The Kirkland Signature Juice That Costco Shoppers Aren't Happy With Anymore

Costco shoppers are pretty outspoken heaping praise on their favorite products, but they're also not afraid to shout from the rooftops when an item doesn't meet their expectations. Just look at how customers felt about the quality of Costco's chicken breasts in contrast to the love shown for the return of the beloved holiday cookie pack. The latest issue uniting Costco customers on social media is the changing flavor and questionable freshness of Kirkland Signature's Orange Juice.

One disgruntled customer took to Reddit to explain their story about purchasing a "terrible" bottle of the Kirkland Signature orange juice only to return it, buy a new bottle, and find that it still had the "same issue." Other customers in the comments agreed that the flavor of Costco's orange juice has been off lately, saying that they "poured [themself] a big glass and it smelled faintly like alcohol / tasted slightly like sour milk." Another shopper in a Facebook group made a post noticing that Kirkland Signature's orange juice not only looked different, "more of a light yellow color" than usual but also tasted different. Fellow customers flocked to the comments to point out that "it definitely has a different taste, like [a] cardboard or plastic taste."

Kirkland Signature's organic orange juice isn't safe from unsatisfied customers either, with another shopper starting a Reddit thread to discuss how the "quality has dropped off a cliff." Someone in the comments pointed out yet again that the juice "looks watered down, [like a] different color," while another commenter expressed that "Kirkland brand used to be quite comparable to the biggies, now it's basically glorified Great Value brand." Beyond a difference in color and taste, a Costco shopper from a Facebook group noticed that even the packaging has changed, going from plastic handles to cardboard.

Among the unhappy orange juice shoppers, some on Reddit explained that the change in Kirkland Signature's product may be beyond its control and instead the fault of poor orange crop production. Many of America's oranges come from the Sunshine State (in case you're wondering how many oranges Florida actually produces), but those trees have suffered in recent years from unprecedented levels of a disease known as "citrus greening." According to the USDA, citrus production in Florida has dropped 92% over the last 20 years. Costco hasn't formally addressed the orange juice issue, but given the current citrus crisis, a change in product quality suddenly makes more sense.