Photo: Wikipedia/Jekoln
When news that Costco was revamping its snack bar menu to add more items designed to appeal to health-conscious club members, the action appeared to be on-trend. The changes did not affect most of Costco's popular items, including its $1.50 all-beef hot dog and soda combo. So, what could be wrong? Apparently, the chain did decide to dump its Polish hot dogs, a move deemed just too radical for some Costco club members.
People unhappy that the Polish dog is no longer on Costco’s menu have taken to petition sites such as Care2 (more than 10.7K signatures) and Change.org (more than 21K signatures in two petitions) to voice their displeasure. While Costco is still selling the Polish dogs in bulk inside its clubs, that does not appear to be good enough to appease those riled up by the snack bar delisting.
The News Tribune reports that Costco has replaced the Polish dogs with the al pastor salad. Apparently, the $4.99 dish, a mashup of Southwestern and Vietnamese flavors that includes black beans, black olives, romaine lettuce, soy protein and other ingredients, isn’t going over all that well, even with vegetarians who, let’s face it, were probably pleased to see Costco kick a meat dish off the menu.
Perhaps seeing an opportunity it can exploit, Sam’s Club has announced that it is adding Polish dogs to the cafe menus at its locations around the U.S. beginning on July 23. The dog, which will sell for 99 cents, can be purchased without a Sam’s membership since the club does not require membership to eat in its cafes.
- Costco changes up food court menu, but the $1.50 hot dog deal remains – The Seattle Times
- Here’s what Costco’s newest food court item tastes like. Spoiler: It’s nothing like a Polish dog – The News Tribune
- Costco angers members by dropping Polish hot dog for healthier choices. Minnesotans say, 'What Polish hot dog?' – Minneapolis Star Tribune
- Costco, Don’t Get Rid of the Polish Dog! – Care2
- Costco: Bring Back the Polish Dog! – Change.org
- Keep the Polish Dog on the Costco Menu – Change.org
- Sam’s Club cafes to offer Polish dog that Costco abandoned – Takeout
- Sam’s Club – Twitter
- Sam’s Club takes on Costco and Amazon with a new strategy – RetailWire