If you’re like me, your favorite thing about Costco is the samples. I’ll gladly wait for fifteen minutes in the middle of a busy aisle for an elderly lady to give me a sample of a multigrain seed cracker with a vegan cheese spread. But unlike other patrons, when I go to Costco I bring my own samples.
For the last few years I’ve been going to Costco for my lunch break. People always talk about how great value their cafeteria food is. Sure, it may be good, but inside they’re literally giving away food! So every lunch break I’ll take a few laps of the store and pick up a dozen samples. It’s the frugal woman’s tapas and I’m all for it.
At one point I realized that the samples are very constrained. I mean how much can you do with a hot plate and a toaster oven? So I took it upon myself to revise Costco’s samples into irresistible bites that every shopper would have to try.
I may not have a background in cooking, but I knew I could do better. In a streak of culinary creativity, I reimagined their Amish butter spread on a buckwheat tortilla chip as a buckwheat butter sandwich. Tired of their oat bar I meticulously deconstructed it into oats, raisins, and chocolate chips. Talk about a new take on an old classic. If you like beef jerky, wait until you try my spin on it where I sous vide the beef jerky for more than a day. Quickly I realized that I had quite the knack in the kitchen!
The next day I took my culinary ideas into the store. Armed with my folding table I began to set out samples for fellow Costco customers to show how great the products are… And my samples were a hit! So much so that I had to replenish my supply with the products from the shelves. As an added bonus for shoppers, I even created samples for any service animals that accompanied the shoppers. Who knew that dogs love roasted edamame!?
Although I was doing my best to move product, it wasn’t long until I was asked by management to leave the store. Disheartened, I left. But I knew that if one day I brought in samples so delicious they couldn’t bear to ask me to leave, I would win. So from that day forward, I have always brought my own samples when I go to Costco.
