In a world seemingly full of raw deals, the price of a hot dog and a soda at Costco hasn’t changed in 40 years.
While taking part in the viral CEO taste test videos, Costco’s head honcho Ron Vachris said it wouldn’t anytime soon.
Like the heads of Burger King, Wendy’s and KFC who jumped on the trend after McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski awkwardly bit into the new XXL Big Arch burger, Vachris was filmed at a Costco warehouse food court chomping down on a dry glizzy.
“The hot dog price will not change as long as I’m around,” he said. “Amazing quality, amazing value.”
McDonald’s has its golden arches, Nike the swoosh and Walt Disney a castle — symbols of their iconic status in American life. Costco has its $1.50 hot-dog-and-soda deal, still the most popular item at its food court, especially now that high food prices are eating into household budgets. In the fiscal year 2025, Costco set a new record, selling more than 245 million hot dog combos.
“Saying that hotdog prices won’t rise is akin to Costco renewing its vow of providing value to the American people,” said Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData Retail. “The hotdog meal price is symbolic for Costco, and it is something they are determined to protect at all costs.”
How Good a Deal Is the Costco Combo?
How good a deal is the hot dog combo? Even as most grab-and-go meals have soared with the cost of living, the Costco hot dog hasn’t.
Had the famous combo kept pace with inflation, that $1.50 deal would set you back $4.65 today, more than three times as much.
It has few parallels apart from AriZona’s 99¢ can of iced tea that has skated under a buck since the company’s founding in 1992. Not even Trader Joe’s 19-cent bananas have been immune from market pressures.
How Costco Keeps Hot Dog Price Low
It may seem counterintuitive, but for the Costco bean counters, the hot dog combo deal is a savvy move.
The hot dog deal drives loyalty — and that loyalty is measured in membership fees. Membership fees accounted for about 64% of Costco’s profits in fiscal 2025.
History of the Costco Hot Dog Combo
Costco’s inflation-proof deal got its start with a lone hot dog cart parked outside the warehouse in Portland, Oregon, in 1985.
Joe Portera, then the general manager, allowed a vendor nicknamed “Warm Wonderful Gene” to set up shop there without first getting permission from Costco corporate. The executives in the home office loved the idea, and they not only let it slide, they expanded on it, according to David and Susan Schwartz.
The husband-and-wife team chronicled the history of the Costco hot dog in “The Joy of Costco: A Treasure Hunt from A to Z.” They self-published the book in 2023 under the imprint Hot Dog Press in homage to Susan’s late father, who was partial to hot dogs, and to the importance of the $1.50 hot dog deal to Costco’s success.
It was so important, in fact, that the Costco food court was originally called Cafe 150 in honor of the hot dog combo’s low, low price, they said.
Will the Hot Dog Combo Price Go Up?
At a business luncheon in 2018, W. Craig Jelinek, who went on to be CEO of Costco, recalled approaching his then-boss, Costco cofounder Jim Sinegal, to suggest raising the price because “we are losing our rear ends.” “He said, ‘If you raise the effing hot dog, I will kill you. Figure it out.’”
Jelinek did. In 2008, Costco switched from Hebrew National, which was raising prices, and started manufacturing its own hot dogs at a plant in California and later at another in Illinois.
“We keep it at $1.50 and make enough money to get a fair return,” Jelinek said in an interview in 2018.
Over the years, Costco has fiddled with the drinks and condiments to maintain the price.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Will Costco’s famous hot dog combo stay at $1.50? CEO tells all
Reporting by Jessica Guynn, USA TODAY / USA TODAY
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
