It's only a few days into 2024, and we've already been hit with bad (grocery) news: It looks like Costco is discontinuing its twisted churros at the food court.
The rumors started circulating in early December on Reddit when someone with insider info suggested the discontinuation. "My brother (Costco employee) just told me they were getting rid of the churros at the food court and replacing them with cookies," the Reddit user wrote. "Was wondering if anyone else had heard this rumor or had seen signs of this happening already."
The top commenter on this thread—who used to be a former food court employee—said: "It is true. They have found a company to make the cookies, agreements are finalized. They will be showing up in early 2024, along with chocolate ice cream which will appear before summer."
On December 27th, a Costco employee from Bayonne, New Jersey also confirmed to The Messenger that the discontinuation was indeed happening. A Costco customer service employee told The Spruce Eats that the discontinuations would be on a warehouse by warehouse basis and it is not necessarily nationwide.
Regardless, customers around the country are already seeing the changes at their local warehouses—another Reddit user posted a photo of their food court in the Pacific Northwest without the churros listed. And early reviews are coming in for the double chocolate chunk cookies, which cost $2.49 and are 750 calories per serving. One Reddit user said that it "doesn’t get any better consistency wise," but that "it's way too rich" and they wouldn't be ordering it again.
While many people are upset over the discontinuation of the churro, not everyone feels that way. After all, this isn't the first time the churro has been discontinued. The original churro, which was covered in straight ridges, cost only $1. It was discontinued briefly during the start of the pandemic and came back with a brand new look in 2021. Not only was it twisted, but it was also 50% more expensive. Some customers thought that the quality had gone downhill with the revamped churro. "They're always hard and taste stale," said one Reddit user on the thread about the churros rumored discontinuation in December. "They definitely are not as good as the original," said another Reddit user on a thread back in 2021 after the relaunch.
If you are sad about the discontinuation, know that not all is lost for churro lovers: There have been sightings of churro chocolate bark at some warehouses around the country, and apparently they're flying off the shelves.