they're very crisp and never bitter, better than the ones at the grocery store.

I know exactly what you mean about the cut mangoes. There's something funny about their sugar snap peas, too. They taste like they've been dipped in something to stay fresh longer.
 
neash said:
You must be in the DC metropolitan area :)
Click to expand...

He/she could be by me, in northern NJ! We have four HMarts within driving distance--each one different from the others.
 
The only grocery fresh item I buy from Costco is the organic spinach. We can easily eat one of those packages, and it stays fresh for a reasonable length of time. If I see it start to go, I just heat up the rest in some olive oil and sea salt for a couple minutes. My DD's and I Love it!! :cheer:

We mostly buy organic, so every thing else is usually local markets/co-ops. Much fresher, and you can get the quantity you'll eat.

Costco is also great for organic butter and bread in our area. I agree w/Michael that they can have awesome fish and meat specials as well. When it is Copper River salmon season - theirs is surprisingly good! We just avoid the farmed salmon or Atlantic salmon if that is all they have out...
 
Perhaps the produce varies by geographic region, season, etc. That is reasonable.

Deb
 
I need atleast 2 more kids for it to make sense for me to buy anything perishable at Costco. But the stuff LOOKS good though!
 
I think some things depend on the region you are in. Here in Southern California the strawberries are usually terrific and often grown only an hour or two away from the stores. When we travel to Hawaii the Pineapples are really sweet.

We buy the applies, berries, lettuce, tomatoes when in season and occasionally potatoes when we have a family event to cook for. We stay away from the bananas as they never seem to ripen.
 
DebBrown said:
We have a new Costco near us so DH and I went on a "stock up" outing last week. They had some great prices on produce, items I usually buy. However, some were a big disappointment. I am wondering if we just got unlucky or if I should avoid Costco produce as a whole. I hate to buy a large quantity at a bargain price that we can't use.

I buy fuji apples every week and have never had a mushy one until Costco. Now I have a dozen mushy fuji apples. Same with the roma tomatoes and cut broccoli. It's just not as good as what I usually buy at the grocery store.

Deb
Click to expand...

Deb, my spouse is a Refund Cashier at Costco. I'm told the only time Costco will balk at refunding a food item purchase is when the member is trying to return unopened produce, frozen, or deli items they over-bought. This is because the items must be thrown away - they can't be resold, no matter what condition they're in. One caveat - some apples can be a problem. Granny Smith and Honeycrisp are usually great. Fuji apples are more fragile, and have been a periodic problem. So you may have just gotten a bad batch.

If you bought produce (or anything) that was unacceptable, you SHOULD return it to the warehouse for a refund. Costco tracks returns on each item they get back, and it helps them highlight problem sources with their suppliers. If the food item is really bad, throw it away, but save the container it came in. That way the Refund Cashier can give you a direct refund of what you bought. If they don't have at least the container, they have to involve a Supervisor, and it takes a lot more hassle to get you your money.

Costco tries to provide the best items for the lowest possible prices to their membership. It does them no good at all to try and sell substandard produce, because members expect quality products. If an item is "wrong," they want to know about it. Moreover, you paid good money for your purchase, and you have the right to expect a quality item.

So everyone who reads this: If you aren't happy, TAKE IT BACK.

Dave
 
Last edited:
UWSurfer said:
When we travel to Hawaii the Pineapples are really sweet.
Click to expand...
The Maui pineapples at Costco in Hawaii are INCREDIBLE (and only about $3)! Unfortunately, all of the ones I've seen here on the mainland are from other countries and don't taste anywhere near as good. You can order Maui Gold pineapples online, but they're outrageous ($14-$25 each, depending the quantity). I wish I could find somewhere local that sells them at a more reasonable price.
 
We usually have pretty good produce at our Costco. I know you can't always tell with produce just by looking at it and bad produce can be a hit or miss anywhere sometimes. I would give another try.

We love their meats also.
 
Apples in general

Not sure about Costco but I know at different times of the year certain apples are put into cold storage to make the season for them last longer.
This can cause them to get mushy. Different varieties don't do this so just be careful and try them at different times of the year until you figure out when a good time to buy them is. Should correspond to reg. grocery store.
Usually prices are highest when worst quality or coming from cold storage because they have to pay higher cost for them.
Bart
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top