We shop at Costco. A lot. When you have a large family, you kind of have to. Buying in bulk becomes a necessity. One of the things I love about Costco is their every growing selection of natural and organic foods. For years I have been buying their Kirkland Organic Peanut Butter and my kids eat PB&J sandwiches for lunch on almost a daily basis. We love the taste and mommy loves that there are only two ingredients: peanuts and salt. I think it is by far the best natural or organic peanut butter on the market. Other brands tend to add an oil and a sweetener to their versions and I don't like that.
So I do what a blogger does best and I hit the web. First I went to the Costco site and used their contact form to send them an email asking if they are no longer carrying the peanut butter. What I received back was a form response that didn't even answer the question:
| Dear Marianna, We appreciate you taking the time to email Costco Wholesale. Your product suggestion has been forwarded to our buying office for their review. Thank you for taking the time to share your comments with us, as we value our members input. Thank you, {name removed} Costco Wholesale Corporation |
I didn't make a product suggestion, I am asking whether or not Costco stopped carrying this product. If they tell me yes, well THEN I will surely make a product suggestion.
Next I hit up the Costco Facebook page and left a comment on their wall asking about the peanut butter. They have not responded. So now here I am blogging about it, hoping I can find out what is going on with my beloved Kirkland peanut butter and try my best to get it back on the shelves.
Want to help me get Costco's attention? Head on over to the Costco Facebook page and tell them to keep carrying the Kirkland Organic Peanut Butter.
And in the meantime, please recommend to me your favorite brands of organic peanut butter so I can start searching for a suitable replacement just in case. There isn't a Whole Foods near here yet so Trader Joe's perhaps?
***UPDATE***
I sent another email to Costco this morning trying to see if I could get a real answer and sadly, my worst fear has been confirmed.
| Dear Marianna, This product has been discontinued. The organic peanuts have become very difficult to source. Our hope is to be able to offer this again in the future. Please let us know if there is anything else we may assist you with. Thank you, {name removed} Costco Wholesale Corporation |
***UPDATE #2***
Costco now carries an all natural Kirkland peanut butter, which tastes the same as their old organic one. While it is not organic, the only ingredients are peanuts and salt, so I see this as the best option for peanut butter out there. Well, other than grinding your own. So many of the organic peanut butters on the market seem to have some sort of sweetener in them, which I feel is very necessary.
Hi Marianna,
ReplyDeleteI'm a big peanut butter person as well, and that's such a shame they stopped selling the Kirkland brand! The last kind I bought was 365 Organic peanut butter, and I think Whole Foods might stock them. Good luck!
No!!! That is our favorite natural peanut butter. I'm so bummed. I can't even say how much this upsets me.
ReplyDeleteHow awful. I hate it when you find a product that you love and it becomes unavailable. I wish they would let their customers know ahead of time so that they can stock up.
ReplyDeleteWell that sucks. Hope you find a replacement soon. I am no help as we are not an organic house.
ReplyDeleteOH NO! I love Costco's organic peanut butter, too. What a bummer.
ReplyDeleteWe buy MaraNatha Organic Peanut butter at Kroger. It is good, and it comes in glass instead of platsic which I love!
ReplyDeletethat totally sucks! hope you find a good alternative that doesn't kill your wallet.
ReplyDeleteContact them back and ask if you can order from other locations so you have a little inventory
I hate when a product that I really love and enjoy is discontinued. I hope you are able to find a replacement.
ReplyDeleteMan! I am sorry they just flat out discontinued it. :-(
ReplyDeleteWhat a bummer!!
ReplyDeleteWe buy maranatha too, but it does have added sugar and palm oil.
Thank-you for solving the mystery as to why they discontinued this! My friends and I have been mourning the missing PB on Facebook this week and wondering what happened.
ReplyDeleteMariAnna,
ReplyDeleteI went through the EXACT same scenario as you. I was devastated to find they weren't carrying the organic peanut butter. The taste is phenomenal and the other organic pb's out there usually have sugar, i.e., MaraNatha. I've handwritten a comment card and even asked management when they would have this product return and they said there are no orders at this time in the system, UGH!!!
I am still trying to get over it myself. Luckily 1 of the 3 local Costco still has some left (only 250). I bought 10 packs today. I really hope they reconsider this because it just sucks!
ReplyDeleteHey thanks for solving this mystery! I read today on Lifehacker that WSJ just published this article about the devastation to the peanut crops this year that's probably contributing to dilemma.
ReplyDeletehttp://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203476804576617201300103560.html
And here I thought that the price of Cavendish bananas was going to go way up after that fungus scare earlier this year!
Thank you for the information. That fantastic peanut butter is the only reason my small family (3) goes to Costco. Dang!
ReplyDeleteThat sucks. Costco peanut butter was the bomb. It is not reaaly peanut butter with all the added sugar and hydrogenated(trans fat) oils.
ReplyDeleteNNOOO!!! You've also confirmed my worst fear! My husband and I, as well as our son, LOVE LOVE LOVE the Kirkland Brand Organic PB and are very upset to see that it's been discontinued. My husband and I went to several Costco's looking for the PB and also saw the Almond kind in its place. I wish Costco would have let their customers know that they were discontinuing the PB!! I would have stocked up!!
ReplyDeleteThanks for finding out about the best PB being discontinued. :( You've answered my question.
Now I need to find another brand! AARRGG!
I have heard that peanut butter in general is getting way more expensive. There seems to be a general lack of available peanuts. Is this climate change? Are we starting to see daily-life-impacting results of overpopulation and poor farming policy?
ReplyDeleteDevastated as well!!!! It was sooo good! I think a corporation as large as Costco would have some more power than that. It's a travesty for sure!
