You're not going nuts—a go-to Costco item is missing from shelves. Here's what's actually going on.
Costco members are not a quiet bunch—not in the least. We’re vocal about our favorite Kirkland products, have strong opinions on the latest food-court additions and tend to evangelize about the discounts to anyone who will listen.
Usually, all is right in the warehouse. But every so often, the store pulls a fast one and replaces a tried-and-true product with a different brand or formula. (Don’t even get us started on the chaos Costco caused when it eliminated Kirkland chocolate chips!)
Right now, the internet is buzzing over the possibility of another fan-favorite Kirkland product being discontinued. The response online is wild, with shoppers rationing the remnants they have left in their pantries. So is Kirkland’s peanut butter gone forever? Or might you find it on shelves again someday? Take a deep breath, and read on to find out what’s really going on, in a nutshell.
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Which Kirkland item is missing from store shelves?
Kirkland Signature Organic Creamy Peanut Butter 🥜🥜🥜🥜🥜
byu/pk6zi inPeanutButter
The Kirkland Signature Organic Peanut Butter has been missing from warehouses (and the online store) for roughly two months. It seems to be a nationwide issue, and let’s just say the loss has not gone unnoticed. “Costco stopped carrying Kirkland organic peanut butter. Did they lose a deal with themselves?” joked one Reddit user.
When the Costco Food Reviews Instagram account posted about the peanut butter, reactions ranged from confusion (“I wonder why would they change something that sells out so fast at my location?”) to annoyance about discontinued products in general (“Is this going to be like the diapers? Because their new diapers are absolutely awful.”)
But hold up: Is the peanut butter truly discontinued, as internet rumors suggest, or is something else going on here? I took one for Team PB&J and asked. The good news, according to Costco customer service, is that the go-to spread is only temporarily MIA. The Costco insider I spoke with said the peanut butter is still listed as an “active item,” so it’s simply not available at the moment.
Why are Costco shoppers so upset?
Peanut butter is a pantry staple, so people have preferences when it comes to the taste, texture and ingredients. And, well, Kirkland Signature Organic Peanut Butter knocked it out of the park. The creamy spread, which was sold in a two-pack of 28-ounce jars, was massively popular with shoppers.
“We have been eating this tasty peanut butter for years and think it’s great,” wrote one Costco member in a review of the peanut butter on the store’s website. “These are sold as a twin-pack, so we dump both jars into a large bowl, beat it on low/medium with our electric hand mixer, and then pour it back into the jars and store them in the fridge. They stay creamy and nice and do not separate at all. Our dog likes it in her Kong toy also. It’s one of the few sugar-free peanut butters around and very reasonably priced.”
Considering how much shoppers loved the stuff, it’s no surprise they’re upset that it’s unavailable. Plus, Costco gave no warning that the peanut butter would be going away.
What type of peanut butter is Costco selling now?
Costco is selling another brand of organic peanut butter in a similar two-pack of 28-ounce jars: Naturally More Organic Creamy Peanut Butter. Reactions are mixed. While some enjoy it, others are giving it terrible reviews and pleading for the return of the Kirkland Signature variety.
“Please bring back the old Kirkland Signature Organic Creamy Peanut Butter,” begged one customer in the reviews section. “It was everything a good peanut butter should be. The texture, the taste, the balance—nothing about it needed to change! This new Naturally More version is such a disappointment. It feels overprocessed, with a strange texture and off taste. The oil separation is worse, and it somehow manages to be both too runny and oddly pasty at the same time. The Kirkland original was a pantry staple for so many of us. You already had the perfect product. We just want that one back!”
So will the Kirkland peanut butter ever return?
The short answer: Yes. I asked the Costco rep when the Kirkland Signature Organic Peanut Butter will return, but she couldn’t say. Still, take heart that the product is officially an “active item,” not discontinued.
In all likelihood, this is simply a vendor issue. And it wouldn’t be the first. As users on Reddit have pointed out, this happened a few years ago with the exact same peanut butter and replacement product, but the Kirkland version returned to shelves within months.
“This also happened around summer of 2021,” wrote Redditor @GrayFileFolder, who noted that the Kirkland brand of peanut butter returned that November. If this instance is like the last, the beloved peanut butter may be back on shelves in as little as three months.
Hopefully, the added context keeps you from going nuts during the product shortage. Maybe, just maybe, we’ll be back to mixing the contents of those oversized jars before we know it.
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Sources:
- Costco: “Kirkland Signature Organic Peanut Butter”
- Costco: “Naturally More Organic Peanut Butter, Creamy”
- Reddit: “Kirkland Signature Organic Creamy Peanut Butter”
- Reddit: “Costco stopped carrying Kirkland organic peanut butter”
- @Costcofoodreviews: “Costco peanut butter is gone and has been replaced with this one!”
