Parents let their kids carry these around while shopping, and then they just put them back before checking out. My MIL said she wanted to buy some for the grandkids but decided not to because she thinks theyāre all dirty from that. I think that's the excuse she uses instead of how expensive they are.
Like?? Everyone concerned about pumpkin pie, meanwhile, thereās at least one big ass teddy bear in that pile ready and willing to murder every single one of us??
Fun fact. When I worked at Costco, the pies were a BIG deal. One day we ran out so quickly, the supervisors told everyone ādrop what youāre doing and go help bakery with piesā. Sure enough, 50+ employees straight up dropped what they were doing and cranked out pies for 5+ hours. Even with that many people prepping pies, we still couldnāt keep up with the demand
Iām the only one in my house that drinks it. Kids all think itās gross wife thinks itās gross and I couldnāt be happier knowing nobody is touching my Kirkland Eggnog.
if i went to costco, and saw *ONE* pie sitting suspiciously untouched, i would be in complete Paranoia looking all over it to see if someone and/or Everyone sees something I'm not there's gotta be something wrong with it if it's the last one
Costco's bakery runs 24/7 the week leading up to Thanksgiving. I am on pumpkin pie shift that whole week. In my 8 hour shift, I need to make at least 1,100 pies minimum. We make the dough from scratch, then press each individual pie shell. We mix the pumpkin pie, dispense it into the shell, and then it bakes for 1 hour, then sits for another hour, then is cooled for another 90 minutes. Its a 3 to 4 hour process for just one rack of pie, and we only have 3 ovens. And thats just pumpkin pie lol we have pecan and apple too, plus all the other items we make. It is very difficult to make them fast enough to keep up with demand, especially because they're only $5.99.
And that's just for the store. We ALSO have to make and bake tons of orders of 100+ pies for local businesses too.
considering they make $6,580 gross per 1 shift from you alone, they should really be able to hire more to make up the difference. iām sure your price of labor plus the cost of materials is a minor fraction of that.
Costco got a new CFO a year or two back, and ever since then it's do more with less, even though our sales continue to increase every year. We used to get 7-10 seasonal hires to help us (specifically just working in bakery) through the holidays, but last year we got 0 seasonals lol, just two employees from the front end instead. Costco used to truly value it's employees, so its a shame to see that value slowly decline each time management on the corporate level changes.
We're deep into end stage capitalism. We have two hold outs left and they're a hot dog and a can of tea. A grand total of two extremely rich people being satisfied.
when our government admits all our jobs are going away, but literally brags that building iphones will be moving from china to US workers instead, or that you can still have a job in the future as long as you don't expect to be paid... this is really our officials saying this, out loud, proudly...
Recently quit after 19 years because of this. Skeletons crews throughout the warehouse, people constantly calling in because everyone is overworked. Then having management telling us we were lucky to even have jobs and somehow payroll was actually over budget, so we're fortunate to not be cut, despite profits being higher every year. Toxic af work environment, I can't stand the positive press Costco constantly gets for being slightly better Sam's Club.
I thought no seasonal hires was a problem with just my store (we had an asshole gm). I asked about seasonals this year and was told we were getting them, but now I doubt it
you're an order of magnitude off, that would be an insane number of pies for one person. OP also mentioned theres only 3 ovens, so additional labor wouldn't solve anything
youāre right. the pies are 5.99. 5.99x $1,100 would be $6,589. regardless, if op is making 25$ an hour, that would be $200 for an 8 hour shift. they should be able to afford more workers. material costs should be below that. we donāt know how long it takes to make these, even with 3 ovens.
It's probably more like $300/shift when you factor in payroll taxes and benefits. Costco operates on incredibly thin margins, the vast majority of the net income comes from memberships and commissions on sales for like cruises and other random shit. I'd imagine their margins for baked goods are a bit better since it's made in-house but $6 for a giant pumpkin pie is pretty inexpensive anywhere so I can't imagine those pies have that much of a premium on them.
Highly dependent on your individual store but around noon is always a safe bet timewise. Too early and sometimes the pies aren't cool enough yet to wrap, but too late in the day the stock can dwindle. Monday you are guaranteed a pie, Tuesday is normally safe as well but thats when we really start getting hit, and then Wednesday you could be waiting in a line that runs from bakery all the way outside to tire shop lol.
