Costco rotisserie chicken – the savior of weeknight dinners. This cheap and easy staple has been a Costco all-star for years, but you still might know all the hacks, tips and secrets behind how it's made, and how you can use it. We've got all the details right here.
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00:00Costco rotisserie chicken, the savior of weeknight dinners. This cheap and easy staple has been
00:06a Costco all-star for years, but you still might not know all the hacks, tips, and secrets
00:10behind how it's made and how you can use it. We've got all the details right here.
00:16If you're the observant sort of shopper who wants to get the most out of every dime, it's
00:19possible you've noticed that Costco's fully cooked, 3-pound rotisserie chickens are actually
00:24cheaper than their uncooked ones. They're also among the cheapest rotisserie chickens
00:28around, making this a deal that seems too good to be true.
00:31So, you got money?
00:34Not a penny. I'll still take that chicken.
00:38In fact, the chicken is so cheap, it doesn't seem like Costco could even make money selling
00:43them. And yet, Costco continues to sell them for $4.99, while their competitors have raised
00:47prices.
00:48So what's going on here? To get the answer, first we have to jump in the Wayback Machine
00:52for a look at the avian flu crisis of 2015, which threatened the entire U.S. poultry industry.
00:57With countless birds lost, Barclays analyst Meredith Adler asked Costco's chief financial
01:01officer Richard Galante if this would finally result in the company raising prices.
01:07He said,
01:08"...I can only tell you what history has shown us. When others were raising their chicken
01:11prices from $4.99 to $5.99, we were willing to eat, if you will, $30 to $40 million a
01:16year in gross margin by keeping it at $4.99. That's what we do for a living."
01:20Why would Costco leave tens of millions of dollars in potential profits on the table
01:24if they could sell the chicken for more? Because they think they can make even more
01:27money by selling chicken cheaper. Costco first began selling their $4.99 chicken in 2009,
01:32and it was an instant hit. Just a year later, Costco sold 51 million rotisserie chickens,
01:37and by 2017, that number was up to 87 million.
01:40That's a lot of customers coming through the door looking for chicken, which is why Costco
01:44keeps their chickens all the way in the back of the store. Many other chains use the same
01:47strategy of luring customers into their stores with cheap, delicious chicken.
01:51John Fitzgerald, vice president of merchandising at the Kroger-owned Mariano's, told the Wall
01:55Street Journal that it's all about getting people in the door, and then pouncing with
01:59high-profit margin add-ons. If they get a chicken, a salad, and maybe they pick up a
02:03bottle of wine, now we're really talking.
02:05While Costco isn't the only player in the rotisserie chicken game, they're taking steps
02:09to go above and beyond their competition. Since they started selling, they've invested
02:13in larger, high-efficiency ovens and containers made with less plastic, both of which help
02:17keep their costs down. And in 2018, the Seattle Times reported Costco was investing hundreds
02:22of millions of dollars in a massive chicken farm located in eastern Nebraska. The centrally
02:26located state was chosen in part because of the large corn and soybean production there,
02:30which will save Costco on feed costs.
02:32That's important, because they're going to have a lot of chickens to feed, an estimated
02:36100 million a year. The only downside, of course, is a less personalized chicken experience
02:40than you might get from a boutique dealer.
02:42The chicken you'll be enjoying tonight."
02:44You have this information? This is fantastic."
02:46Absolutely. His name was Colin."
02:49And there are other plans in the works, too. They're in talks to raise hundreds more chicken
02:52barns. And while it's a hefty initial investment, it's going to help keep their costs low in
02:56the future. Of course, none of that explains why Costco's uncooked chickens are actually
03:00more expensive than their cooked chickens, which seems backwards. After all, they're
03:04doing all the work so you don't have to.
03:06What are you supposed to do with that?
03:09Eat it.
03:10Eat it?
03:11F----- is alive.
03:12Time Money suggests there may be a sneaky reason for this, too. Cooked chickens are
03:16going to go bad faster, and they want to keep them at a price point that'll make sure they're
03:19continuously going out the door. They definitely do at that price.
