The Costco Connection - September 2017

38 The Costco Connection SEPTEMBER 2017 COSTCO INTRODUCED Kirkland Signature™ products ;; years ago. The idea was to create a line of signature products, and Kirkland, Washington, was where the company had its home base at that time.

Why invest in our own line of pri-
vate-label products? There are several
reasons, explains Craig Jelinek, Costco
president and chief executive officer.
With Kirkland Signature, Costco can:
• Develop popular items with wide
appeal for members.

• Control the quality of the product.

• Drive down prices on national brands.

• Control the packaging.

• Achieve pallet efficiencies. For example, when the jars containing Kirkland Signature cashews were changed from round to square, the number of jars that could fit on a pallet increased from ;;; to ;;;, saving ;;; truckloads per year.

That’s what Kirkland Signature products at Costco are all about. In cases where the right product isn’t available—either because it hasn’t been created yet or because it doesn’t represent a value to members—Costco creates its own. It’s happened with everything from men’s dress shirts and pet food to facial tissue and health care items. Just about every product category and department has some Kirkland Signature representation.

“We will always be known for name brands such as Michelin, Samsung and

How Kirkland Signature brings quality to private-label

The value in a name

Crest,” Jelinek says, “but we will continue
to augment our product offerings with our
own Kirkland Signature items.”
“The working rule followed by Costco
buyers is that all Kirkland Signature prod-
ucts must be equal to or better than the
national brands and must offer a savings
to our members,” adds Ron Vachris, exec-
utive vice president and chief operating
officer of merchandising for Costco. “We
know we have met this goal when con-
sumer groups consistently rate us highly
compared with national brands.”
Another rule is continuous improve-
ment. “We’re constantly looking at Kirk-
land Signature items, revisiting them with
an eye to making them better,” says Jeff
Lyons, Costco’s senior vice president of
fresh foods.

In the traditional marketplace, brands are built over the years with expensive advertising campaigns built around cornerstone products. In contrast, the Kirkland Signature brand has grown using this formula: Offer high-quality products at great prices, and let the members decide. “With Kirkland Signature, the focus is always on quality,” says Lyons. In other words, the perfect product, from scratch.

The items profiled on the following pages are just a sample of the hundreds of Kirkland Signature products you’ll find at Costco and on Costco.com.

—T. Foster Jones

SPECIAL SEC TION

KIRKLAND SIGNATURE

COSTCO’S 40-OUNCE jars of Kirkland Signature Mixed Nuts have been a huge hit with members for years. This delicious mix of high-quality cashews, almonds, pecans, Brazil nuts, blanched almonds and macadamia nuts has been one of the candy/snack department’s highest-selling items since its introduction.

“Based on feedback from members, we knew that members were eager to add the convenience of a snack pack to the mixed-nuts formula,” says assistant buyer Casey Rasmussen.

“The new Kirkland Signature Mixed Nuts Snack Packs are great for busy parents putting together kids’ lunches, active outdoorsy types and just about anyone on the go who wants a tasty snack,” she adds. (Each pouch is individually labeled, so retail resale is also an option.)

The mix of nuts in the snack packs is slightly different than the mixture in the

40-ounce jars—simplifying the mix allowed a better ratio of nuts in each individual snack pack. Each 1.6-ounce pack in the 21-count box contains cashews, almonds, pecans and macadamia nuts, providing 300 calories, 8 grams of protein, 3 grams of saturated fat and 3 grams of dietary fiber, with zero cholesterol and zero trans fat. Crunchy, tasty and convenient—who could ask for more?