What Brand Is Behind Costco's Kirkland Signature Cheese Pizza?
Costco carries a wide variety of items under its Kirkland Signature brand, including frozen pizzas. Determining where these products originate is a popular pastime for many Costco members, who are eager to know whether their favorite private-label products are actually made by big brand-name manufacturers. When it comes to Costco's Kirkland Signature Cheese Pizza, an unlikely source points to a company called Palermo's.
While reporting on a union dispute between the Milwaukee-based business and its staff, Labor Notes claimed that Palermo's pizza "is sold under the Kirkland brand at Costco." Similarly, a press release provided by the United Steelworkers lists Kirkland Signature frozen pizza among Palermo's products. It should be said that neither Costco nor Palermo's has officially confirmed their association. Also, these statements were originally made in 2012, so there's no guarantee that Palermo's continues to supply Costco with its popular frozen pizza. Despite that, many Costco shoppers naturally assume that Palermo's is the hidden brand behind the frozen pizza sold at the warehouse retail chain.
Palermo's: a pizza brand with a family approach
A family-owned business, Palermo's got its start in 1964 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. What first originated as a bakery briefly transitioned into a restaurant that served up authentic Italian cuisine a few years later (Italy is where founders and spouses Gaspare and Zina Fallucca emigrated from), but quickly evolved into a manufacturer of frozen pizza products due to the popularity of its recipes. Over time, the product line expanded from a few options to the array of pizza styles that is currently available today.
Palermo's now features a number of pizza varieties, including Rising Crust, Neighborhood Pizzeria Style, Primo Thin, and Original Thin Crust. Additionally, Palermo's is also associated with other brands per the family of brands page, such as Connie's Pizza, Screamin' Sicilian Pizza Co., and Urban Pie Pizza Co., among others. Interestingly enough, a Reddit thread highlighted Screamin' Sicilian pizza on sale at a Costco location, showing that the chain still maintains a partnership with at least one of Palermo's brands.
How does Costco find products for the Kirkland Signature brand?
While Costco does carry quite a few name-brand products in its numerous locations, its company profile page explains the store's philosophy behind its Kirkland Signature label. The goal is to provide items that are "of equal or better quality than national brands," which allows shoppers to save money without sacrificing the value they're accustomed to.
As The Ascent explains, Costco aims to provide at least 20% savings on its private-label products compared to name-brand items. And despite the robust savings that members enjoy, Kirkland products are still incredibly lucrative for the warehouse retail chain. Consider that in 2021, products under the Kirkland Signature label earned nearly $60 billion, which amounted to approximately 25% of the store's revenue for that year. The Kirkland brand now includes 351 products across a wide range of categories, including frozen pizza.
While strong signs point to Palermo's, customers might never find out who actually manufactures Costco's Kirkland Signature Cheese Pizza. Despite the uncertainty, it's clear that the chain puts a lot of thought into its private label products and their level of quality.