Costco Sells A Wheel Of Cheese For $1000, But It Might Still Be A Good Deal

There are some foods you always buy when you're at Costco. At everyone's favorite warehouse store, you can buy a whole rotisserie chicken for just $5 and a bottle of prosecco for only $7. Scale up to more valuable items though, and what counts as a bargain can still seem like a jaw-dropping price. 

Among its most extravagant deals, Costco sells membership to a private jet service for $17,500, a Cadillac Escalade for $75,000, and a 178-pound crystal chandelier for $2,500. If you're a jet-flying, Cadillac-riding, chandelier-on-your-ceiling, wheeling-dealing son of a gun, they've got you covered, but if your interests lean more toward the culinary, you might be most intrigued by the 72-pound wheel of Parmigiano Reggiano that Costco sells for $949.99.

Spending nearly $1,000 on cheese might sound outrageous, but this is Parmigiano Reggiano we're talking about. It would be a different matter if they were selling parmesan, the American transliteration that tries its best to mimic Italian Parmigiano Reggiano, but comes up short in just about everyone's eyes. Parmesan has a weaker flavor, salty and bitter compared to the rich nuttiness of Parmigiano. 

Nobody's going to drop $1,000 on parmesan unless they own an Olive Garden franchise, but many chefs and foodies consider authentic Parmigiano Reggiano to be such a luxury that Costco's price is actually a steal.

Parmigiano Reggiano is particularly expensive because of its exclusive nature. It is a D.O.P. product. That stands for 'Denominazione d' Origine Protetta' (protected designation of origin), and it means that cheese can only be called Parmigiano Reggiano if it adheres to a strict set of laws established by the Italian government. 

Under these legal guidelines, Parmigiano Reggiano must be made in the Emilia Romagna region, in the provinces of Bologna, Modena, Mantua, Reggio Emilia, or, naturally, Parma. Emilia Romagna has its own cattle breeds with diets unique to the region that affect the bacteria in the cheesemaking process. The government also requires Parmigiano Reggiano to be aged for at least a year and inspected by a consortium before it can be sold.

Considering the time, labor, and limited regional resources required to make Parmigiano Reggiano, is a high price really all that shocking? Keep in mind that the wheel sold by Costco weighs 72 pounds, putting the cost at just over $13 per pound. That's great bang for your buck in the parm world. 

For comparison, Amazon sells a 75-pound wheel of Parmigiano Reggiano for $1,900 (over $25 per pound), and Williams Sonoma sells an 80-pound wheel for $3,000 ($37.50 per pound). Let's be honest, you're unlikely to land in any scenario where you absolutely need 70-plus pounds of aged cheese, but if that's the kind of showstopping pantry item that tickles your fancy, now you have yet another reason to swing by Costco.