Why Is Costco Opening Its Own Chicken Farm?

34

In fall 2019, Costco will open a chicken farming operation in eastern Nebraska. This venture will provide Costco with 100 million chickens, or 40 percent of its yearly chicken needs, allowing it to partially escape the American chicken oligopoly run by the likes of Tyson, Pilgrim’s Pride and Perdue.

One of the brand’s iconic products is the Costco rotisserie chicken. Costco sells about 60 million of them every year, but they’re a loss leader. Costco sells these chickens at a loss sometimes up to 30 to 40 million dollars per year. The chickens are a lure to get customers in the door. They’re placed strategically at the back of every Costco so customers might pick up other items along the way.

That’s why Costco wants to keep the price so low.

The trouble is that chicken prices have crept up over the last 10 years and the industry is practically an oligopoly run by the likes of Tyson and Perdue. Costco like most American Grocers buys from these behemoth companies because there’s no other option. But not anymore. In 2016 Costco announced its plans to open a chicken farming operation in eastern Nebraska. It will own the whole supply chain from baby chicks to feed to the final product. This operation will provide Costco with 40 percent of its yearly chicken needs about 100 million chickens.
ยป Subscribe to CNBC: http://cnb.cx/SubscribeCNBC

About CNBC: From ‘Wall Street’ to ‘Main Street’ to award winning original documentaries and Reality TV series, CNBC has you covered. Experience special sneak peeks of your favorite shows, exclusive video and more.

Connect with CNBC News Online
Get the latest news: http://www.cnbc.com/
Follow CNBC on LinkedIn: https://cnb.cx/LinkedInCNBC
Follow CNBC News on Facebook: http://cnb.cx/LikeCNBC
Follow CNBC News on Twitter: http://cnb.cx/FollowCNBC
Follow CNBC News on Google+: http://cnb.cx/PlusCNBC
Follow CNBC News on Instagram: http://cnb.cx/InstagramCNBC

#CNBC
#Costco

Why Is Costco Opening Its Own Chicken Farm?

source

34 COMMENTS

  1. The price of chicken meat is getting too high. But if the majority of these chickens are being used for Costco's in-house ready-to-eat rotisserie (which is already sold at a loss) then it won't make cheaper chicken meat availible.

  2. Remember this, Costco is doing this for money, period! And the problem remains that they are still raising โ€œunhealthyโ€ chickens. The feed, stressful atmosphere and antibiotics are unhealthy for consumers to eat. Unless they are raising Organic free Range, Grass Fed chickens, it is just transferring profit from other companies to Costco. Sorry! ๐Ÿ˜ข

  3. Because they don't want to pay the people who already do. They figure they can pay minimum wages with no retirement plan and grow them themselves for cheaper.

  4. Vet per month for people usa 100 and yes โค๐Ÿ˜‚๐Ÿ˜‚๐ŸŽ‰๐Ÿ˜ข๐Ÿ˜…๐Ÿ˜Š๐Ÿ˜Š๐Ÿ˜ฎ๐ŸŽ‰๐Ÿ˜‚โค๐Ÿ˜‚๐Ÿ˜ข๐Ÿ˜ฎ๐Ÿ˜Š๐Ÿ˜Š

  5. Roll back to the gorw food and water zinc vitamin D3 โค๐Ÿ˜‚๐ŸŽ‰๐Ÿ˜ข๐Ÿ˜ฎ๐Ÿ˜…๐Ÿ˜Š๐Ÿ˜Š๐Ÿ˜ข๐ŸŽ‰โค๐ŸŽ‰๐Ÿ˜ข๐Ÿ˜…๐Ÿ˜Š Medical Dr MD office From Government by law ๐Ÿ’ฏโค๐Ÿ˜‚๐ŸŽ‰๐Ÿ˜ข๐Ÿ˜…๐Ÿ˜Š๐Ÿ˜Š๐Ÿ˜Š๐Ÿ˜ฎ๐ŸŽ‰๐Ÿ˜‚โค๐Ÿ˜‚โค๐ŸŽ‰๐Ÿ˜ฎ๐Ÿ˜…๐Ÿ˜Š๐Ÿ˜Š๐ŸŽ‰๐Ÿ˜‚โค

  6. Honey vitamin D3 and k B6 or B7 butter and gorw food in corn ๐ŸŒฝ๐Ÿฅฆ๐ŸŒฝ๐Ÿฅฆ๐ŸŒฝ๐Ÿฅฆ you โค๐Ÿ˜‚๐ŸŽ‰๐Ÿ˜ข๐Ÿ˜ฎ๐Ÿ˜…๐Ÿ˜Š๐Ÿ˜Š

  7. Walmart should do the same thing, and so should anyone with a yard. Decentralized food production is a supply chain that cannot be broken. Anything centralized is a very bad idea; and that goes for electricity, fuel, and government bureaucracy as well.

  8. A meat eater usually does NOT want think about or became aware of what meatpacking does to animals, all the pain that their desire for meat cause on animals that are abused and tortured by the food industry everyday. Any time you eat meat you are helping an industry that abuses and tortures animals. Sadly, only those that care want to inform themselves about all the cruelty that meatpacking cause on farm animals.

  9. I became a Costco customer during the pandemic, when I finally bit the bullet, and went to get hearing aids. Their pricing a service is much better than a nome brand hearing aid company, and/or doctors who specialize in hearing. My friend paid $9,000 for his momโ€™s hearing aids through a private dr. I paid $1600

  10. You can thank the left in the US for their policies that protect the monopolies… Small mom and pop motorcycle companies (west coast choppers) were shutdown by the large US motorcycle manufacturers who lobbied a certain political party on the basis that "Sales were being lost and it was hurting union workers" which resulted in regulation that shut down these small motorcycle companies!!

  11. i know about this kind of farming. it basically puts farmers in competition against one another to be loss leaders. most farmers never make enough money to stay alive in this system and end up going bust. costco should not be participating in inhumane farming practices (because underpaid farmers are not gonna go above and beyond for the chickens mental health) any time a company doesnt wanna own a part of the process its normally because its making more money by paying someone else, and when it makes money to pay another person to do it rather than owning the company that does it, it normally means that those companies are running at operating costs that are unsustainable, otherwise costco would gladly just buy and won their own farms.

Comments are closed.