Hot Dog Combo at Costco Stays $1.50 as Coca-Cola Returns to Replace Pepsi
Costco announced that soon it will no longer serve Pepsi products as its food court, so Coke will turn back after more than 10 years, as the hot dog combo will stay with its affordable price of $1.50.
Ron Vachris, CEO of the warehouse retail giant, announced that Costco would be switching its food court fountains to Coca-Cola products during the company's shareholder meeting Thursday. The announcement came after a shareholder asked a question about the change, which had been previously rumored.
"This summer we will be converting our food court fountain business back over to Coca-Cola," Vachris said. The company switched from Coca-Cola to Pepsi products in its food courts in 2013 to maintain the price of its $1.50 hot dog combo, according to CNN.
Costco's dispensing machine with the Pepsi's logo yet. Photo: Chowhound.
How does the announcement come at Costco?
The Coca-Cola announcement came in the same shareholder meeting that saw Costco rejected an anti-DEI proposal. Over 98% of shares voted against the proposal, according to preliminary results announced by Costco chairman, Hamilton James. He and other board members had asked shareholders to reject the proposal involving the company's diversity, equity and inclusion policies ahead of Thursday's annual meeting.
"We owe our success to the more than 300,000 employees who serve our members every day. It is important that they all feel included and appreciated and that they transmit these values to our customers," James said.
People delighted with the new combo at Costco
The decision was praised by supporters of diversity, equity, and inclusion policies that have seen dramatic rollbacks in the first week of President Donald Trump's second term. The Reverend Al Sharpton led a "buy-in" at an East Harlem Costco warehouse to show that supporters would support businesses that maintained DEI practices as calls for boycotts began swirling around companies who have stopped practices.
"Costco has stood firm, proving that doing the right thing is also smart business," Sharpton said in a post on X (Twitter). "We will boycott those who leave DEI, but we will also uplift and support the companies that stand with us."