Are you a frequent Costco shopper? If so, then you might be a fan of their often unbeatable deals on quality beef, chicken, seafood, and more. But where exactly does Costco’s meat come from? Is Costco’s meat good quality and produced in the USA?
Costco’s meat, seafood, and eggs are sourced from a wide range of global suppliers representing as many as fifteen countries and regions.
The following table shows where each type of meat sold at Costco may be sourced from:
| Type | Source(s) |
| Beef | USA, Canada, Australia |
| Chicken | USA |
| Seafood | USA, Canada, Norway, Costa Rica, Southeast Asia, Central America, South America |
| Veal | USA |
| Pork | USA |
| Lamb | Australia |
| Eggs | USA, UK, Australia, Canada, China, France, Iceland, Japan, Mexico, South Korea, Spain, Taiwan |
While Costco opened up a cage-free egg facility in Shanghai, China, in 2021, Costco does not source any of its meat from China.
Contents
Types Of Meat Available At Costco
Some of the types of meat available at Costco include:
- Chicken breast
- Chicken patties
- Chicken tenderloin
- Diced chicken
- Chicken nuggets
- Chicken skewers
- Whole chicken
- Chicken sausage
- Ribeye steak
- Sirloin steak
- Beef jerky
- Beef bones
- Beef patties
- Ground beef
- Organic ground beef
- Prime rib
- Striploin shabu
- Wagyu beef
- Pork adobada
- Pork tenderloin
- Pork ribeye steaks
- Ground pork
- Halal beef bacon
- Canadian bacon
- Sausage patties
- Pork jerky
- Bacon
- Pulled pork
- Whole ham
- Uncured ham
- New Zealand lamb
- Frenched lamb racks
- Lamb loin chops
- Meatballs
- Half duck
- Crab cakes
- Shrimp
- Fish sticks
- Lobster tail
- Dungeness crab
- Sockeye salmon
- Salmon burgers
- Smoked salmon
Costco’s meat and seafood selection can be found in the various frozen and refrigerated sections throughout the store.
Is Costco’s Meat Cheaper Than Its Competitors?
Costco not only offers high quality meat offerings–they also offer competitive prices when compared to a range of other suppliers.
For the quality, Costco’s meat is competitively priced. For example, Costco’s choice offering of organic ground beef comes from Pederson Natural Farms and is available for $129.99 for a pack of 12 one-pound packages. This is equivalent to about $10 per pound. When you purchase the same product directly from Pederson Farms, you pay about $13 per pound, which is significantly more expensive.
Similarly, Costco also offers competitive prices on meat from popular companies like Tyson. Right now, a 5-lb bag of Tyson chicken patties is available for just $17.99 at Costco, which equals about $3.60 per pound. At Target, a 1.75-lb bag of the same Tyson patties are available for $7.79, which equals about $4.50 per pound. Clearly, the Costco offering wins out here as well.
Costco Meat Quality
The quality of Costco’s meat offerings ranges from average to high quality, as Costco sells everything from Foster Farms chicken to organic, grass-fed beef. For beef specifically, Costco sells both prime and choice meat cuts.
But rest assured, whenever you buy meat at Costco, it’s been tested against some rigorous quality and welfare standards.
Costco has an extensive animal welfare policy based on the work of animal welfare expert, Dr. Temple Grandin. According to their policy, Costco supports the Five Freedoms of animal well-being, which include freedom from fear, freedom from discomfort, and more. You can read the full text of Costco’s Animal Welfare Policy here.
When it comes to the use of antibiotics in the production of their meats, Costco limits the application of antibiotics to therapeutic use only in order to prevent, control, or treat diseases among livestock.
Overall, Costco also sells hormone-free meat, as the addition of hormones is not allowed for any meat other than beef. Costco’s beef offerings are largely advertised as hormone free, and all of their organic beef offerings can be safely assumed to be hormone free in accordance with organic beef standards and regulations.
FAQs
Does Costco inject their rotisserie chicken?
Yes. Costco injects their rotisserie chicken with saline solution to add flavor.
Where does Costco hamburger meat come from?
The majority of Costco’s ground beef is sourced from farms in the USA.
Is Costco meat grass fed?
Not all of it, but Costco does sell some grass-feed meat.
Is Costco meat prime or choice?
Costco sells both prime and choice meats.
Conclusion
Costco sources their meat, seafood, and eggs from a wide range of farms all over the world. The majority of Costco’s beef, chicken, and pork is sourced from farms in the USA. None of Costco’s meat is sourced from China, though they did open a cage-free egg facility in Shanghai in 2021. Costco’s meat is reliably high quality and meets the parameters of Costco’s Animal Welfare Policy. On top of their promise of quality, Costco also offers competitive prices on all of their meat offerings.
