The Costco Question: Worth It or Not?

HOT BUTTON TOPIC! Is it worth it to be a member of Costco if you are a vegan/vegetarian/organic only? Aside from the adult diapers (male & female), flush-able wet toilet wipes - are there any food products available?

Here I present an unbiased, undercover (not so much) report of what organic and vegan/vegetarian products were available at our newly opened Iowa City location. I'm kind of like the Anderson Cooper of Iowa City here, people. I am 100% sure I missed some organic items because I kept having to dodge doddering septuagenarians, prairie whale pods of moms + offspring and aggressive stay-at-home dads on a mission yelling into their walkie talkies.

 ORGANICS:

• Organicville - Vinaigrettes Olive Oil & Balsamic - 2/24oz bottles - $7.79
• Organicville - Sesame Teriyaki Sauce - 35oz bottle - $5.59
• Organicville - BBQ Sauce - 35oz bottle - $4.99
• Seeds of Change - Quinoa & Rice - 4/8.5oz pouches - $7.99
• Flax USA - Golden Milled Flax - 48oz bag - $6.99
• Earthly Choice - Quinoa - 4lb bag - $9.49
• Wholesome Sweeteners - Sugar - 10lb bag - $10.99
• Wholesome Sweeteners - Blue Agave Nectar - 2/36oz bottles - $9.99
• Kirkland Signature/Bolthouse Farms - Carrot Juice - 3/32oz bottles - $6.99
• Seapoint Farms - Edamame - 4/14oz bags - $6.59
• Bybee Foods - Green Beans - 5lb bag - $6.49
• Pure Nature - Broccoli - 4/1lbs bags - $5.99
• Bybee Foods - White Corn - 5lb bag - $5.99
• Earthbound Farms - Mixed Baby Kale - 1.5 lbs - $4.49
• Earthbound Farms - Brocollette - 2lb bag - $6.29
• Earthbound Farms - Mini Peeled Carrots - 5lb bag - $5.49

 

NON-ORGANICS:

• P.O.M. Wonderful - 100% pomegranate juice - 60oz bottle - $8.99
• Odwalla Juice - Variety Smoothies - 10/12oz bottles - $14.59
• MaraNatha - All Natural Almond Butter - 26oz jar - $5.89
• Kirkland Signature - Raw Pine Nuts - 1.5lb bag - $17.79
• Kirkland Signature - Pecan Halves - 2lb bag - $15.99
• Kirkland Signature - Walnuts - 3lb bag - $17.99
• Kirkland Signature - Almonds - 3lb bag - $10.89
• Earthly Choice - All Natural 100% Whole Grain Bulgur Wheat - 4lb bag - $5.79
• Earthly Choice - All Natural Chia Seeds - 2lb bag - $7.39
• Earthly Choice - All Natural Black Rice - 3lb bag - $5.69
• Sugar In The Raw - Natural Cane Sugar - 6lb bag - $7.99 

There was also soy milk and tofu products available - I did not get brand names, pricing info, etc. As always it is imperative to read labels so you know exactly what is in your food.
 
Full disclosure - I do have an Executive (cheapest at $55) membership - after doing some research SJM and I did decide a membership would be worth the money, mostly based on dog food and toilet paper. (PS The Kirkland Signature dog food is highly rated by Consumer Reports  and DogFoodAdvisor.com with a four out of five stars.) We also split our membership with another couple, which allows us to break the bulk foods down into a manageable amount.

I absolutely will not be going grocery shopping there on a regular basis - they just do not have the fresh, organic, local selection to keep me coming in weekly. Honestly, excluding entertaining, I will only shop there when we need to replenish the dog food/dog treats and toilet paper supplies.

Two items they did not have which I use frequently and would buy in bulk - organic canned beans (chickpeas, esp) and brown rice. However, the products keep changing on a regular basis and the Costco staff member I asked about Organics did tell me that they plan to keep expanding that market.