Costco Shoppers Are Having Issues With Its Chicken, And The CEO Has Responded

Consumers have been complaining a lot about Costco's chicken over the past few months. First, consumers argued that its raw chicken was stringy and mushy. There were also objections when the retailer changed the packaging for its rotisserie chicken, replacing the traditional clam shell with plastic bags. Consumers protested that the bags were leaking and questioned whether or not they were food safe. Now, new complaints are surfacing in the r/Costco subreddit about the company's chicken breasts having a woody texture. The initial poster emailed Costco's CEO, Ron Vachris, to voice concerns and received a response that drove even more grumbling on the social media site.

The poster, who goes by the handle thesaxmaniac, explained in their email to Vachris that they had been eating a Costco chicken breast every day for the previous six months. "The first couple of months were great," the poster wrote, noting the occasional piece of "gross chicken." However, they added, "Since then, the amount of jelly crunchy woody chicken breasts per package has increased dramatically to the point where I dread eating any breast over 8 ounces." Vachris' response, which thesaxmaniac shared as a screenshot, was fairly standard: "Thank you for the email and we will look into it right away. I apologize and you are entitled to a full refund on any below quality product that you have purchased."

After another poster in the Reddit thread tried to explain that the woody texture was an indication of toughness, thesaxmaniac clarified, "It's crunchy like a Christmas ham slice." A third poster noted the same problem with Costco chicken thighs. Several commenters in the thread said that they have stopped buying any form of Costco chicken and have found better alternatives at other retailers, albeit at higher prices. Still others have said that they have encountered the issue with woody chicken at other retailers. "I too have stopped buying the Costco chicken breasts," one poster said," but I am having trouble finding non-woody chicken ANYWHERE without paying ridiculous amounts for it."

Vachris, who became only the third CEO in Costco's history in January, 2024, told Fortune that he planned to steer the company's course in the same direction it has always been. But, he added, "We can't become arrogant. We can't become comfortable." Addressing consumer complaints about chicken may be a great way to start.