Costco prefers Mello Yello over Mountain Dew

Cola-Cola notched a recent win against Pepsi in the Cola Wars – a longstanding rivalry between the two drink behemoths that’s been called “a blood feud” and “the most important struggle in the history of capitalism.”

Costco is switching from Pepsi to Coke products in its food courts beginning this summer, CEO Ron Vachris recently revealed in a shareholders meeting.

• Coke was previously a mainstay of Costco food courts for decades. But in 2013, Costco shifted to Pepsi products to maintain the price of its tentpole $1.50 hot dog combo, CNN reports.

The almighty hot doggo

The $1.50 hot dog price is a powerful marketing tool for Costco, and has become as synonymous with the retailer’s brand as its lunch-replacing free samples.

The price of the hot dog-soda combo has remained the same since 1985 – Costco cofounder Jim Sinegal famously once said, “If you raise the effing hot dog, I will kill you. Figure it out,” according to former CEO Craig Jelinek. And it puts up numbers: Costco sold ~150 million of the combos last year.

The move to Coke isn’t changing the policy. "The $1.50 hot dog price is safe," Costco CFO Gary Millerchip said last year.

📰 In other Costco news: The retailer recently rejected an anti-DEI proposal, and is staring down the barrel of an ~18,000-worker strike.