If You Can’t Beat Costco, Join Costco: Walmart’s Rotisserie Chicken Copycat Strategy Shows Where Grocerant Growth Is Going

 

There is an old business saying: “If you can’t beat them, join them.”

Walmart’s latest rotisserie-chicken marketing move may be one of the most entertaining examples of that strategy I have seen in food retail according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

But beneath the limited-edition $5.97 Chicken Purse, the bag charms and the social-media fun is a much bigger food-retailing story.

It is about Costco, packaging, price, prepared food, convenience, brand identity and the growing power of fresh-prepared meal components.

And from my perspective as the Grocerant Guru®, Walmart has learned an important lesson: when a competitor owns a consumer food ritual, sometimes the smartest strategy is not to invent a new ritual. It is to make your version better, cheaper, easier and more culturally relevant.

Costco Didn't Invent the Bag — But It Made the Packaging Change Strategic

Let's get one food fact straight.

Costco was not the first retailer to put rotisserie chickens into flexible bags. Walmart, Whole Foods and other grocers were already using similar packaging. When Costco began transitioning its famous Kirkland Signature rotisserie chicken from rigid plastic clamshells to flexible bags in 2024, it was actually following an established packaging direction.

But Costco did something much more important.

It made the packaging part of the conversation.

Costco said the flexible packaging could reduce its plastic use by roughly 75%, or about 17 million pounds of plastic annually, while eliminating the need for an estimated 1,000 freight trucks and reducing carbon emissions by approximately 4,000 metric tons.

That is not simply a packaging change.

That is food merchandising economics meeting supply-chain economics meeting sustainability.

And Costco had something most retailers don't have:

A $4.99 product with cult status.

The $4.99 Costco rotisserie chicken has remained essentially unchanged for years despite inflation and higher operating costs. In fiscal 2025, Costco sold approximately 157.4 million rotisserie chickens globally—more than 431,000 per day.

That is an extraordinary number for a single prepared-food item.

The lesson is equally extraordinary:

Packaging doesn't have to make the food more expensive. Packaging can actually become part of the value equation.

Why Costco Will Continue to Lead Whole-Rotisserie-Chicken Sales

I see three reasons Costco will remain exceptionally difficult to dislodge in whole rotisserie chicken.

1. Costco owns the value benchmark

At $4.99, Costco has created a consumer reference point.

Once consumers know they can purchase a large, ready-to-eat whole chicken for $4.99, every other retailer has to explain why its chicken costs more.

That is enormously powerful.

Costco isn't merely selling chicken.

It is selling a definition of value.

2. Costco has vertically integrated the chicken equation

Costco's Nebraska poultry operation was created specifically to help control the economics and supply of its rotisserie chicken program. The facility processes enormous volumes of poultry and gives Costco a level of supply-chain control that most supermarket competitors simply cannot replicate.

That matters because the real battle isn't just over the price on the deli sign.

It is over:

bird cost + processing + labor + packaging + transportation + shrink + merchandising + margin.

Costco has spent years building the infrastructure around the chicken.

3. The chicken is a traffic driver, not merely a deli item

This may be the most important point.

Costco doesn't necessarily need to make its money on the chicken.

The chicken gets the consumer into the warehouse, and the warehouse then gets the opportunity to sell everything else.

That is the classic loss-leader/grocerant traffic-driver strategy.

And it works particularly well because the product solves an immediate meal problem.

“What's for dinner?”

Costco has an answer.

For $4.99.

Walmart's Response: If You Can't Beat the Packaging, Join It

Here is where the story gets interesting.

Walmart has long had an enormous rotisserie-chicken business of its own. The retailer has reported selling 103 rotisserie chickens per minute, and Walmart says approximately one in every 12 Walmart customers purchases at least one rotisserie chicken each year.

So Walmart does not have a chicken problem.

It has a brand-positioning problem.

Costco owns the narrative of the inexpensive, oversized, iconic rotisserie chicken.

Walmart has the scale to compete—but it needs to make its own chicken culturally relevant.

And that is where the packaging—and now the purse—comes in.

Three reasons Walmart was effectively forced toward Costco-style packaging economics

First: cost pressure.

Flexible packaging can use substantially less material and occupy less space than rigid clamshell packaging. Costco's own packaging analysis demonstrates the potential scale of those savings.

For a retailer selling chicken at enormous volume, pennies matter.

Second: operational efficiency.

Flexible packaging is easier to store and transport and takes up less space than rigid containers. That can influence transportation, storage, handling and refrigeration economics.

When you are operating at Walmart scale, small efficiencies become big numbers.

Third: consumers increasingly want food that travels.

This is the larger Grocerant lesson.

Today's fresh-prepared food isn't necessarily eaten standing next to the deli counter.

