At-home baking?
Supply chain issues?
Costco's All-American chocolate cake has disappeared from the shelves, despite thousands who have
petitioned to bring it back.
Why did Costco eliminate this popular item?
Keep watching to find out.
2020 was a difficult year, and you can add the decreasing demand for big birthday cakes
to our laundry list of complaints.
Actually, according to Numerator's Sweet Treat Tracker, cakes and other sweets as a category
were up in 2020 as we turned to comforting foods in trying times.
But the All-American Chocolate Cake wasn't just any cake.
It was a massive cake, made for parties.
And, you guessed it, there were far fewer parties in 2020.
In fact, research reported via the New York Post found six in 10 individuals only felt
comfortable attending virtual events last year.
Think of that impact in terms of birthday cakes alone.
Holiday celebrations took a hit, too.
Just 27% of Americans planned to celebrate Thanksgiving with people outside their household
in 2020, according to a survey requested by the New York Times.
For many Christmas was canceled, too.
All missed occasions for us and the All-American Chocolate Cake.
Next on our list of potential reasons for the All-American Chocolate Cake's demise we
have the entire phenomenon of pandemic baking.
With so much time at home, people everywhere embraced their inner baker.
Sales of baking-related products like baking chocolate shot up 24% and The Atlantic reported
flour was flying off the shelves faster than it could be restocked.
"People are coping with self-isolation by making bread and other baked goods."
The benefits to pandemic baking were three-fold: it gave us something to do, sweet treats are
often nostalgic and comforting to eat, and, for many, the actual act of baking or giving
those baked creations away can be rewarding and stress-relieving, as well.
"That's the loaf I'm about to put into the oven right now."
So, people everywhere started going all-in on cakes made from scratch.
All great developments for the newly-minted bakers, but not so great for the fate of our
story's hero — the All-American Chocolate Cake.
Not only did Costco discontinue its All-American Chocolate Cake in 2020, it also announced
in a Facebook post that it would no longer be offering its equally popular half-sheet
cakes.
"There's another big change at Costco that shoppers are noticing."
Costco's half-sheet cakes were a blank slate for customization and could serve up to 48
people for just $19.99 — perfect for weddings, grad parties and anywhere else you need an
affordable yet crowd-pleasing option.
Costco's half-sheet cakes likely met their demise for the same reasons as the All-American
Chocolate Cake: fewer occasions where we needed to feed 20 or more people and a shift towards
favoriting tiny cakes over massive ones.
Costco now instead offers 10-inch round cakes in both chocolate and vanilla and their two
layers are more in line with serving the smaller gatherings we were growing accustomed to.
While the chocolate version is similar to the All-American Chocolate Cake, it's filled
with chocolate mousse instead of fudge.
While fans on Reddit give it mixed reviews, most say it isn't as good.
As many companies have, Costco was navigating supply chain issues around the time the All-American
Chocolate Cake disappeared in 2020.
According to its Chief Financial Officer, Richard Galanti, the members-only warehouse
was struggling to keep products like sanitizing wipes, baking yeast, and laptops on shelves,
and making more room for these highly sought-after items meant cutting back on other offerings
that weren't as in-demand.
Costco wasn't the only retailer to streamline what they were stocking in an effort to manage
inventory, increase sales, and cut expenses in a chaotic time.
These impacts were felt across the industry and some of the sacrifices that had to be
made inevitably involved food products that were not as in-demand as pantry staples or
items like paper towels.
"And you can't find lumber to build a new home.
Well, you can't find products to stock the shelves of your small business, you can't
find holiday gifts–"
Let's not forget that Costco discontinued items well before we were hit with a global
pandemic.
So there is always a possibility that the All-American Chocolate Cake would have gone
the way of the dinosaurs without any help from the virus.
In fact, roundups of all the amazing Costco items we've had to part with over the years
are a pretty frequent occurrence.
Thankfully, there's a way you can tell if any of your Costco favorites are about to
get the ax.
As explained by Reader's Digest, items that the wholesale store is not planning to restock
will have an asterisk in the upper right corner of its price tag.
So, if you see one of these asterisks on a shelf-stable product you can't imagine living
without, clear out a space in the pantry and stock up.
You might be thinking 2020 was the definitive end for the All-American Chocolate Cake, but
in a surprising and welcome twist, it would seem those 7,000 petition-signers may have
gotten their way after all — or a version of it at least.
Earlier this year, Costco put a smile on faces across the nation when it brought back the
All-American Chocolate Cake in a smaller — but undeniably cuter — miniature version.
These mini cakes are made with the same chocolate cake, fudgy icing, and chocolate shavings
that made the original version of the All-American Chocolate Cake the mega-hit that it was for
so many years.
And, while the standard size All-American Chocolate Cake was $16.99, the new cakes are
available in packs of six for just $7.99.
So far, the miniature All-American Chocolate Cakes seem to be a big hit with the original's
fans.
Each one is a bit larger than a cupcake, making them the perfect size for one or two and a
great solution for socially distanced gatherings as everyone gets their own serving and keeps
their germs to themselves.
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