The pie easily lasts for a week. The crust softens as the days go by but thats it. You're not "supposed" to freeze them, but they totally freeze fine but the crust will be soft after. The best buy date on the packaging is NOT an expiration date. When the best by date hits, we remove them from the sale floor and they are donated to local food banks.
It's a complicated relationship š we're cool right now, but come November 1st we are no longer friends. I'd be banned from the sub if I shared my thoughts and feelings on it the week of Thanksgiving lol
Edit: Oh, I will always eat it if thats what you meant lol, but specifically Costco's pumpkin pie - it's very mild which I personally love.
I'm surprised they're actually like fresh. I used to work at a giant eagle bakery and almost everything came in Frozen. Like not even like dry mix or frozen batter or whatever. EVERYTHING was frozen premade. The only thing I can recall us actually making fresh were the pumpkin drop cookies.
Out of curiosity, like what all do you make fresh? Like in terms of like percentages? Would you say that like 90% of what you make is fresh from scratch or whatever?
I've never been to a Costco in my life but now I am very interested in how they work LOL
It varies depending on the season, but right now it's around 45-50% maybe? Im bad at numbers lol, but it's a lot more than you think. We used to make almost everything fresh, but Costco's sales have increased so much that it's just not possible anymore so they're streamlining more things like breads and pastries now.
Made from scratch: the actual cakes themselves (including all mousses, buttercreams, fudge, etc.), cupcakes, all the various cheesecakes, muffins, loaves, pecan and pumpkin pie, a lot of different fillings like cheese for the danish, the cinnamon cream for the twice baked croissants, toppings like the streusel for muffins, etc.
Frozen: breads, croissants, bagels, all the different cookies, pastries like strudels and danish, bar cakes that we decorate/garnish, apple pie, beignets, etc.
We have a lot of mixed items like the gooey cinnamon rolls for example. The cinnamon roll itself comes in frozen now (we used to make them) but we still make the caramel glaze they sit in and the cream cheese icing that coats them from scratch.
They did! If you pause you sometimes keep catching the same guy who comes over to monitor the pumpkin pie situation and here you can see him restock (grey shirt).
It has nothing to do with scarcity. It has to do with how many you can realistically make in a period
I recently quit the bakery department, Thanksgiving is the single biggest season for the department. There are multiple sessions of overnights dedicated to just making pumpkin pie, not to mention apple and pecan pie and all the other products they have to produce otherwise.
It's only going to get worse, too. Corporate keeps talking out both sides of their mouth when it comes to hiring replacement workers or seasonals. They went from hiring seasonsals over October to maybe hiring some in November, if they feel like it. My store was constantly understaffed and they always dragged their feet on hiring more, it was stressing me out day in and out because my work was never enough, it's a big part of why I quit.
It's been awhile since I've thought about previous years' sales, but it wasn't uncommon of us to pump out close to a couple thousand pumpkin pies each shift of overnights. Even with a pie press, industrial mixers and a filling pump, it's still a huge labor. Making just the dough for the crust takes ages.
I never would have guessed making pumpkin pies would be stressful. But if your company isn't setting you up for success and they have unrealistic expectations I get it.
That's basically it. If corporate was more understanding, if we were ever properly staffed, it wouldn't have been a bad job. I'd been working there since October 2019, and it only got worse every passing year. It has gotten to the point where it's physically impossible to make everything they want made, every day. No matter how fast we are, everything can still only bake and cool so fast.
Not including any prep time, pumpkin pie bakes for roughly an hour, cools an hour standing and a hour in the cooler. Between pumpkin, apple and pecan, my location would sell well over 20,000 pies over the holiday season.
Costco is just becoming Sam's Club with better PR. The amount of times we were told our department couldn't afford to have the same amount of employees we had back in 2020 despite constantly beating out our previous years' sales, while we were literally selling gold and silver bars out of the jewelry case? Makes you jaded, fast.
Meat Department. 100% the same thing. I hate how Ill get fucked by that place and get on reddit and see people glazing them for being such a "good company"
For the longest time I refused to get one because in the back of my mind I was like thereās no way itās as good as my momās. Last year I finally got one. It was the sixth thanksgiving without my mom around and after trying it we really could have saved her the trouble of making one. I donāt think it was better but for that price for that much of it the homemade version just isnāt worth the effort. My brother and I finished the pie after four days with a bit of help of a couple friends. I joked to my brother as he finished the last slice that we should get another, he just responded with āyouāre rightā then he went directly to his car, drove to Costco, bought one pie and came home.