03:23It's also worth noting that rotisserie chickens aren't the only products Costco has said they'll
03:26keep at these insanely super low prices. According to Time, Costco's Jumbo Hot Dog & Drink deal
03:31has been priced at $150 since the mid-1980s. It's all about increasing foot traffic, and
03:36that's been particularly challenging for stores like Costco, which generally aren't located
03:40in super-convenient areas where people might pop in regularly to see what's on the shelves.
03:45People need a reason to make their trek to Costco, and what's a better reason than a
03:48quick and tasty low-cost dinner that's ready to serve? And besides, passing up the chicken
03:52might make them angry. And you don't really want to get the rotisserie chicken angry,
03:56do you?
03:57I don't know, I think they're kinda cute. I mean, this one just walked right up to me
04:01and, ah, he's coming!
04:05Even if you're not a Costco member, you've no doubt heard about Costco's rotisserie chicken.
04:10Here's everything you need to know about them, from what's really in them, to how they
04:13stack up to the competition, to what to do with it once you get home.
04:17The ingredient list for a Costco rotisserie chicken is actually pretty simple. A whole
04:22chicken, water, and seasonings including salt, sodium phosphate, modified food starch, potato
04:28dextrin, carrageenan, sugar, dextrose, and spice extractives.
04:33These are pre-seasoned in factories. They arrive at the supermarket so that an employee
04:37can put it on the skewer and cook it.
04:39Some of those chemical-sounding words might seem unusual, but there's nothing too terribly
04:43scary here. Sodium phosphate is an additive that helps keep meats moist and maintains
04:48freshness. Modified food starch is an additive typically used for thickening, stabilizing,
04:53or emulsifying. Potato dextrin is a thickener and a sweetener, but can also be used to enhance
04:58crispness in foods. Dextrose is a simple sugar made from corn. Carrageenan, a preservative
05:06made from seaweed that, in chicken, helps to retain water, is probably the most controversial
05:10ingredient here.
05:12Though it's FDA-approved, there is some evidence to suggest that it triggers negative health
05:16effects in some. For the most part, it seems these additives ensure maximum tenderness
05:21and provide that always-winning combo of salty and sweet goodness.
05:25Most likely, you probably eat plenty of foods with way scarier labels that don't taste anywhere
05:30near as good.
05:32Costco's rotisserie chicken is missing something that's typically pretty common among other
05:36grocery store rotisserie chickens, monosodium glutamate, or MSG. Although MSG tends to get
05:42a bad rap, there's no doubt that it makes food taste amazing with all its flavor-enhancing
05:46abilities. But that's neither here nor there because Costco's chicken just doesn't need
05:51it to taste amazing.
05:52Another thing you don't have to worry about with Costco's rotisserie chicken? Gluten.
05:56A company representative confirmed that the chickens are gluten-free, which is not always
06:00the case with grocery store rotisserie chickens.
06:04If there's one knock on any brand of rotisserie chicken, it's the high sodium content.
06:08There's a lot of salt in a rotisserie chicken. There's probably more salt than you would
06:12use if you were roasting a chicken at home.
06:14Costco's comes packed with its fair share, but it's certainly not the worst. Nutritionist
06:18Bonnie Tobdicks told Today that a three-ounce serving of rotisserie chicken can't have as
06:22much as 600 milligrams of sodium. The same serving size of Costco's rotisserie chicken
06:27comes in at 460 milligrams.
06:30A Sam's Club rotisserie chicken has around 550 milligrams for a three-ounce serving.
06:35Some chickens have less sodium, though. Publix's, for example, has around 250 milligrams per
06:40three-ounce serving.
06:42And let's be clear, none of these rotisserie chickens come close to the sodium level of
06:46a fast food burger.
06:47A McDonald's double quarter pounder with cheese has 1,310 milligrams of sodium. A Wendy's
06:54Baconator has 1,630 milligrams. According to the FDA, the recommended daily value of
07:00sodium is less than 2,300 milligrams. So you can have five servings of Costco's rotisserie
07:06chicken or one Baconator.
