Costco Changed This Popular Dried Snack And Customers Despise The Updated Version

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Costco offers lots of grab-n-go snacks, plus big bags of munchies that you can portion out to make them last longer (you can make even smaller portions by using kitchen shears to cut large dried fruit slices). One Costco dried fruit snack that's been popular for a long time is Kirkland Organic Dried Mangoes. Then Costco released another dried mango option that adds sugar — lots of it. And customers didn't love this change.

The original bag of organic, unsweetened dried mangoes has one ingredient: mango. But take a look at the back of the bag of the new Kirkland Sweetened Dried Mangoes, and you'll find the addition of sugar and sodium metabisulphite. In fact, the new snack bag adds 7 grams of sugar per serving in a bag of roughly 24 servings. That's a lot of extra sugar packed into a fruit that's already naturally sweet. 

Some dissatisfied customers took to Reddit, like a user who wrote, "As someone who loves sugar, they are way too sweet." Others voiced their dislike directly on the Costco product page, including one customer who asked, "Who in the right mind adds sugar to an already naturally sweetened fruit unless it was for cooking?!" Thankfully, it sounds like Costco was paying attention to those comments.

It turns out that Kirkland Sweetened Dried Mangoes are not meant to be a direct replacement for the original Organic Unsweetened Mangoes, but rather an alternative. The alternative is apparently necessary, as several customers have mentioned that the unsweetened variety is often out of stock. Some customers stock up on the unsweetened mangoes when they spot them, knowing that Costco may sell out. That may be why the two products are sourced from different countries. The unsweetened mangoes come from Mexico, while the sweetened bag comes from Thailand and uses mangoes grown in Cambodia.

Beyond scarcity, there are other reasons for Costco to stock both types of dried mangoes. For starters, price. In one in-store comparison on Instagram, the organic unsweetened mangoes cost $18.99, while the sweetened mangoes are available for only $8.49. Actual prices vary by location, but the price difference is likely to remain significant in most Costco locations. Another reason to stock both varieties is that of course, not everyone has the same taste. While the critical reviews are present, there are also 338 positive 5-star reviews out of a total 395 reviews on the Costco product page at the time of writing. 

Costco is one of the largest retailers in the world and must appeal to a large number of shoppers, which is nearly impossible without offering different options. That's why it stocks plenty of items that are "must buys" along with several you should avoid. So the next time you're looking for dried mangoes at Costco, make sure to pick up the bag that works best for you.