Hey Costco, why haven't you started selling individual portions of your bakery items in the food court yet? That's what the store's fans on Reddit want to know, and frankly, we want to know what the hold up is, too.
The hype around Costco's seasonal bakery items is real, whether it's the pumpkin pie or the latest hotness, the peanut butter chocolate pie. That pie in particular is almost a whopping five pounds, and can easily feed a dozen or more people. It's fantastic, but a $20 giant pie isn't feasible for a lot of Costco shoppers. "Sometimes you just want a taste of something sweet without having to commit to buying a whole 12'' pie and then throwing out half of it because you couldn't finish it all," said Redditor u/nehowland.
"Brilliant!!" exclaims another Costco fan of the single slice idea. "I am dying to try the peanut butter chocolate pie that is everywhere these days but I don’t want the whole thing!! And of course it would go perfectly after a $1.50 hot dog and soda."
And it's not just pies that people want to see in the Costco cafe. "They should sell individual portions of other baked goods like muffins, cookies, danishes, etc.," said u/Jameszhang73. "I don't even care if they give it straight from the box, sometimes the craving hits and you don't want to buy 12 muffins at once." Can you imagine roaming around Costco, filling your cart with one arm while you snack on a chocolate chip cookie with the other? Bliss.
Costco already embraces the try-before-you-buy approach with its beloved sample carts. But there's rarely samples of any bakery items available, so a cheaper option for a single portion in the food court would help you decide whether to spend your money on the bulk size or not.
Of course, Costco's in the business of making money. "Right now plenty of people buy the entire pie/muffin pack/cookie plate 'just to try it' because it's cheap enough," said u/Abe_Bettik. "Being able to buy 'just a slice' on their way out would cut into this demographic." We've got to agree, as much as it pains us to say.
Gallery: Costco Prepared Meals That'll Feed Your Whole Family
But there is one way to handle the problem of buying a giant tuxedo cake or a dozen muffins at once: freeze what you won't eat. Most baked goods freeze beautifully, and you can have a single slice or muffin whenever you want. It's what we did with big portions of peanut butter chocolate pie, and it's what many Redditors do as well.
Some Costco fans encourage a more ambitious strategy, however. "Buy pie. Sell slices in parking lot. Profit." While we love the entrepreneurial spirit, we can't exactly recommend that plan.
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