07:09And as long as we're talking nutrition, here's what else you get with that three-ounce serving
07:12of Costco rotisserie chicken. 140 calories, 7 grams of fat, and 19 grams of protein.
07:20The big appeal of Costco is great deals on supersized products, like that giant stuffed
07:25bear they sell. And you should expect no less with Costco's rotisserie chicken. For the
07:29bargain basement cost of $4.99, you get a monster of a bird whose price and weight beat
07:35the pants off competitors' offerings.
07:37Coming in at a weight of at least three pounds after cooking, Costco's rotisserie chicken
07:41dwarfs those sold by other stores. According to The Wall Street Journal, a one-and-a-half
07:46to two-pound bird is what you'll typically find elsewhere, and you could pay $7 or more
07:50for it. You don't need to be a math whiz to see that paying $5 for a three-pound chicken
07:56is better than paying $7 for a two-pounder.
07:59Not only is it a steal for its size, but Costco typically ranks number one in rotisserie chicken
08:04taste tests, which is unsurprising if you've ever tried one. Whether it goes up against
08:09Sam's Club, Walmart, Kroger, or Whole Foods, Costco is tops.
08:14Even knowing the value proposition, you still want to pick the best, freshest bird from
08:19what's available. And once you know what to look for, it's easy. Bon Appétit senior food
08:24editor Rick Martinez says that picking the heaviest bird also means picking the freshest,
08:29because a heavier chicken indicates that its juices haven't yet evaporated under the heat
08:33lamps.
08:34Martinez explains,
08:35"...you'll feel a noticeable difference between the birds that just came out of the oven and
08:40ones that have been sitting there all day."
08:42The skin also tells a tale. You want evenly browned and taut skin, because, Martinez says,
08:49"...as the juices leave the meat, the chicken's skin begins to shrivel and becomes discolored."
08:54A former Costco meat department manager shared another useful tip on Reddit, advising,
08:59"...look for ones that touch the top of the lid. They weigh the most."
09:03Also, be sure to grab your Costco rotisserie chicken at the end of your shopping trip.
09:08It's easy to get lost in the maze of aisles, and for safety's sake, the USDA recommends
09:12that cooked food be refrigerated within two hours to prevent bacteria growth.
09:17One downside to be aware of if you've never tried a Costco rotisserie chicken before?
09:22The skin will almost certainly not be crispy. After it's roasted to a tender perfection,
09:27that rotisserie chicken gets placed into its plastic container, waiting to go home
09:31with you. By the time it makes its journey to your kitchen, that skin is more soggy than
09:36crisp. But don't worry, it's still utterly delicious, and you will definitely have to
09:40restrain yourself from stripping each and every last bit of salty brown skin off in
09:44one sitting. It's just… not crispy.
09:48Costco's rotisserie chickens are a well-known loss leader. If you're not familiar with the
09:53term, Costco is willing to sell those chickens at $4.99, even if they're not making any money
09:59on them, because chances are anyone who makes the trip to Costco to buy one is going to
10:04buy other stuff, too.
10:06"...chickens are a lure to get customers in the door. They're placed strategically at
10:10the back of every Costco, so customers might pick up other items along the way."
10:14How often do you run in, grab a hot rotisserie chicken, and beeline it to the registers without
10:19grabbing anything else? Nine times out of ten, you're leaving Costco with a whole lot
10:24more than that $4.99 rotisserie chicken, and a whole lot less money in your wallet.
10:29Costco might be willing to sell you a delicious chicken for under $5, but it's certainly not
10:33doing it for philanthropic reasons.
10:36As with many grocery store offerings, Costco's rotisserie chickens come packaged in a plastic
10:41clamshell. And that seems like a fairly logical and inexpensive way to get that steaming hot
10:46chicken from the warehouse store to your kitchen, right? But it turns out there is another option
10:51that uses a lot less plastic.