It is taken home.

It is carried to work.

It is used in another meal.

It becomes sandwiches, salads, tacos, casseroles, soups and snacks.

FMI reports that 53% of consumers describe their typical meal preparation as a mix of scratch-cooked and semi- or fully prepared foods.

That is precisely where rotisserie chicken becomes more than dinner.

It becomes a meal component.

Walmart's Chicken Purse Is Actually More Strategic Than It Looks

At first glance, Walmart's new Chicken Purse is just fun.

The retailer launched limited-edition purses in Traditional and Lemon Pepper "flavors" for $5.97—the same price as its rotisserie chicken. It also introduced chicken-themed charms and Great Value hot-sauce and seasoning charms.

The purse reportedly generated enough demand to sell out quickly, creating a secondary-market buzz almost immediately.

But the real marketing genius isn't the purse.

It is this:

Walmart is taking a food product and turning it into a brand asset.

Walmart says its rotisserie chicken generated more than 15,000 social mentions during the previous year.

That is exactly what food retailers want.

A product that consumers don't merely purchase.

A product consumers talk about.

But Walmart Is Now Stuck in the Middle

And this is where I believe Walmart needs to be careful.

Walmart has successfully joined the rotisserie-chicken conversation.

But it risks becoming stuck in the middle.

There are three reasons.

1. Costco owns the extreme-value halo

Costco's $4.99 chicken is almost impossible to attack directly without attacking Costco's entire business model.

Walmart's $5.97 chicken is still an exceptional value, but it isn't the same value proposition.

Costco says:

“Look how much chicken you get for $4.99.”

Walmart says:

“Look how much fun our chicken is.”

Those are different messages.

2. Walmart cannot win the specialty-food experience simply by being cheaper

This is where Walmart encounters retailers such as Publix, Kroger and Albertsons.

These competitors can emphasize fresh-food quality, deli merchandising, meal solutions, regional preferences, prepared sides and broader supermarket meal occasions.

The battlefield is therefore moving from:

“Who sells the cheapest chicken?”

to:

“Who owns the entire meal occasion?”

That is a much more interesting battle.

3. Walmart risks becoming famous for the chicken without owning the meal

The chicken purse proves Walmart understands the power of the product.

But the next step is more important.

What does Walmart sell with the chicken?

Potato salad?

Fresh vegetables?

Macaroni and cheese?

Bakery rolls?

Salad?

Dessert?

Beverages?

A family meal bundle?

A two-person dinner?

A lunch solution?

A next-day sandwich solution?

This is where Walmart has an enormous opportunity.

Because the future of retail food isn't necessarily selling more whole chickens.

It is selling more meals built around the chicken.

The Real Grocery Battle Is Becoming Grocerant

FMI's research makes the opportunity particularly clear.

Its 2025 Power of Foodservice at Retail report found that consumers choosing deli-prepared foods instead of restaurant meals more than doubled from 12% in 2017 to 28% in 2025. More than half of Americans—53%—now take a hybrid approach to meals, combining deli-prepared foods with items prepared at home. Retail foodservice dollar sales reached $52.1 billion, up 1.6% over the prior 12 months.

That is the Grocerant Revolution in one paragraph.

The grocery store is no longer simply competing with the restaurant for ingredients.

It is competing for the meal occasion.

And rotisserie chicken is one of the best weapons in that battle.

FMI also points directly to rotisserie chicken as an example of how consumers use a prepared food as the foundation for multiple meals—including salads, sandwiches and casseroles.

That is why I believe Walmart's Chicken Purse is amusing—but the real opportunity is sitting in the deli.

Three Grocerant Guru® Insights for Walmart

1. Stop selling the chicken. Start selling the meal ecosystem.

Walmart should build highly visible “Build Your Meal Around Our Chicken” merchandising.

The chicken becomes the protein anchor.

Then Walmart sells the sides, salad, bread, beverage and dessert.

That transforms a $5.97 transaction into a much larger basket.

2. Make the packaging part of the brand—not just part of the operation.

Costco demonstrated that packaging can influence cost, logistics and consumer conversation.

Walmart should make its rotisserie packaging instantly recognizable and use it consistently across its ecosystem.

The Chicken Purse demonstrates that Walmart already understands the power of visual recognition.

Now apply that thinking to the actual food.

3. Own the “tonight + tomorrow” meal occasion.

This is perhaps Walmart's biggest opportunity.

A rotisserie chicken should generate multiple consumption occasions.

Tonight: chicken + two sides.

Tomorrow: chicken sandwich.

Next day: chicken salad.

Later: chicken soup, tacos or casserole.

That is how fresh-prepared food becomes a grocery growth engine rather than simply a deli department.

The Bottom Line

The Walmart Chicken Purse may look like a novelty.

