The Costco food court's brand-new Double Chocolate Chunk Cookie has been garnering major buzz ever since it began popping up in stores late last month. But if you live in certain parts of the country, you might have trouble getting your hands on one of the new treats right now, according to customer reports.
A Costco shopper took to Reddit this week to share that their local Costco in Utah had stopped selling the food court cookie after just one day. When the shopper asked the food court workers why it had been removed, "they said it wasn't up to Costco standards and are reworking it," the post added.
In the comments section, several other Costco shoppers reported that the cookie was absent at other food courts as well.
"It hasn't appeared in parts of Colorado yet," a shopper wrote.
"I asked a food court employee in Utah today when we are getting the cookie. They said next week. They're adjusting the recipe," another said.
An alleged Costco employee also backed up the claims that Costco has temporarily retired the cookies in certain parts of the country.
"COSTCO EMPLOYEE HERE!!!! Due to the different altitude levels across the country, they had to pull them and adjust the recipe. Colorado locations in particular struggled to make them up to standard," the self-identified employee wrote. "So they are temporarily pulled until each state/altitude area has a recipe that works."
The alleged employee's explanation makes sense considering that Colorado and Utah are neighboring high-altitude states. Per the King Arthur Baking Company, high-altitude areas can be difficult environments to bake in. People in those parts of the country need to adjust oven temperatures, baking times, and ingredients to see the same results they'd get in lower altitude areas.
Of course, these claims about Costco's cookies should be taken with a grain of salt since the company hasn't confirmed any issues and rarely comments on such matters. Additionally, the fact that some Costco locations reportedly aren't selling the cookie right now doesn't mean it's gone from all locations. Plenty of shoppers noted in the comments on the Reddit post that the treat is still up for grabs near them.
However, if the cookie is currently absent at your local warehouse, these customers' reports may help explain why—and the good news is, it sounds like a new and improved version is forthcoming.
Costco did not immediately respond to our queries for confirmation and comment on the reported cookie issues.