10:53In May 2019, The Takeout reported that Whole Foods would begin selling its rotisserie chickens
10:58in bags rather than hard plastic clamshells, a move the company says that, along with other
11:03packaging changes, will reduce an estimated 800,000 pounds of plastic waste per year.
11:09Wegmans had already made the change for its rotisserie chickens and claims to use 75 percent
11:14less plastic than the standard domes.
11:17With 64 million Costco rotisserie chickens sold each year, you can imagine how much plastic
11:22waste all those clamshells add up to, because they're not recyclable everywhere. Something
11:27to think about next time you pick up a Costco bird.
11:30According to deal-seeking Redditors, at some Costco locations, unsold rotisserie chickens
11:35are chilled and repurposed into packs of eight-leg quarters, which include the thigh and the
11:40drumstick for $4.99, the same price as a whole chicken. Yes, you're not getting the
11:45two breasts or the two tiny wings, but the six additional thighs and drumsticks are certain
11:50to more than make up for that.
11:51In The Know, Redditors advise that certain times are better than others to score this
11:55deal, saying that early mornings are best, particularly Tuesday through Friday. The chickens
12:01have a greater chance of selling out on the weekends, meaning there won't be any leftovers
12:04to be sold.
12:07Stock recipes typically call for the bones and scraps left over after breaking down raw
12:11chicken, but if you're not using the carcass from your Costco rotisserie chicken to make
12:15your stock, you're missing out. According to Bone Appetit, when you use the bones from
12:20an already-roasted bird, you'll actually be left with a darker stock than from raw chicken,
12:25which ultimately means more flavor will be added to whatever dish you add the stock to.
12:29The process for making stock with pre-cooked rotisserie chicken is the same as using raw
12:34chicken parts. Just add water, vegetables, and aromatics, like garlic, then simmer for
12:39an hour or more and strain. While spending the time to make stock from a convenience
12:44item like rotisserie chicken might seem like a lot of work, think about it this way. You
12:48just paid $4.99 for that bird, which is a steal to begin with, and now for a few pennies
12:54worth of veggies, you're also getting a pot of rich, dark stock. Isn't that worth the
12:59trouble?
13:00Say you want to make a recipe, a pot pie or some fried rice, perhaps, with your Costco
13:05chicken, but your recipe calls for a certain amount of meat and you have no idea how much
13:10a rotisserie chicken will actually yield. Well, don't worry, it's a lot. According to
13:15Betty Crocker, the average rotisserie chicken is about two pounds and will yield three cups
13:20of meat, two cups white, one cup dark. That translates to about one pound of meat and
13:25a pound of scraps. But Costco's rotisserie chickens are substantially larger than the
13:30average bird, so how much can you expect from them? Food blogger Judy Wright broke down
13:35two Costco chickens and got more than seven and a half cups from them. That's a whopping
13:40five pounds total, or about two and a half pounds from each. That's a lot more than your
13:45standard rotisserie chicken and should be plenty for whatever recipe you've got in mind.
13:50Have a little taste of chicken. Just a bit. Just a taste. Chicken, chicken, chicken."
13:57Mmm.
13:58Delicious, right?
13:59There's no worse sin than taking a perfectly cooked rotisserie chicken, bringing it home,
14:05sticking it in the refrigerator until dinner time, and then completely ruining it when
14:09you reheat it. All that beautifully tender meat gets turned into chicken-flavored shoe
14:13leather after a couple minutes in the microwave. But take comfort, there is a way to successfully
14:19reheat your Costco rotisserie chicken without rendering it inedible. According to Ilana
14:24Karp, head chef and culinary co-founder at Plated, you've got to use the oven for best
14:29results, and the key is adding some liquid to the situation. Grab a high-sided baking
14:34dish, plop your rotisserie chicken inside, and pour about a quarter of an inch of chicken
14:38stock or broth into the dish. Reheat the chicken at 400 degrees until the stock is bubbling
14:44and the chicken is warmed through. Karp promises that the liquid will ensure a moist, reheated
14:50bird. It takes a little more time, but you'll be glad you exercised a little patience rather
14:54than trying to choke down a dried-out, microwaved mess.
