By Lindsey Weedston

Copyright dailydot

Costco’s Kirkland Signature brand has long been marketed as a budget-friendly alternative to big names, but a recent TikTok reminded shoppers that many of those products are actually made by the same companies they’re competing with.

Starbucks, Duracell, and other household brands often manufacture Kirkland goods, allowing them to sell to both cost-conscious and brand-loyal customers. While Costco insists its private label must always be at least 1% better than the industry leader, shoppers have been discussing whether the savings truly match the quality.

The makers of Kirkland Signature coffee: Starbucks

Social media users discover this “secret” every so often, and in 2025, it’s because of TikToker @rossen.reports. Rossen gained over 130,000 followers with his shopping tips to help people save money, in addition to exposing the tricks companies utilize to get more cash from shoppers.

It’s no secret that you can save money by buying in bulk at Costco, and pay even less if you buy the Kirkland brand that is always close to the name-brand product. What you might not know is that the company that made the stuff adjacent to the Kirkland option probably made all of it.

@rossen.reports Who REALLY makes Kirkland at Costco? I found out. ♬ original sound – Rossen Reports

“Kirkland coffee,” said Rossen, holding up a bag. “Guess who makes most of it? Starbucks!”

“The Kirkland coffee is for sale right here,” he pointed out. “Look what’s for sale right next to it. Yeah, the Starbucks coffee.”

The point is to entice Starbucks customers with the familiar logo and then offer those who don’t want to pay Starbucks prices a cheaper alternative, but all the profits still go to Starbucks—and Costco, which takes a cut. They do the same with batteries, infant formula, and pet food.

He then explained that Kirkland batteries are stocked right above the Duracell batteries, and are both made by Duracell. Same with Kirkland canned albacore tuna being made by Bumble Bee Seafoods, Kirkland pet food made by Diamond Pet Foods, Kirkland baby formula made by Perrigo, and Kirkland diapers made by Huggies.

This TikTok video netted over 2.5 million views in a day.

This is part of a highly successful business model that Costco has wielded for decades.

Kirkland’s 1% better policy

While it’s nice to know what you’re getting when you buy Kirkland, multiple commenters complained that this video didn’t answer whether what’s in the generic packaging is the same quality.

Costco dodges the scandal every time with its policy requiring every product under the Kirkland label to be at least one percent higher quality than the industry leader. Early this year, workers on the supply side of Costco revealed how this works.

“If you have what they deem to be the premium product on the market, they will actually ask you to make the Kirkland brand,” said Redditor u/reasonableliberty.

“The catch is that it has to be at least 1% better than your product. That’s not a joke. They’ll identify a metric in which their Kirkland-branded product has to be slightly better than your market-leading product.”

This larger strategy launched in 1995, but as some TikTokers pointed out, companies “competing” with themselves is nothing new.

“We are being played” reads the top comment on the video.

“It happens in every industry,” said @imrickjamesbitchs. “They would rather be their own competition and still get the sale.”

Some, however, swear they can tell the difference between the name brand and Kirkland, and not in a good way.

“Kirkland batteries are horrible,” claimed @jbachwp. “They must be the Duracell rejects.”

“The change for the Kirkland diapers is TERRIBLE,” reported @teacher2mom, “it is POOR quality!!!!!!”

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