The Flavor-Enhancing Fruit That's Always Cheaper At Costco

Lemons are an essential ingredient in so many dishes. They can be turned into a dessert sorbet, added to a pasta sauce to lighten its richness, or juiced into sweet lemonade. No matter the use, buying them at Costco will help you save some cash. The wholesale chain has pretty good produce prices, and if you're in the market for lemons, then you'll save a whopping 42.9% per ounce (on average) by buying Costco lemons versus buying from competitors like Walmart, Target, and Kroger, according to a study done by CashNetUSA.

Costco has a large selection of items that sell for less than what competitor retailers offer. Out of Costco's top 50 items that offer the best deals compared to the competition, lemons rank seventh. Red Vines licorice offers the biggest savings, with an average of 52.1%. Other products like croissants and chicken thighs are toward the top of the list, too. To determine the level of savings, the study took the average price of the three competitor retailers (Walmart, Kroger, and Target) and compared it to the average Costco price of the same item.

Clearly, it isn't just Cosco lemons that are cheap — all kinds of Costco goods beat out their competitors for having the lowest prices. There are a number of factors at play in terms of keeping lemons and the like so affordable. To start, Costco doesn't spend a ton of cash on marketing or design. Its stores are essentially giant warehouses, with no-frill shelves and displays to help save costs. And the items you see on those shelves were likely purchased from vendors at a lower price than what other grocery stores pay for them — this is because Costco has long-standing deals with vendors to purchase bulk products at good prices.

Finally, Costco doesn't sell everything you'll find at local grocery stores. Instead, the company strategically sells a smaller selection of items in larger quantities. The retailer takes notice of what customers are eating; those products (such as lemons) turn over quickly, meaning Costco replaces items on its shelves at a higher rate than competitors. The result is less product choice but more product turnover, allowing Costco to keep its prices cheaper than competitors because of how much of each item it sells. Knowing how cheap lemons are, it should be one of the best produce items to stock up on at Costco.