14:58One day or three weeks, the time a Costco rotisserie chicken will last in the fridge
15:03might surprise you. When it comes to grocery store rotisserie chickens, shoppers know that
15:08Costco's $5 rotisserie chicken is at the top of the list. In addition to staying so cheap
15:14amid the 2022 food inflation crisis, Costco's rotisserie chicken is well-seasoned, easy
15:19to repurpose in other dishes, and downright addictive. The rotisserie seasonings include
15:24MSG, sugar, and salt, which together provoke the same cravings as potato chips. As delicious
15:30as Costco's rotisserie chickens are, they are not immune to the effects of time. So
15:35we've put together a few good tips for how you should be storing your Costco rotisserie
15:38chicken for optimal flavor and texture, and how long you can keep it around.
15:43Sometimes you're busy, and you can't get around to eating everything in your fridge
15:46before it expires. However, while products like cheese, eggs, and certain juices can
15:51be kept past their expiration dates, meat should not. Generally speaking, you can keep
15:55a Costco rotisserie chicken in your fridge for up to four days. If you've stored your
16:00chicken properly, you can potentially keep it for a fifth day, but no longer. Proper
16:04storage involves airtight containers or tight sealing in foil or cling wrap.
16:09Another key piece of storing your rotisserie chicken is to keep it above raw meats in your
16:13refrigerator. Raw meat should always be stored in leak-proof containers on the bottom shelf
16:18so they don't drip onto other foods and cause foodborne illnesses. If raw meat juices drip
16:23onto your Costco rotisserie chicken, you should throw it out immediately, regardless of its
16:27expiration date.
16:29If you want to keep your Costco rotisserie chicken for a few days after you've bought
16:32it, it's important not to leave it out on your counter. Bacteria grow quickly on food
16:37left at room temperature, so if you leave your chicken out, it will become unsafe very
16:41quickly. Two hours is generally considered the length of time you can keep food out before
16:46it starts to get risky. If you want the chicken to stay warm, you can keep it in a warm oven
16:50about 200 degrees to maintain the temperature without making it unsafe or drying it out.
16:58Planning to bring your rotisserie chicken to a summer picnic? Then you'll need to dial
17:02that safe zone back an hour. Bacteria multiply especially fast when temperatures soar over
17:09so you'll need to eat fast. It's sad to see a beautiful rotisserie chicken's shelf life
17:13cut so tragically short, but there is no way around it. If you know from the get-go that
17:18you don't plan to eat your meat right away, your best bet is to put the chicken in the
17:22refrigerator right after you unpack your groceries. That way, the time in your Costco cart plus
17:27travel time still doesn't hit the two-hour mark.
17:30To really buy yourself some time with your rotisserie chicken, colder temperatures are
17:34your ally. Your fridge is perfect for short-term storage, but if you don't think you'll be
17:39consuming your chicken within the next few days or just don't want the pressure of knowing
17:43you must finish it in that time frame, you can simply freeze the chicken. Rotisserie
17:47chicken that's been frozen will last up to three months, so it's a great way of providing
17:51yourself with some backup dinner options.
17:54To freeze a rotisserie chicken, you'll want to be especially careful to use an airtight
17:58container, which both prevents freezer burn and preserves its juicy flavor. To minimize
18:03the amount of space the chicken takes up in your freezer, you can cut up or shred
18:07the chicken first and store it in freezer Ziploc bags for convenience. Cutting up or
18:12shredding the chicken also makes it easy to use the chicken in other dishes, but it's
18:16totally fine to freeze the chicken whole if that's the way you want to eat it.
18:20To defrost frozen rotisserie chicken, simply leave it in the refrigerator overnight. If
18:24you'd like it hot, 30 minutes in an oven at about 350 degrees should do the trick for
18:30a whole chicken.
