At Costco Wholesale, price of fresh wild salmon drops to under $10

Fresh Wild Sockeye Salmon from Costco Wholesale in Hackensack grilled on the stove top and served with salsa and chopped garden herbs.

The price for wild sockeye salmon at Costco Wholesale in Hackensack dropped to $9.99 a pound this week from $13.99 a pound on June 23.

Editor's note: We're back from a vacation in Canada and Vermont, and preparing the simple foods that say, Welcome home. We noticed that wild salmon, rotisserie chicken and other items at a Costco Wholesale in Montreal were priced higher than in our Hackensack Costco.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

This week, we returned from a vacation in Canada to find a dramatically lower price -- $9.99 a pound -- on fresh wild sockeye salmon at Costco Wholesale in Hackensack.

Even at the old price of $13.99 a pound, this sockeye is cheaper than the wild salmon sold at the Costco Wholesale on Bridge Street in Montreal.

In fact, many of the items we saw in the Montreal Costco on June 29 were more expensive than the same or similar product at the Hackensack Costco.

At the moment, the U.S. dollar is worth about $1.20 against the Canadian dollar. 

In Montreal, we bought six Ataulfo Mangoes ($6.99 Canadian), 3 pounds of bananas ($1.99 Canadian) and Vita Coco Coconut Juice ($17.89 Canadian), all for snacks in our hotel room.

I also bought 20 Stanfield's Briefs in black, gray and white ($19.99 Canadian for a package of five).

Made in Canada, they are 100% cotton. And they're the most comfortable men's briefs I've ever found. 

Changing money

When we visited the Montreal Costco last year, we paid a 3% surcharge on everything we bought in the form of a foreign-currency transaction fee imposed by American Express.

This year, we bought Costco Cash Cards in U.S. dollars online to pay for our purchases, and it looks like we got a discount of about 20% on all of our purchases at the Montreal Costco, including the photo service.

The U.S. dollar was worth about $1.20 Canadian during our visit.

I also brought a Capitol One Visa Card with no foreign-currency transaction fee to charge nearly everything else.

At the Hyatt Regency Montreal, where we stayed, the front desk gave me $46 Canadian in exchange for $40 U.S. -- less than the $48 I expected.

At an ATM machine, I withdrew $40 Canadian and my New Jersey bank debited my account $33.50 U.S. 

I used the machine after walking into the bank, where a teller told me I would have to pay a one-time fee of $5 Canadian to change money.

This Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese from Italy at a Costco Wholesale in Montreal is around $10.90 Canadian a pound, which is about what I pay for the same cheese in Hackensack, but the Ambrosi brand is aged longer, 30 months v. 24 months.

At $22.99 Canadian for 2.2 pounds, the Castelli brand of Parmigiano Reggiano costs about $10.45 Canadian a pound, and also is aged for 30 months.

In Montreal, Kirkland Signature Egg Whites come in four 500-gram cartons for $8.49 Canadian, compared to the six 454-gram or 16-ounce containers we bought in Hackensack for $9.99, up from $7.99 a year ago.

Costco's popular but low-quality Rotisserie Chicken is $7.99 Canadian in Montreal, compared to $4.99 in Hackensack.

Ingredients include salt, rice starch, sugar, tetrapotassium pyrophosphate and sodium triphosphate. The birds also are raised on antibiotics that are harmful to humans.

In Montreal, 2-pound packages of Jersey Fresh Blueberries were a good buy at $5.19 Canadian.

At $15.90 Canadian a pound, this fresh wild sockeye salmon cost more than the Alaskan fish offered in Hackensack, where the fillets cost $14.99 a pound and $13.99 a pound in June. This week, sockeye salmon dropped to $9.99 a pound in New Jersey.

Artificially colored farmed salmon in Montreal, where the price is given for a kilo or 2.2 pounds.

At the end of June, regular gas at the Costco in Montreal was about $4.67 Canadian a gallon ($1.22.9 per liter). Premium was over $5 a gallon.

One item I would love to see in Hackensack is this Vegepate, made from sunflower seeds, vegetables, soy sauce, spices and other ingredients. I tried a free sample and thought it contained meat.

You get three 227-gram pates for $6.99 Canadian.

Onions, carrots and potatoes are the vegetables used.

After our return to New Jersey on Tuesday afternoon, the first dish I prepared at home was a pound of organic whole-wheat capellini in bottled marinara sauce with added anchovies, red wine, extra-virgin olive oil and seasonings. At the table, I added grated Pecorino Romano Cheese and chopped herbs from the garden, including mint and parsley.

