Does Your Costco Still Have Prime Grade Meat?

[JustKyle]

Mine has prime beef, but they’re out of the protein shakes that I drink. I went yesterday to stock up and none to be had.

[captainlee]

We only get to Costco every 8 to 10 weeks and the last few times i was looking for Prime and couldn't find any. Sometimes it's the luck of the draw too.

[Johnny Booth]

Without Prime cuts, will we all have to start relying more on our cooking skills to produce moist and tender BBQ beef? 🤔

[captainlee]

I agree but sometimes you just get that one cut of meat that no matter what you do it's just going to resist. Less chance with a prime, but it can happen. Just saying, i only cook one brisket a year so i want to increase my chances as much as possible for a great cook. I don't use any type of tenderizer chemicals either, my body reacts badly to them.

[Smoked Transistors]

Signal Hill, Ca. i overheard the meat manager at our local Costco saying theirs a shortage of prime beef but they may have some in back at this store location in about 2-3 weeks. Hope thats true, because they have been dry of all Prime beef options for weeks or at least everytime i've been in shopping.

[Panhead John]

Thanks for this! Maybe it’s not just Texas then.

[Panhead John]

Thanks for the replies guys! BBQPhil was kind enough to give me a suggestion yesterday for possible clarification. He gave me the Costco VP of meat operations email address. I just sent an email to him a few minutes ago. I mentioned this subject and the discussions we were having. As soon as I hear back, I’ll post his reply, I’m really curious about this myself.

[gboss]

Last week, the usual amount of prime. Yesterday, none.
Edit: southern NJ, near Philadelphia.

[Panhead John]

Where do you live Greg?

[acorgihouse]

The southeast Tampa Costco didn't have any prime last weekend, other than brisket. I was only looking for the seasonal corned beef anyway, they were in so I have one to make pastrami this coming weekend, and another for the freezer.

[Panhead John]

Ok folks, I got the scoop straight from the horses mouth, over the phone no less! Keep in mind this gentlemen is their VP of Meat Operations for North America. His email replay to me was simply…… a phone number followed by……Call me

Wow, I was not expecting that! His name is Doug Holbrook and he was very gracious and we spoke for about 12 minutes. The gist of our conversation was him explaining to me the reasons for their “temporary” decision to halt Prime beef sales for many of their locations. Not all stores were affected depending on their regional location and where their beef came from. He said their U.S. stores get their beef from about 7 or 8 different suppliers. So the reason was basically what I was told by the butcher in one of their stores. They were being charged too much for Prime and felt the prices they would have to charge its customers would be more than they felt comfortable with. Doug told me there were also some shortages as well that factored into their decision.

The good news is they rectified the situation and ALL stores should have Prime back in stock in about 7-10 days…..permanently.

[Jfrosty27]

Nice work on the follow up John. Great news and THANKS!

[Draznnl]

Thanks for the final word on this PJ.

[Panhead John]

You’re welcome guys and thanks.

[BBQPhil]

Always impressed how Costco is so customer-friendly and open about their operations. I originally got Mr Holbrook's name by emailing Costco's CEO, and he emailed me back ten minutes later!

[Panhead John]

You’re right Phil, I was actually shocked when he gave me his cell number and asked me to call him! And yeah, he was very open about everything and actually said, “ Well, now you’ve got my number, so call me if you have any more questions or concerns down the road.” He also said he’d do it for any of his members because we were the most important people to them. Or something very similar to that. I was impressed with Costco before, but I’m even more impressed now.

[GolfGeezer]

Just got back from Costco. They definitely have prime meats, although a lot fewer in quantity, not variety. New York steaks, filets, chuck short ribs (whole plates cut in half), roasts. The short ribs are a rarity for Costco here - they’re usually cut up into individual ribs.

[BBQPhil]

This conversation made me go to my Costco (Carlsbad, CA). They had prime steak and, for the first time, packed two to a package at $17.99/lb for NY Sirloin.

[acorgihouse]

I went this morning, just got back. My Costco in Tampa (the one in southeast side) had prime ribeyes, NY strips, filets/tenderloin, as well as the prime briskets they have usually had. I took some photos, just got home and forgot phone in the car. I'm sitting down for a minute, then will start bringing in the haul from garage and add the photos. BTW, I also checked the parm (conversation in another thread here recently). Indeed, Kirkland Signature parm was $10.99/lb, and I know it was nearly double that the last time I looked. Got some for the fridge, and some backstock for the freezer. Will edit in the photos in a few minutes.

[BKYDBBQ]

I was at the one in Richmond, Va today and the results was the same as others have mentioned. They had Prime items but not as much variety as they used to. Mostly steak cuts and brisket.

How about this Prime packer brisket $3.99 per lb, Choice flat $8.99 per lb. I think I would buy the Packer over the flat any day.

[Allon]

Agreed.

[SmokingSteve]

My Vancouver WA Costco was selling both Prime and Choice yesterday when I was there.

[WayneT]

Nice work PJ. Thanks for your sleuthing skills. I just bought prime ribeyes at the Winston-Salem Costco this past Wednesday and also saw prime packer briskets. Oddly, they did not have prime NY Strips, which they usually carry.

Your encounter with Mr. Holbrook confirms my opinions about Costco - they are a customer service company that also happens to sell great merchandise at below retail. I’ve been a believer in them for 20 years.