18:32There are hidden treasures that no one talks about, but Costco most certainly isn't one
18:37of them. The members-only wholesale retail juggernaut carries items that have actual
18:42cult followings, and Costco fans are often freaking out about new products in the Costco-centric
18:47corners of social media.
18:49Oh, I love this place. I'd love to get lost in here. Wouldn't it be something?
18:54And all of that's before the fresh-cooked food even comes into play. Fast food chains
18:59are often simple enough to condense into one key product, like McDonald's Big Mac
19:04or Burger King's Whopper. This is usually far more difficult with big-box retail stores,
19:09which carry thousands upon thousands of products and serve customers from all walks of life
19:14with radically differing tastes. Not so with Costco.
19:18Their unbelievably delicious $4.99 rotisserie chicken is the stuff of legends, and as Winsite
19:26Grocery Business notes, the company sold an astounding 101 million of these tasty poultry
19:32treats in 2020 alone. Seeing as Costco has clearly optimized their signature chicken
19:37dish in every possible way, it's almost impossible to imagine how one could improve it.
19:42Well, the chicken itself is tasty as it is, but you can always optimize your ability to
19:47get it from the spit to your plate as quickly as possible. Let's take a look at the handy
19:52hack that allows you to cut your Costco chicken quickly.
19:56Any devoted fan of chicken dishes is probably familiar with the wishbone, the Y-shaped thing
20:00where the neck turns to breast. It's famously handy for making wishes, especially if one
20:06of your wishes happens to be the ability to carve a Costco rotisserie chicken as quickly
20:11as possible.
20:12The trick to cutting Costco rotisserie chicken — or any rotisserie chicken, really — comes
20:17courtesy of comfort food specialist Rachel Ray. Her Rachel Ray magazine has posted a
20:22handy hack for turning the rotisserie chicken from a complete bird to a plateful of deliciousness
20:27in no time. The trick here is simply to locate the wishbone, use a knife to make a tiny cut
20:32behind it, and remove it.
20:35So why should you take the extra step to manhandle a perfectly good wishbone? Turns out, it's
20:40the only thing that prevents you from removing the entirety of the breast meat in one succulent
20:44piece. Once the wishbone is out, you can stick your finger under the breast meat and remove
20:49the entire breast in one chunk, according to the magazine.
20:53You crush some garlic, some fresh mint, that's rotisserie heaven."
20:56Now, let's say you want to carve your delicious Costco rotisserie chicken at the dinner table,
21:01and feel that unexpected rummaging around the bird's innards to remove a tiny bone might
21:06cause comment. In that case, you might feel inclined to use the classic guide to carving
21:11chicken, which might cause slightly more waste, but still does the job.
21:15"...cut it and carve it like you would your Thanksgiving turkey."
21:18It all starts with pulling the leg, and making a cut between it and the rest of the bird.
21:22After that, pull the two apart enough to make another cut that separates them. Then, after
21:27the legs are done, remove the breasts separately by cutting along the breastbone. This is where
21:32the wishbone trick would help.
21:34Costco rotisserie chicken is delicious, and with its cheap price and sheer tastiness,
21:39no one's going to blame you if you want to feast on the stuff by eating it with your
21:42bare hands as soon as you can rip that plastic shell off. However, when push comes to shove,
21:48it's always worth having a couple of handy carving tips in your back pocket, since the
21:52technique is basically the same for everything from rotisserie chicken to turkey.
21:56"...I'm trying to get an angle, so would you spot weld this one?"
22:02For the uninitiated, stripping a Costco rotisserie chicken from the whole thing to piles of delicious,
22:08ready-to-eat meat can seem super difficult. But if you take a moment to learn the basics,
22:13you'll figure it out in no time. And if you go just a little bit beyond by removing the
22:17wishbone, what once seemed like an arduous task soon turns out to be a shockingly simple
22:23one. And that's not just wishful thinking.
22:26When you shop at Whole Foods, you know there's a good chance that whatever you're buying
22:30is free-range, wild-caught, grass-fed, or non-GMO. But no one ever said it was cheap
22:35to do the right thing. Take, for example, a one-pound rotisserie chicken from Whole
22:40Foods, which can cost up to $9.99.