I see something different.

I see a retailer recognizing that food can become culture, packaging can become marketing, and a prepared-food item can become a brand.

Costco didn't invent the rotisserie chicken.

It didn't invent the flexible packaging bag, either.

But Costco did something more important:

It built one of retail's most powerful food-value propositions around the chicken.

Walmart now appears to be saying:

“If you can't beat them, join them—and then make it Walmart.”

The question is whether Walmart stops at the chicken purse.

Because the real money isn't hanging from a shoulder.

It is sitting in the shopping cart next to the chicken.

And that is where the next great grocerant battle will be fought.

Are you ready for some fresh ideations? Do your food marketing ideas look more like yesterday than tomorrow? Interested in learning how our Grocerant Guru® can edify your retail food brand while creating a platform for consumer convenient meal participation, differentiation and individualization?  Email us at: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us or visit: us on our social media sites by clicking one of the following links: Facebook,  LinkedIn, or Twitter

Walmart Just Changed the Food Game: It Understands Food Customers Better Than Fast-Food Retailers Do

Steven Johnson, The Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions® says Walmart’s next big food opportunity isn’t simply selling more groceries—it is capturing more of the consumer’s eating occasions.

There is a significant change underway in the American food marketplace, and Walmart deserves credit for recognizing it.

Walmart is moving beyond traditional grocery delivery and into something much bigger: bringing groceries, fresh prepared food, restaurant meals, snacks and beverages together in one delivery experience.

In June 2026, Walmart began allowing eligible customers to order Subway directly through Walmart’s app or Walmart.com, including the ability to combine Subway with a Walmart Express grocery delivery. Walmart subsequently announced an expansion with Dunkin', beginning with approximately 150 Dunkin' locations inside Walmart stores and ultimately expanding to thousands of standalone locations.

The significance isn't simply that Walmart is delivering restaurant food.

Walmart is recognizing how consumers increasingly want to eat.

The consumer doesn't necessarily care whether dinner came from a supermarket deli, a restaurant kitchen, a convenience store or their own oven.

They care about taste, freshness, convenience, speed, value and choice.

That shift is creating a much larger opportunity for Ready-to-Eat and Heat-N-Eat food.

 

Consumers Are Eating at Home—But Increasingly They're Not Cooking From Scratch

For decades, the food industry largely divided meals into two categories:

Grocery = food you prepare.

Restaurants = food somebody else prepares.

That distinction is becoming outdated.

A growing portion of the market is now food prepared somewhere else and consumed at home.

That includes:

·       Ready-to-Eat meals

·       Heat-N-Eat entrées

·       Prepared deli foods

·       Restaurant takeout and delivery

·       Fresh sandwiches

·       Rotisserie chicken

·       Prepared salads

·       Pizza

·       Breakfast sandwiches

·       Fresh snacks

·       Bakery products

·       Coffee and other beverages

This is the expanding Grocerant economy.

And the consumer data increasingly supports it.

 

2024: Convenience Became Part of “Value”

FMI research conducted with Circana and Oliver Wyman in 2024 found that consumers were redefining value beyond price, with convenience, health and ease of preparation becoming increasingly important.

FMI reported that 87% of morning eating occasions and 76% of midday eating occasions were sourced from home, while 65% of morning eating occasions were prepared in less than five minutes.

That is an important distinction:

Eating at home does not mean cooking from scratch.

FMI also reported in 2024 that shoppers were using semi-prepared and fully prepared retail foods to supplement—or replace—meals prepared from scratch. A growing number were using a hybrid approach, combining prepared foods with foods they prepared themselves.

That is exactly where grocery foodservice and restaurant delivery begin to overlap.

 

2025: Grocery Stores Became More Serious Restaurant Competitors

The trend became even clearer in 2025.

FMI's Power of Foodservice at Retail 2025 found that the percentage of consumers choosing deli-prepared food instead of restaurant meals had more than doubled—from 12% in 2017 to 28% in 2025.

FMI also found that 53% of Americans were using a hybrid approach to create meals, combining deli-prepared foods with items from their own kitchens.

Retail foodservice dollar sales reached $52.1 billion, according to FMI.

The implication is important:

The grocery store is no longer competing only for the grocery budget. It is competing for the meal.

That makes Walmart's strategy especially interesting.

Walmart already has the grocery customer.

Now it can increasingly offer that customer restaurant food without requiring a separate restaurant transaction.

 

Restaurant Customers Are Asking for More Convenience, Too

The restaurant industry is sending the same signal from the other direction.

The National Restaurant Association reported in its 2025 Off-Premises Restaurant Trends research that nearly 75% of restaurant traffic occurred off-premises, including takeout, delivery and drive-thru.

