Costco Is Noticing A Difference In What Its Customers Are Eating

You've probably noticed the rising cost of food, both in grocery stores and restaurants, over the past year or so. Chances are it's caused you to change how you shop, cook, and eat in order to make the most of your money. Costco has also noticed how the price of food has impacted its customer behavior — based on purchasing trends, it appears more people are cooking at home and eating in. 

During Costco's 2025 Q1 earnings call, transcribed by The Motley Fool, this observation was made due to the fact that the warehouse club retailer saw strong meat and produce sales throughout 2024. This makes sense — meat, fruit, and vegetables are core components of most homemade meals. External data also backs this up: One survey from August 2024 found that half of the respondents had been eating out less and cooking more meals at home. Walmart, which sells home goods, electronics, and groceries, saw its grocery sales climb higher than all of its other merchandise in Q3 of 2024.

Food chains like Starbucks, McDonald's, Wendy's, Shake Shack, and Olive Garden have also reported lower sales over the past few quarters despite being considered more affordable dining options. According to Vericast's 2024 Restaurant TrendWatch report, the inflation of restaurant prices has become higher than grocery store food prices — restaurants experienced a 5.1% rise in food prices over the past year, while grocery stores only saw a 1.2% increase — so it's logical that more Americans would want to cut back on their dining spending (via Chain Store Age). 

If you feel like a carton of eggs used to be a fraction of the price a few years ago, you're not going crazy — over the past five years, food prices have risen by 28%, according to NerdWallet. Meat and eggs are two categories that have specifically become more expensive, and Costco Chief Financial Officer Gary Millerchip noted during the Q1 earnings call that the company has observed increasing customer interest in affordable meat and poultry products that have a lower price-per-pound. In case you're wondering, these are the best and worst cuts of meat at Costco. 

International food items appear to be having their moment as well. Costco items like hot pot beef sliced rolls, sona masoori rice, and pork soup dumplings are also becoming more popular. It's even possible to buy the Chinese delicacy, century eggs, at Costco. With Americans eating out less and trying fewer restaurants, it's understandable that there would be a desire to try new items or snag affordable favorites at the grocery store. 

If you're looking to save money on your next Costco haul, items like bacon, vanilla extract, wine, and flour are considered to be good bang for your buck at the store. In 2024, a few items even became cheaper at the retailer, like macadamia nuts, the two-pack of baguettes, Spanish olive oil, chicken stock, and peanut butter.