22:44Compare that to Costco's iconic loss leader, the $4.99 three-pound rotisserie chicken.
22:50In case you don't have a calculator handy, a pound of poultry from Whole Foods is 200
22:55percent more expensive than one from Costco. Aside from a significant discrepancy in price
23:00per pound, though, is there much else that's different about birds from these stores?
23:04Sure there is. Namely, taste. A Fox News rating of six different grocery stores' rotisserie
23:11chickens had Whole Foods and Fresh Market tied for dead last, while Costco was ranked
23:16the best of the best.
23:17"...the best, Jerry, the best."
23:19This bird's got a cult following. There's even a Costco rotisserie chicken fan page
23:24on Facebook that has more than 17,000 followers. There's even a meme about rotisserie chicken
23:29as the perfect Halloween trick-or-treating surprise. Discussions on the Facebook page
23:33often turn to tongue-in-cheek theories for how on Earth mass-produced meat could taste
23:37so very, very good.
23:40It goes without saying that the rotisserie chicken from Whole Foods also has some diehard
23:44fans. One PopSugar reviewer says she always grabs a bird whenever she's at the organic
23:49grocer, despite being on a young person's budget. The reviewer also noted that this
23:55weeknight staple is typically available in not one, but three flavors, Original, Barbecue,
24:01and her pick, an herb and lemon option that smells of thyme.
24:05In fact, rotisserie chicken is a hot commodity at all Whole Foods locations. Shoppers will
24:10often deplete all supplies of this ready-to-serve favorite during the dinner rush. Julia Obese,
24:16Global Executive Coordinator of Culinary and Hospitality for Whole Foods, told Eater that
24:21the rotisserie chicken is one of the top 20 selling items at Whole Foods.
24:25It's important to note that Whole Foods chickens are both organic and hormone-free. Could this
24:30halo effect make the meat actually taste a little better? Feedback from reviewers certainly
24:35suggests this is possible. Costco rotisserie did beat out Whole Foods, as well as other
24:40brands, in an eat-this-not-that taste test. One reviewer called Costco's version,
24:46"...heavenly, always perfectly moist, perfectly spiced."
24:49But tasters also admitted eating Whole Foods' version left a better taste in their mouths,
24:54morally speaking. As another reviewer revealed,
24:58"...I don't feel guilty eating their rotisserie chicken, organic, free-range, no hormones."
25:03But is all of this guilt justified? Exactly how much better of a life is a Whole Foods
25:08chicken leading compared to its feathered friends at Costco's farm? If you have to be
25:11a chicken, be a Whole Foods chicken.
25:14Pitman Farms, one of the upscale grocer's poultry suppliers, allows their birds to wander
25:18about freely both in and outdoors, with food and water available for them in multiple locations.
25:24The Environmental Working Group, or EWP, gave Whole Foods' organic rotisserie chicken
25:30its highest ratings for sustainability, nutrition, and no misuse of antibiotics. EWP did not
25:36rate Costco rotisserie chicken, as it only looks at foods labeled organic, to which Costco
25:41makes no such claims.
25:43How bad are things for Costco rotisserie birds, of which 91 million were sold in 2018 alone,
25:49per CNN? On its website, Costco states,
25:52"...animal welfare is a critical component that has been integrated into all aspects
25:56of the chicken supply chain, from the hatchery to the grower barns to the processing facility."
26:01While Costco chickens aren't free-range like Whole Foods chickens, the warehouse claims
26:05it offers them space and ventilation, so at least they can breathe. The chickens live
26:10in a state-of-the-art henhouse in Fremont, Nebraska, which just opened in 2019 and gets
26:15audited twice a year to ensure the birds are treated humanely.
26:19This and Costco's minimal added ingredients have earned Dr. Oz's stamp of approval. The
26:24health guru called this warehouse dinner-to-go one of the, quote, "...healthiest processed
26:29foods out there."