SPECIAL SECTION: KIRKLAND SIGNATURE
One Costco Bakery staple is the baked cheesecake. The team makes it from scratch in a two-day process that ensures the final product is perfectly set. With a classic biscuit base and rich cream-cheese filling, the original version is the basis for a range of exciting seasonal and trending flavours. In 2025, Costco sold more than 120,000 baked cheesecakes, including bestselling flavours like cookie butter and pistachio. Check out the bakery for new flavours in 2026!
Why isn’ t everything made from scratch? It comes down to two things: volume and quality.“ At the scale we operate, making every item entirely from scratch isn’ t practical,” Krista says, explaining that they also need to clean the machines in between.“ We just wouldn’ t be able to produce what we need to keep up with the business.”
Items that are prepared off-site are still freshly baked before they’ re put out for sale.“ Bakery items are, at a minimum, finished in-house,” Krista adds.
Quality baked in
Every item in the Costco Bakery department is sold under the Kirkland Signature™ name, which means they must be equivalent to or better quality than leading national brands.“ It has to be a good item,“ Krista continues.” I can’ t just bring out an item that’ s at a low cost.”
Another key to quality is sourcing excellent ingredients. The Costco Bakery team works with corporate buying teams to purchase ingredients such as cocoa, flour and eggs in bulk, resulting in a lower item cost.
“ Our volume helps us keep costs down as a company,” Krista explains, adding that her team won’ t opt for cheaper ingredients to save money.
“ We’ re not substituting [ ingredients ], even though the market for chocolate is four times where it was last year. Eggs are up [ in cost ]. We find ways to work with our suppliers, because the quality is the most important piece to us.”
Members can taste this quality in the bakery’ s most popular item: the croissant.“ A traditional butterfat is anywhere from 78 % to 80 %; we use 82 % [ in our croissants ], which adds more flavour,” Krista says. The croissants are made
up of 72 layers, 36 of which are butter. No wonder Costco Australia sold around 147 million of these flaky pastries in 2025.
No matter what you find at Costco Bakery, you’ ll know it’ s made using delicious, carefully crafted recipes and quality ingredients— and baked fresh daily.“ We put quality first in all things,” Krista says.“ Costco will not jeopardise quality to make a profit.”
Jen Madera is an international reporter for Costco Connection. Alexandra Grzesik is a local reporter for Costco Connection Australia.
COSTCO CONNECTION
Find a huge range of products in your local Costco Warehouse bakery.
COSTCO CONNECTION MAR / APR 2026 | 19