Costco Connection - June 2012

inside costco

r ll On a Kirkland Signature bath tissue gets better

Consumer reporter Pat Volchok gives a behind-the-scenes look at Costco products and services. Send your questions about this article to:buyingsmart @ costco.com.

BuyingSmart

WHY IMPROVE THE No. 1-selling product in Costco warehouses?

If you ask veteran bath tissue buyer Deb
Belcourt she’ll quickly reply, “Just because Kirkland
Signature™ Bath Tissue is the top warehouse seller
doesn’t mean there isn’t room for improvement. We
always want more for our members.”
And more is what you get in upgraded softness,
absorbency and durability with the new two-ply
top-grade super (ultra) premium Kirkland Signature
Bath Tissue. Best of all, the previous price of 11 cents
per 100 sheets, industry-leading sheet size of 4 x 4. 5
inches and industry-leading tissue count in the
ultra-premium category of 425 sheets per roll
remain unchanged.

88 ;e Costco Connection JUNE 2012

Mill works
Wanting to understand the process, I shadow
Deb on a visit to one of the eight U.S. mills manufac-
turing the new Kirkland Signature Bath Tissue. All
are owned and operated by one of the largest tissue
products producers in the world. As part of their
policy, this well-known supplier must remain anon-
ymous, but I can say that it is the force behind a wide
variety of highly recognizable, superior paper prod-
uct brands, many of which are offered at Costco.

The mill we visit is the largest I have ever seen, with buildings totaling 1. 2 million square feet

spread over 113 acres.

We are met by a team of scientists, engineers, product developers and quality-assurance technicians. All are very proud of the new Costco bath tissue they’ve helped create, especially since it bucks current downsizing trends.

Deb reports, “There are brands quietly lowering
sheet sizes to as small as 4.0 x 4.0 inches and sheet
counts to 200 per roll, and retailers are increasing the
price. This is not the Costco way.”
Our first stop is pulp processing, where only
100 percent virgin fiber made of elemental chlorine-
free wood pulp is used in Kirkland Signature Bath
Tissue.

I’m told that up to 70 percent of the pulp is eucalyptus, grown on plantations in South America. Known as the king of hardwoods, eucalyptus is highly desirable in high-end tissue as it provides a softer, more flannel-like feel. Remaining fibers come from Canadian or U.S.-managed timberlands.

It is important to understand that while both plantations and managed timberlands may look like forests, they are actually composed of agricultural crops that have been intentionally planted, just like corn on a farm.