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Costco snacks you won’t find anywhere else

Stock up on these party snacks during your next Costco trip

Briana Bonfiglio
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If you’re a seasoned Costco member, there’s a chance you have certain favorite snacks that you have to go to Costco to buy. But if you’re a new member of the wholesale retailer, you might still be learning which Costco snacks you like. 

Well, there are definitely some delicious snacks that are either exclusive to Costco or extremely limited elsewhere. Whether you’re having guests over or just want to stock up on party snacks, here are some Costco snacks that you won’t find anywhere else.

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Costco store exterior shot

French macarons

Macarons, the colorful and absolutely delicious sweet treats from France, can get pretty pricey if you go to a bakery, and supermarkets don’t tend to carry them. But Costco isn’t your average supermarket. For around $21, you can get 36 macarons from Costco, which trust me, is a steal. The Tipiak French Macarons Limited Edition Variety Pack has six different flavors and is a great buy for your next party or get-together.

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Kirkland Signature Cashew Clusters

Costco’s Kirkland Signature brand has quite a few unique and healthy snacks, including its cashew clusters. This 2-pound bag is full of these bite-sized delights. Each cluster is cashews mashed together with pumpkin seeds and almonds, and they’re both kosher and gluten-free, all making this snack a truly one-of-a-kind gem.

Cadina Crispy Fries

You’re sure to satisfy your French fry cravings with these salted crispy fries. This vegan and gluten-free snack is made from potatoes and has that great crunch to them. You’d have to search far and wide to find these thin, crunchy potato sticks anywhere else.

Popcorn in bulk

For anyone who can scarf down popcorn like it’s nobody’s business, or just loves a good movie night in with friends and family, popcorn in bulk is a must. The Kirkland Signature microwavable popcorn comes in a box of 44 bags for just under $17.

Costco also carries popular brands, such as Pirate’s Booty, Candy Pop Popcorn, and Skinny Pop, and all in bulk boxes of individual bags. Or, if you have a popcorn machine, Costco sells an 8-pound container of Orville Redenbacher‘s 100% whole grain original popping corn for a little more than $15. Talk about bang for your buck!

Variety packs of all your favorites

Here’s the thing: Costco is a goldmine for variety. While it does have many of the same snack brands that you see at a typical grocery store, you can get so many more flavors at a lower price when you shop at Costco. Below are some of the standout variety snack boxes with flavors you may have never tried before.

  • Lulu Platanitos Plantain Chips
  • Popchips Potato Chips
  • Protein Snack Box (jerky)
  • Sabritas Chile Limon Mix
Person grocery shopping with a Costco membership
dennizn / Shutterstock

Making the most of your Costco membership sometimes means getting goodies — like party snacks — that you’d be hard-pressed to find anywhere else. Bulk Costco snacks are perfect for your Super Bowl gatherings, house parties, or beefing up your pantry stock for a rainy day. Next time you’re at Costco, try one of these rare snack finds.

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Topics
Briana Bonfiglio
Briana Bonfiglio
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Grilling season is officially here, and that means it's time to stock up on items you use the most. The last thing you want to do is run out to the store for a forgotten item when you have family and friends coming over to grill. One of the best places to do the stocking up is Costco because their prices are generally lower, and you can buy in bulk and never run out. The subreddit page r/Costco has a wealth of information on all things Costco, including what you should be buying for your next cookout.

"What are your Costco grilling and cookout essentials?" asked one Redditor. "Summer's around the corner, and you’re getting ready for a cookout with friends or family. What are you picking up during your Costco run? Any recommendations or advice?" Plenty of people jumped in to help!

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It's not nice to make fun of someone else's misfortunes unless, of course, you are the unlucky recipient of this cake, in which case, you have every right to do so. If you aren't on Reddit, you're missing out on some hilariously wholesome content on the subreddit page r/Funny. The title of the entry says it all: "Costco will give you exactly what you know you didn't need." While we're normally big fans of Costco, it looks like the designer took the instructions a little too literally, making a cake design that mirrored what the person ordering wanted the entire cake to look like but as an image right in the middle of the cake.

What went wrong?
It seems Costco nailed the half-sheet cake, white cake part of the instructions, but it was the next part that went awry. The person ordering was clear they wanted the cake to have no design or writing of any kind. The only request, they said, was that the perimeter of the cake was to be outlined with red frosting. They went an extra step by drawing out exactly what the cake should look like. Unfortunately, the designer took creative liberty and drew a picture of the orderer's picture in the center of the cake. What we can't tell from the photos is if the perimeter was also done in red the way they requested, but at this point, it probably didn't matter.
The hilarious responses
This post got its fair share of comments, as you can imagine, including some hilarious one-liners like, "This is a thing of beauty," "She's a beaut Clark!," a classic nod to the movie Christmas Vacation, and "Task failed successfully."

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Redditor AxlCobainVedder shared a nostalgia-inducing photo on the Subreddit page r/TheWayWeWere, titling the photo, "Images of the first Costco store in Seattle from the year 1983." In it, you see people standing in lines, "Wholesale Members" and "Returns," looking as patient as one can be standing in line waiting. What's striking about the photo is how little has changed from our current Costco visits when you still see the same lines forming. The only thing that looks different is the fashion, which will probably be making its own comeback before we know it.
People's reactions
People flooded to the photo with comments that agreed with our sentiment. "Still looks pretty much the same all these years later," one Redditor wrote. Another chimed in: "Honestly, it seems pretty much the same. 'Look honey, I know we don’t need it but I’ve always wanted to windsurf!,'" which sounds eerily similar to the conversations I have with my husband perusing the aisles of our local Costco, shopping on a Saturday morning.
Bring on the nostalgia
Many people added to the photo with memories of the 1980s and what their experiences were going into their local Costco. "Random fun fact, that shot of a bunch of phones for sale may not seem that interesting, but it was actually a very big deal," another Redditor said. "Up until the early '80s in the U.S., you typically couldn't just buy a phone, the phone system was a monopoly with AT&T aka "Ma Bell" running it, and you could only rent phones. When you needed a phone, you went down to the phone store and looked at the like four models they had and then rented one."

Another talked about weighing your options on which line would move faster, which I think we can all agree still happens to this day. "I still remember how you'd pick your cashier line by which one had the best 9-key typer and box loader/number caller team," Redditor ElCochinoFeo wrote. "You'd just stand there and hear numbers being called out at an auctioneer's pace, click-clacking of the keypad, and boxes artfully packed like Tetris." Another added their memory from another store, saying, "This kind of reminds me of old-school Trader Joe’s, when the checkers just knew all the prices by heart and would call them out as they were keying them in."

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