The Big Problem With Costco's Strawberry Jam Croissants
A couple of days ago, Instagram account @costcobuys shared the already circulating news that the store was selling their strawberry jam-filled croissants once more. For $7.99, you could buy a container of 6 croissants. "These are delicious," they exclaimed. "If you've had Costco's croissants before the strawberry jam is a welcome addition!"
Prior coverage of these croissants has proven their broad popularity. "How will Costco stay in business if they kill us all with this wonderfully delicious food," one person on Reddit asked, to which another explained that after catering our wakes, Costco would develop a new batch of customers to kill. This enthusiasm was shared last year as well when Delish shared rave reviews of the product.
While the response to this image of Costco's special croissants has been broadly positive, some criticisms have tempered the previous fulsome praise. Some are tired of the artificial flavors Costco includes and are annoyed that it doesn't mention how it incorporates them. Most, however, complain that the filling is both falsely advertised as proper strawberry preservatives and poorly distributed in the product: "Croissants were good but disappointed by the squirt of strawberry filling running out. It wasn't even strawberry preserves," said one person on Instagram.
It's easy to imagine how a bite that should result in the juicy gush of jam would be disappointing if there was only a tiny trickle of strawberry flavoring instead, which might not even be naturally made. A smaller complaint was that $7.99 is too expensive for six subpar croissant sandwiches.
Getting more bang for your buck
The price and generally disappointing nature of the croissants, however, can be rectified by simply filling the croissants yourself. A piece in The New Yorker noted that Tesco, like Costco, changed the shape of their croissant to better spread jam and other condiments on it. Take that fact and how many pockets of air are naturally formed within the croissant and you have an easy dessert to lather with sweetness to your heart's content.
Doing this would definitely address the issue of the filling and, depending on the person, it may prove more cost-effective. In 2019, Insider covered how you can get a dozen croissants for $4.99. In 2018, Kitchn showed that you could get 42 ounces of Kirkland strawberry jam for $6.59, which, admittedly, is just a bit more expensive than Sam's Club's deal of $6.86 for two 32-ounce jars. While $12 is undoubtedly more expensive than $8, you do get more jam and more croissants than you would for the $7.99 box. So, if you happen to like croissants with jam and you happen to use jam for things like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, then it makes far more sense to buy the ingredients separately and combine them at home.