Sweet, and usually (almost exclusively) served with whipped cream. It'd be a little strange to serve with ice cream, and custard isn't usually served with things over here. It's either a filling or a base (like eclairs or flan).
Edit: I said a little weird for ice cream 'cause usually you'd serve it on a pie with a top crust, that you might serve warm.
I've had vanilla ice cream on a hot pumpkin pie numerous times. Actually I think vanilla tends to go well with most pies.
I imagine you might have to be a bit picky with the ice cream flavor so that it pairs well with the pumpkin. Imagining something like chocolate or mint ice cream on pumpkin pie just isn't as good. But I know for a fact that vagina ice cream goes great with it.
Edit: this is the worst auto correct I have ever had
Eh, just a personal anecdote, but my family often had it with a vanilla bean ice cream, so where I'm coming from not so weird, but also could just be a thing specific to us.
sweet. the pumpkin flavoured brown bit inside the shortcrust has the consistency of a slightly dense cheesecake. americans for the most part donāt have custard with pie and havenāt heard of it. whipped cream is the most popular for this sort of pie, but ice cream wouldnāt be unusual
It is both sweet and savory because of the spices that get used in it.
My family puts a dollop or a buurrrrzzgghhoowwaahh of whipped cream on top.
It would go well with ice cream, I've never tried it with custard but I don't see why not.. have the custard on the side though don't go Doctor Whoing your pumpkin pie like a fish stick.
We do whipped cream (either you make it but more often from a can) or ice cream rather than custard or simple unwhipped cream. (Technically ice cream is a custard but still.) I would say youād associate whipped cream with pumpkin pie especially. If you google it youāll find images with whipped cream on top
Also the spices are ground cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves, and possibly allspice. So a warm blend. A lot less sweet than other pies IME.
It is sweet, but I typically try to make mine less sweet since I serve it alongside whipped cream. The other options you mention would also be good to serve with pumpkin pie.
Youāll find itās a standard camera in that section of the store and a cheeky little insider has extracted the footage. But I do truly hope that Costco set the whole thing up
Not a bad idea but it doesn't work that well with their pies. The custard starts to separate from the crust and the pie starts to sweat. It's off putting
Its extremely average. Confirmation bias is the main reason people hype it up, if walmart pumpkin pie is a 4 costco pumpkin pie is a 5. Its mass produced pie made in a factory.
I think everyone knows itās average. Pumpkin pie as a whole is never that good
Pumpkin pie is just a thanksgiving staple. No one likes making pie crust and costco does it just as good as an average homemade pumpkin pie for pretty much the same price and whole lot less effort
Itās pie volume / price ratio is astronomical. You cannot make a pumpkin pie that cheap and forget buying premade anywhere else. Thatās what gives it the popularity. I personally like it but like most food items, taste varies by person.
Around 6 years ago my friend who ran a local food pantry and myself made 5 trips to Costco thanksgiving eve to pick up hundreds of these pies. The clients were soooo happy! Some families got 2 of them for their large families. We still talk about that night because there was magic.
i despise people who leave things where they donāt belong in the supermarket, and especially people who are too fucking lazy to take a shopping cart back inside or to their designated spot outside. lazy and careless people
I understand the convenience but there is nothing like the smell and taste of making a pumpkin pie at home when it's chilly outside. And then making coffee after dinner to have it with dessert.
I had to scroll through to understand the big empty spaces moving around. I figured maybe it was some weird pie reseller but it was just them reorganizing the stack to be more consolidated. š
I love Costco and pumpkin pie, but theirs is trash. I usually love costco/Kirkland items over the national brands but their pies including the pecan pie are not good. IMO
Costco forklift driver here. We will just have pallets lined up in the aisle the days leading up to turkey day and Xmas. Overnight shifts for a week ahead. You canāt make a pie by scratch for that price.
The whole time it was empty I'm sure employees heard "Is there more pie?" "When will more pie be out?" "Can I reserve a pie?" "WHY DO YOU ADVERTISE PIE IF YOU DON'T HAVE IT?!"
Theyāre a solid pie. And fairly large in diameter too. Itās easy enough to make one but for the price and quality itās a staple at our thanksgiving.
This is the thing to examine here. If I had to guess, it looks like MANY people pick them up for their kids or whatnot then take them back at the end of the shopping trip.
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