Italians Have a Hot Take on Why You Should Never Buy Costco’s Kirkland Olive Oil for Cooking
Within the gates of Costco unfold rabbles of excited shoppers swarming the aisles. For millions of Americans, Costco is not just a name; it’s a household sentiment. 24/7 Wall St. reports that about a quarter of Costco’s sales come from its Kirkland Signature products. Not all of these products are just as lucky, according to the Italian-American couple Jessi and Alessio Pasini (@thepasinis). They took a trip to their local Costco and advised people to never buy the brand’s olive oil.
“Let’s go fix Costco. What to buy and what not to buy,” Alessio said in the video while standing in front of a Costco outlet in bright daylight. The video cut to a scene wherein he was walking along the aisles of the retail store. From one of the shelves, Alessio picked up a pack of Parmigiano Reggiano and flashed it on the screen for the viewers.
“This is Parmigiano Reggiano. Buy it,” he recommended, and taped a “Buy it” sticker to the cheese packet. Other items the Pasinis tagged with the “Buy it” sticker included the infamous blue box of Kraft’s Mac & Cheese, Cento’s peeled tomato sauce, and a cacio & pepper ravioli pasta from Giovanni Ranni, who Alessio called “the master in tortellini."
The next product they picked up was Molinaro’s organic pizza starter kit. “Nice crust with sauce,” Alessio described. Jessi interrupted and exclaimed, “It’s like a grown-up Lunchable.” Alessio cracked up and repeated, “A big grunchable,” while tagging the pizza product with the “Buy it” sticker. Coming to the wine aisle, he said, “Costco has amazing wines,” but then picked up a bottle of Saint Cosme and tagged it as “Expensive water.” At the aisle stocked with Kinder Bueno’s milk chocolate, Alessio suddenly turned frantic and started hauling box after box in his arms. “It’s stocking,” he declared on the camera.
Unlucky products that were tossed into the “Don’t buy it” party included Kraft’s Parmesan cheese, which he tagged as “Wood.” But the unluckiest of them was the olive oil. When Alessio picked up a bottle of Kirkland Signature’s extra-virgin olive oil, he instantly tucked it back onto the shelf. “I won’t say anything, and you know why,” Alessio said while making a gesture of zipping his lips close.
In the comments section, people were left guessing whether they were recommending the olive oil or rejecting it. One user, @jennifer, wrote for the Pasinis, saying, “No. Olive oil goes bad when packaged in plastic. The good stuff is in glass bottles.” @mrsb71099 said, “Once you open that glass bottle, the oil will oxidize as well. Dark plastic is fine as long as you use it quickly. It shouldn't sit for months on end. That’s why you don't buy large bottles unless you use them often.”
Later on, the couple shared the real reason for advising against the olive oil with Food & Wine. “While the Kirkland brand olive oil by itself is pretty good, we no longer recommend it since it is sold in plastic containers. Plastic doesn’t do a good job at keeping olive oil fresh and keeping it from oxidizing,” they said.
You can follow Jessi and Alessio Pasini (@thepasinis) on TikTok for content related to food, lifestyle, and American-Italian cultures.