Costco in NZ: Why I won’t be renewing my $60 annual membership

OPINION

I love a bandwagon, trying foods from overseas supermarkets and a bargain - so when American retailer Costco came to town it was a no-brainer for me to pay the $60 and sign up as a member.

Unfortunately, one year on, after it has failed to live up to the hype, I’ll be saying goodbye to the megastore.

If you have a large family I can see why Costco could be the way to go, but if you live alone or with one other person as I do, bulk buying on that scale just doesn’t make sense.

In total I visited Costco twice (maybe three times before my membership expires if I force myself), and yes I did get some good deals. Bulk buying cans of tonic for what equates to $1 a can is genius ahead of summer; the giant containers of mixed nuts are a great work snack and much cheaper than normal supermarket offerings; and we probably don’t need to buy pasta again for another year - but was that worth the membership fee, the trek out to West Auckland and the test of my sanity?

I would argue ‘no’.

The main issue is that Costco is bulk buying on such a scale that if you live in a smaller house there’s nowhere to store it all and if it’s perishable food you’re either faced with consuming large quantities of food or wasting it. As dietitian MaryRose Spence told the Herald earlier this year, the bulk buying “promotes over-eating”.

Then there’s the food you’re bulk buying.

Everyone had raved about the Costco-specific products such as muffins, pizza and admittedly excellently-priced rotisserie chickens. But they were all fairly average and I wouldn’t spend my money on them again. We also went with a few particular American items in mind that we wanted and assumed would be stocked but weren’t. I guess it’s true what they say about assumptions.

I did take a friend from out of town as a guest who was happy with the bulk meat purchases he was able to fill his family’s freezer with. Unfortunately, that was later all rendered inedible thanks to a multi-day cyclone-related power cut, so even that positive turned into a negative (not Costco’s fault I know).

And then we have the store itself. I always thought Mt Albert Pak’n Save was torture but it’s mildly bearable compared to Costco’s giant trolleys and crammed aisles.

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Sure, the giant trolleys might be a necessary evil when grabbing bags of rice the size of a small child, but manoeuvring them around the aisles is somewhat of a nightmare.

They also give you a warped sense of how many items you’ve put in there, leading to a cost at the checkout that might take you by surprise.

Our shops came to about $160 each time and I’d argue a good portion of that was on unnecessary items you feel the need to buy because they seem such a good deal.

It’s more than our average supermarket shop and didn’t provide the goods needed to actually feed us for the week. Our guest spent significantly more, but bulk buying was more suitable for his situation and meat does come with a higher price tag.

“But the cheap petrol!” people would often say to me when I expressed my dislike of Costco.

Unfortunately, I never got to take advantage of that perk because my few trips there coincided with queues so long it would cost me more in petrol than I was saving. If you live in the area, however, I can see why this would make it worth it.

Admittedly I’m not the target demographic for a store such as this and I can see the appeal for families in buying large volumes of household food and goods at a discounted rate. For us, it was probably unnecessary spending on quantities we didn’t need.

So for me, it’s farewell Costco. I’ll take my $60 membership fee and spend it at my local supermarket instead.