ReplyDeleteI too have looked and looked and the manager at the Costco that I shop at said it was discontinued due to poor sales - which is probably true compared to the conventional brand that most Americans are addicted to with added sugar. We found a good substitute (taste but not price) in the Santa Cruz brand Dark Roast at Whole Foods. Maybe it's time to grind my own.
ReplyDeleteI'm very disappointed that Kirkland Organic Peanut Butter is discontinued.
ReplyDeleteI went to 6 chain stores today
("Smart & Final", "Target", "Albertsons", "Trader Joe's", "Whole Foods", "Pack N Save)
to find the cheapest replacement. I couldn't find Organic natural peanut butter for less than 20 cents/oz, so I got non-organic. The cheapest I found was (incredibly) Whole Foods' "365" brand
http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/products/537
$3.99 for 36 oz (11 cents/oz).
You can grind your own at Whole Foods right? I am seriously considering doing this once WF opens near us.
ReplyDeleteThey now carry a "natural" peanut butter. Just wondering who is making it. They have Smucker's Jellies, so I have been trying to find out if they are making the peanut butter. Any ideas on how to find this out? Not organic, but better than nothing.
ReplyDeleteWendy - I just picked up the natural peanut butter. Its actually a Kirkland brand and the ingredients are peanut and salt. So the only difference between this and the old one is that the peanuts are no longer organic. And the jar is bigger too. I'm fine with it, I'm just happy to find a peanut butter without a sweetener n it!
ReplyDeleteHi Marianna, I know, that is disappointing. I was sad to see it go, too. Here, in Tucson Az, they replaced it with a "natural" peanut butter. Less expensive and still just peanuts and sea salt...we are trying that right now. Also, Lindsay over at Passionate Homemaking has been getting hers from Amazon.com...check her post out:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.passionatehomemaking.com/2012/01/simplifying-by-buying-groceries-online.html
Sorry, I realize the person before me just said the same thing :).
ReplyDeleteHi all...I was looking forward to CostCo organic peanut butter, but as I see form the above posts it has been discontinued. The "natural" peanut butter is not the same as organic in that it does not have to meet the restrictions that organic foods do so it may have been exposed to pesticides/certain not so good fertilizers/etc that organics are not exposed to. I use an alternative to the Kirkland natural peanut butter...it is MaraNatha organic peanut butter...26 oz.in a glass jar, not plastic! You can get it online at Vitacost.com for about $8.35 a jar...not as cheap as the old Kirkland brand but still cheaper than Amazon. In their search block just out in the 26oz size and it will bring it up. You will have to mix the oil in before you use it...but I just put into my mixer and whip it until the oil is mixed, then put it back into the bottle. Ohh and did I mention the shipping was zero last time I looked. Hope this helps
ReplyDeleteLynn
I liked Costco's organic peanut butter too. I was glad to see that they got the natural peanut butter and I will try it. The one thing I noticed about the new natural as opposed to the organic is that they put about twice as much salt in it. One of the reasons I liked the organic was that it didn't have the salty taste like some other brands. It think it is strange that they would add more salt when it tastes better and is healthier without as much.
ReplyDeleteOh no! I didn't even notice that about the salt. Does anyone know how much salt was in the organic one?
DeleteThe organic had 45 mg salt per 2 tablespoons. I think when I looked at the natural in the store, it was about double that. Weird, huh? Teri
ReplyDeleteHoly moly! Yeah, it has 85 mg per 2 tablespoons. Well, I have 3 jars to work through and then I will have to look around for a lower sodium option. Perhaps Trader Joe's has one.
DeleteI don't understand why they jacked up the salt so much? Totally necessary.
And now my Costco has stopped selling the new Kirkland peanut butter as well. When I asked, they told me it was a "test" product and Costco usually gauges market reaction to determine whether or not to make it a regular item. I'm crossing my fingers that they go for it. Still have a half bottle in the fridge and don't want to go back to Adams.
ReplyDeleteOh no! My husband was there last week and asked me if I wanted him to pick up more. But I said no since I have 1.5 jars left. I guess I better go stock up in case they discontinue again. Thank you for the warning!
DeleteI have gotten into 'natual pnut butter' recentlly to escape the sugar. I have been happy with TEDDY and Stop/Shop brands. I tried the COSTCO and found it thin and runny even after lots of stiring. The product I have can be poured from the jar, and one evening ran off the bread onto floor. Is this the usual consistancy?
ReplyDeleteWe used to buy Kirkland organic peanut butter when it was available here. (Canada) Costco's house brand actually replaced a Canadian organic peanut butter that we used to buy years ago. We buy organic peanut butter because I recall reading an article about growing peanuts. It explained that farmers often plant peanuts in abandoned tobacco fields...and that tobacco fields are often the worst chemical/pesticide soups on the planet. Has anyone else read this? I would try something like Adams but not if it's not made from organic peanuts.
ReplyDeleteI am not sure which peanut butter I had been buying, I don't fall for the whole "organic" BS. I know a lot of people are into it these days, but if they knew the difference between "organic" and normal food they would laugh..
ReplyDeleteThat said I went to Costco to get the peanut butter i had been getting for a while now and it wasn't there. I asked about it and they said they were changing stuff and there was some other crap that has molasses, palm oil and other things.
I like peanuts and salt. How is this complicated. I don't want flax seed oil. I just want peanuts and salt. I guess its back to making my own, what a pain.
Be careful...there is a salmonella outbreak with peanut butter!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.fda.gov/Food/FoodSafety/CORENetwork/ucm320413.htm
Compare Costco's Kirland Natural Peanut Butter to Parker Farm's Natural Peanut Butter which is also carried by Costco in the refrigerated section.
ReplyDelete