For breakfast the next morning, I ate two Costco organic brown eggs with leftover capellini, a great bread substitute.

For breakfast today, I had trouble completely folding this Egg Whites omelet stuffed with shredded Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese, za'atar thyme mixture and salsa.

Tonight, leftover fresh wild sockeye salmon right out of the refrigerator crowned a dinner salad.

Picking up more Costco Wholesale organics, H Mart sale items

My Costco Wholesale in Hackensack carries two canned salmons -- wild Alaskan sold under the Bear & Wolf name from Trident Seafoods Corp., above, and Kirkland Signature Atlantic Salmon, an artificially colored farmed product from Chile, below. Trident says its salmon is not processed in China.

The farmed salmon comes in 7-ounce cans. The wild pink salmon is in 6-ounce cans. The farmed product is $14.99, compared to $12.99 for the wild fish.

Editor's note: Today, I discuss the pricing of organic food at Costco Wholesale, and whether a canned Alaskan salmon sold in the warehouse store is processed in China.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

At Costco Wholesale in Hackensack today, I picked up organic extra-virgin olive oil for about $1.50 less per quart than the best buy at eight supermarkets shopped by Consumer Reports.

Kirkland Signature Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil, a blend from Greece, Italy, Spain and two other countries that is delicious on salads, was $15.99 for 2 liters (2 quarts and 3.6 ounces).

In the May 2015 issue, Consumer Reports found the cheapest organic extra-virgin olive oil at a southern chain, Harris Teeter, for $9.01 a quart, compared to $7.57 per quart for the Costco EVOO.

Three half-gallons of Kirkland Signature Organic 1% Milk were $9.99 or $3.33 each, compared to $3.49 a half-gallon for organic milk at Safeway, the lowest price  the magazine's shoppers found.

I also picked up Coleman Organic Chicken Drumsticks for $1.99 a pound, and 1-pound of Earthbound Farm Organic Spring Mix for $4.99.

Among non-organic items, I bought six 6-ounce cans of Bear & Wolf Pink Salmon, a wild fish from Alaska, for $12.99.

A 3-pound bag of U.S. No. 1 sodium-free raw Almonds, which I roast at home, was $16.89, a hike of nearly $1.

The Kirkland Signature farmed salmon is artificially colored. 

Processed in China?

This blog occasionally receives comments from readers who have "heard" that food sold in the United States was raised or processed in China, which has a terrible food-safety record. 

I just got this anonymous comment:

"I wonder if you've heard that Trident salmon in cans is processed in China? I just found the product in our new Costco and was totally disappointed at fish processing being done in factories overseas. Thank you."

The apparent reference is to the canned Bear & Wolf Premium Skinless and Boneless Pink Salmon, which is labeled as "Product of USA," that I purchased today at Costco.

The canned salmon is from Trident Seafoods Corp., which is based in Seattle, Wash.

But there is no evidence in the comment, besides what the person "heard."

I sent an email to the company's Consumer Affairs Department, and got this reply from a woman named Trev Foley:

Some, but not all, of our items do have initial processing done overseas, with final processing done in Washington State. Our canned salmon items, such as the Bear & Wolf Pink Salmon, do not have overseas processing. The salmon are harvested in the Pacific Ocean (Gulf of Alaska, Bering Sea, etc.) and canned in Alaska, within 24 hours of being caught. Please be assured, we maintain strict oversight of all of the fish we sell, from start to finish. For those items which have partial processing done overseas, the fish are processed in contracted facilities where we have on-site Trident Seafoods operations and quality assurance personnel insuring the safety of the food. Additionally, the facilities we use are inspected and certified to the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI).

 In 2012, I opened a can of this same pink salmon from Costco, only to find mold on it. See:

Mold in Bear & Wolf canned salmon from Trident?

Coleman Organic Fresh Whole Young Chicken at Costco Wholesale in Hackensack was $2.49 a pound, meeting the lowest price for whole or cut up organic chicken at the Safeway chain in the Consumer Reports survey.

Basmati rice contains less arsenic than other kinds of rice, according to Consumer Reports. Costco Wholesale in Hackensack sells Deer-brand from "the foothills of the Himalayas" (India).

These are the shipping boxes for the low-quality but wildly popular 3-pound Kirkland Signature Rotisserie Chicken sold for $4.99 at Costco. I could not make out the name of a producer or processor on the labels of the boxes, which were behind glass in the butcher department of the Hackensack warehouse store.

