Costco shopper exposes how products made by other companies are sold under Kirkland brand
Costco's in-house brand Kirkland offers products similar to those offered by bigger brands, at more affordable prices. But it has often come under fire from consumers over quality issues, and some food products marketed under the label have even been recalled. Shoppers may wonder how a single company can manufacture and sell so many different types of products. The answer to that question is that Kirland doesn’t actually manufacture a lot of its own products.
This was revealed by TikTok creator Rossen (@rossen.reports), according to a report in Twisted Sifter. Rossen went into a Costco store and investigated several Kirkland products to find out who the actual manufacturers are, and the revelations have left a lot of shoppers shocked. “I’ve been investigating all things Kirkland Signature here at Costco, and I’ve learned all the secrets. Like, who’s really making this stuff?” he said. The video has received more than 483,000 likes on TikTok so far.
He said that the brands that produce these items do not admit to it due to a business reason. The first item that Rossen talked about was a bag of ground coffee, which the TikTok creator claimed that Starbucks made. He also pointed out that the bags of Starbucks coffee were kept on the shelf right next to the Kirkland ones.
“It’s all part of the business model,” Rossen said. “Starbucks is like, ‘Hey, if you want to spend all your money on our big name brand, fantastic. But you also can spend less money and get a deal on Kirkland, and guess what, Starbucks is still making money on this too because they make it.” That is not where the creator stopped. The next thing he pointed out was a pack of batteries.
“Kirkland batteries. Guess who makes them? Duracell. And guess where they sell Duracell? Right here, and they sell Kirkland right below it,” he said. Up next, Rossen told a story about how her mother ruined canned tuna for him, before coming to the point. “Who makes the Albacore tuna of the Kirkland brand here? It’s Bumblebee,” he claimed, before mentioning, “They make this cheap, different price points, and Bumblebee more expensive, but they’re making it.”
Rossen then went on to say that the pet food sold by Kirkland was actually made by Diamond Pet Foods. He said, “Which is a top brand known for amazing ingredients. They are really well regarded. They make the Kirkland pet food.” Next up on the agenda was Kirkland Baby Formula. The creator claimed that a lesser-known company called Perrigo was responsible for that.
“They actually make the infant formula for all the big US retailers, it seems,” he added, stating that the likes of Target and Walmart also employ their services. Rossen also claimed that Kirkland’s baby diapers used to be produced by Huggies, but recently, they changed it to a company called First Quality. Since then, consumers have raised complaints over the quality of the diapers.
For more of such content, follow @rossen.reports on TikTok.
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