A cake good enough to start a petition to get it back? Costco had one. And you can get it again,
if you know the secret. We do, and we're about to share it.
Costco's half-sheet cake was a delicious monstrosity of celebratory, sugary happiness.
This fully customizable two-layer cake had only two flavor options: chocolate or vanilla.
But it made up for only having two flavors with its considerable size. The Costco half-sheet
baked in at 12 inches by 16 inches by 3 inches, as noted on the unaffiliated menu blog Costco Prices.
Webstaurant breaks it down per serving size,
explaining that serving 2-inch by 2-inch squares will produce 48 party-ready pieces. The best part
is that it cost less than $20. That's a lot of sweet satisfaction for just a little dough.
Unfortunately, when you go on your next trip to your local Costco, you'll notice that there are
no half sheet cakes available on the bakery racks. That's because Costco has replaced
the half sheet cake with 10-inch round ones, which have around 12 servings and start at $12.
The 2020 change from half-sheet cakes to round ones didn't sit well with some Costco customers,
to the point that a group started a Change.org petition demanding the old cakes back.
As of the making of this video, more than 1,500 people have signed on in
support of the half sheets. The petition's description laments:
"Birthdays and special occasions will never be the same. Pure perfection!"
According to CNN Business, Costco's half-sheet cake was one of many products that left store
shelves in 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. But it wasn't
because Costco couldn't make them anymore. There were other pandemic-related reasons.
According to KRON4, Costco wanted to help encourage social distancing and deter people from
having large social gatherings, which probably would have turned into super-spreader events.
After all, if you buy a cake that big,
more than likely you're going to want to share it with a good number of people.
"Now that's to the extreme. What happens if there are four people, but you still want a big cake?"
On top of that, the demand for half sheet cakes wasn't exactly skyrocketing.
People were rightly hesitant to congregate for birthday parties
and other social events that might call for copious amounts of cake to be on hand.
Not surprisingly, the elimination of the half sheet cake wasn't something that
Costco wanted to publicize. Like any major company that stops selling a popular item,
Costco didn't really mention the half-sheets all that much.
It instead aggressively marketed the new 12-inch round cakes. For some time,
only mention of the cake was a disclaimer added to a May 2020 Facebook post, which read:
“Big achievements deserve a celebration! Share the love with your grad by picking up a round 10” cake
at the bakery. Please note: Half-sheet cakes are currently not available to order or customize. “
That post generated more than 900 comments, and most were not pleased.
To try and make up for their marketing mishap, According to 9News,
Costco representatives did eventually release a press statement confirming that sales of
the half-sheet cakes had been suspended, with no plans to bring them back soon.
While the world tried — and is still trying — to recover from the devastating COVID-19 virus,
virus-related supply chain snags made some products that were once plentiful
suddenly hard to come by. That led to big increases in the prices of some goods,
which meant Costco has been worrying about a lot more than sheet cakes as of late.
In an effort to try and stymie the rapidly escalating issues surrounding keeping items
in stock, Costco started putting a cap on the number of items considered to be "panic
buys" customers could purchase. According to Forbes, those included pasta, bottled water,
loungewear, and in the early pandemic, toilet paper.
"Members can buy only one package of toilet paper,
one package of paper towels, and two cases of bottled water."
On top of that, the warehouse merchants also started chartering their own cargo ships to
help get products made overseas delivered to their warehouses as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Costco is not in the business of making its customers mad. After all,
Costco members pay for the privilege of shopping there, and they could easily just let their
memberships lapse. The company is well aware of this, too, and it'll go to great lengths to
keep members happy. Remember in 2018 when a woman returned her Christmas tree because it was dead?
They honored her request with a full refund, according to the New York Post.
So, while it's not blatantly advertised, you can still get a half-sheet cake from Costco.
But you can't order by phone or over the web, according to Costco Customer Service.
You have to physically go to your store and fill out an order form, which is conveniently tucked
away in the bakery section. The flavors are still the same and the cakes are still 100%
customizable. You do have to wait a few days for the store's bakers to make one for you.
So, if you're looking to celebrate this newfound discovery,
why not head over to your local Costco and order a half sheet cake? Indulge yourself!