At H Mart in Englewood on Sunday, half-gallons of lactose-free milk were on sale for $1.99 or $2 off through April 13, the lowest price I've ever seen for this type of milk.

The Englewood H Mart also carries Earthbound Farm Organic Celery and Organic Carrots. Olivia's Organic Spring Mix in a 5-ounce tub was on sale for $2 or $1 off when you bought two.

At the Englewood H Mart, this package of kimbap, an addictive seaweed-and-rice roll, was labeled as weighing 1 pound, but on my kitchen scale, it weighed more than 29 ounces or nearly 2 pounds. The imitation crab is made from a fish called pollock. The roll comes with pickled radish and jalapeno peppers.

On Good Friday, whole wild-caught black sea bass were $5.99 a pound at the Englewood H Mart.

A large wild whole red snapper, which my wife poached in coconut milk, was $7.99 a pound at the Korean supermarket, 25 Lafayette Ave., Englewood (201-871-8822).

Costco Wholesale's rotisserie chicken makes great dog food

Seasoned rotisserie chickens at Costco Wholesale in Hackensack. At only $4.99 for a 3-pound chicken, these birds fly out the door, but the quality is questionable.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

I'm sure the editors of the Costco Connection came to praise the rotisserie chicken sold at the warehouse store, not to bury it.

In the latest issue of what is called "a lifestyle magazine for Costco members," customers who love the highly seasoned rotisserie chicken offer their ideas on how to best use leftovers.

However, the most prominent comment is in the voice of "Maggie the Labrador, owned by Will and Jill Mason" of Chandler, Ariz.

"The chicken's so-called leftovers (fat, trimmings and juices) are mixed in with my bowl of normally blase dog food, transforming my food into a weekly treat," the dog is quoted as saying.

That says it in a nutshell: This chicken makes great dog food, not good human food.

Costco puts the "Kirkland Signature" name on the label of the rotisserie chicken, but that is usually reserved for organic eggs, preservative-free smoked wild salmon and other high quality items.

Ingredients include water, salt, sugar, carrageenan, silicon dioxide and polysorbate 80.

Silent on antibiotics

The "Creative Cooking" article in the December 2012 issue doesn't mention harmful animal antibiotics that allow the chicken to achieve its 3-pound weight quickly (Pages 30-31).

The editors don't even say whether the chicken is fed an all-vegetable diet.

Costco sells about 50 million rotisserie chickens a year, the magazine reports.

I tried one of these chickens years ago, and didn't like how it tasted.

It was inferior to the rotisserie chickens I'd pick up at Fairway Market in Harlem, where customers have a choice between a conventional chicken and a Murray's free-roaming bird, which is raised without antibiotics.

A quiet day at Costco Wholesale in Hackensack. The warehouse closed in October 2015, when a bigger Costco opened a few miles away in Teterboro, then reopened in March 2016 as a Costco Business Center.

On a Saturday in late June 2016 at the Teterboro warehouse, one Costco member couldn't wait to get his rotisserie chicken home.

Going natural at Whole Foods

Now, I buy the naturally raised rotisserie chicken at Whole Foods Market in Paramus for family members who eat meat and poultry.

On Tuesday, I asked the Costco employee at the rotisserie chicken stand in Hackensack if he knew which processor supplies the chickens.

He said he didn't, and that they arrive at the store already seasoned, so all he has to do is put them in the big rotisserie cases behind him and when they are fully cooked, pack them in black-and-clear-plastic takeout containers.   

I'm not sure why the Costco Connection is using a hard sell for this low-quality chicken.

The article begins:

"Costco's Kirkland Signature rotisserie chicken has almost a cult following. It even has its own Facebook page."

Costco also sells whole, uncooked Coleman Organic chickens. 

Why not give customers who care what they are eating a choice and offer the organic chicken side-by-side with the mystery rotisserie chicken?

Even the headline used is offensive to fans of Charlie Parker, the late jazz alto saxophonist who was known as "Bird" for his soaring solos.

Costco Connection says:

"Bird is the word"

"Members flock to Costco's rotisserie chicken."

I say: Not if you know what's good for you. 

Related posts

Click on the following links:

Where to find better-quality rotisserie chickens

Costco's low-quality rotisserie bird costs more in Canada


Costco shoppers see red in undercooked chickens

Costco chicken fails Kirkland Signature quality test