Why Costco Sells Chicken for $5 (It Loses $40 Million a Year)

Four ninety-nine since 2009. Why hold the price when inflation moved everything else? Costco CFO Richard Galanti said in 2015 the company was willing to sacrifice $30–40 million a year in gross margin to keep rotisserie chicken at $4.99. In 2023 he called that price an investment in low prices to drive membership. Fiscal 2023: 137 million rotisserie chickens sold. Mark Jordan (Leap Market Analytics) told the Financial Times production runs about $3.50 per bird before cooking — likely underwater per rotisserie. Lincoln Premium Poultry: ~$450M Nebraska plant, ~2M birds/week. Phase 2 shelved December 2025. Membership fees: $4.58B FY2023, 71M paid members, 92.7% U.S./Canada renewal. Comment MEMBER or CHICKEN — which part of the model surprised you? Not financial advice. Educational and entertainment only. Sources Costco 10-K FY2023 (SEC) Costco Q2 FY2023 earnings call (Richard Galanti) CNN Business — Nebraska poultry complex (Oct 2019) The Hustle — rotisserie chicken economics Financial Times — $4.99 chicken / Mark Jordan cost estimate Marketplace — David Ortega on loss leaders (Jun 2025) Protein Signals — Phase 2 shelved (Dec 2025) CBC Cost of Living — rotisserie vs raw pricing Snopes — $30–40M margin claim (2015 Galanti quote) Music Background: tease bed from Mixkit catalog (royalty-free).