Among adults:

·       47% picked up takeout at least weekly.

·       42% used the drive-thru weekly.

·       37% ordered delivery weekly.

The same research found that 66% of consumers wanted more choices from restaurants offering takeout, while 61% wanted more delivery choices.

Consumers are clearly comfortable with restaurant food coming to them.

Walmart's opportunity is to add that restaurant choice to a shopping ecosystem consumers already use.

 

Walmart's Real Advantage: The One-Basket Food Customer

Consider a typical evening order:

Milk.

Eggs.

Bananas.

Dog food.

Paper towels.

A prepared salad.

Dinner.

A snack.

Coffee for tomorrow morning.

Historically, those purchases might require multiple decisions and potentially multiple transactions.

Walmart can potentially combine them.

One customer. One digital basket. Multiple food occasions.

That is where Walmart's strategy becomes strategically different from traditional restaurant delivery.

A restaurant delivery platform typically begins with:

“What restaurant do you want?”

Walmart can begin with:

“What do you need?”

That difference matters because Walmart already has a broad grocery and household shopping relationship with millions of consumers.

Walmart also says its stores are within 10 miles of approximately 90% of the U.S. population, giving the company an extensive physical footprint for its delivery strategy.

 

2026: Grocery Foodservice Is Moving Forward

The opportunity isn't limited to Walmart.

FMI's 2026 industry research reports that 77% of food retailers plan to increase the space allocated to foodservice, including fresh-prepared grab-and-go offerings.

FMI also reported that 94% of shoppers purchased groceries both online and in-store during 2025, reinforcing how thoroughly food shopping has become omnichannel.

Meanwhile, Circana continues to identify convenience and delivery as important components of the evolving foodservice marketplace.

Put those trends together and the direction is clear:

Consumers want more food prepared for them, more convenient ways to get it and more choices about where it comes from.

That creates an enormous opportunity for Ready-to-Eat and Heat-N-Eat food across grocery, restaurants and convenience stores.

 

Walmart Isn't Becoming a Restaurant—It's Becoming a Food Occasion Aggregator

This is where I believe Walmart deserves real credit.

Walmart doesn't have to become McDonald's, Subway or Dunkin'.

It can let those brands remain what they are.

Instead, Walmart can potentially become the platform through which consumers access multiple food choices while simultaneously buying their groceries and household necessities.

Dinner can come from a restaurant.

Breakfast can come from Dunkin'.

Lunch can come from the grocery deli.

Snacks can come from the supermarket aisle.

Tomorrow's ingredients can come from the same order.

That is food-channel convergence.

And it changes the competitive equation.

The question isn't simply whether Walmart can deliver restaurant food.

The more important question is whether Walmart can capture more of the consumer's food spending by making the entire food-shopping experience easier.

 

The Fast-Food Industry Should Be Paying Attention

Traditional restaurant operators have historically measured competition primarily against other restaurants.

That isn't enough anymore.

A consumer deciding what to eat has increasingly more alternatives:

Cook it.

Heat it.

Grab it from the deli.

Pick it up at a restaurant.

Order it for delivery.

Buy it from a convenience store.

The winning operator will be the one that best answers the consumer's fundamental question:

“What can I eat right now with the least amount of effort?”

Walmart's emerging strategy is built around answering that question with a very broad assortment.

 

Three Insights From the Grocerant Guru®

1. The real competitor isn't always another restaurant.

It may be the consumer's kitchen.

Every restaurant should be asking:

What makes our food easier, faster, better or more desirable than preparing something at home?

The answer has to go beyond price.

2. Walmart is turning convenience into an ecosystem.

Restaurants generally sell convenience one meal at a time.

Walmart has the opportunity to combine groceries, prepared foods, restaurant meals, snacks and beverages into one digital basket.

That can increase both convenience for the consumer and the number of food occasions Walmart participates in.

3. The future of food competition is about owning the occasion—not the channel.

Consumers don't think:

“I need a grocery-store meal.”

They think:

“I'm hungry.”

They don't think:

“I need a restaurant.”

They think:

“What's for dinner?”

That is why Walmart's strategy matters.

The Grocerant Guru® bottom line:

Walmart isn't just delivering restaurant food. It is removing the traditional walls between grocery, restaurant, convenience and foodservice.

The retailers and restaurant operators that understand this shift—and make Ready-to-Eat and Heat-N-Eat food easier to discover, purchase and consume—will be positioned to capture more of the consumer's most valuable asset:

Their next eating occasion.

Elevate Your Brand with Expert Insights

For corporate presentations, regional chain strategies, educational forums, or keynote speaking, Steven Johnson, the Grocerant Guru®, delivers actionable insights that fuel success.

With deep experience in restaurant operations, brand positioning, and strategic consulting, Steven provides valuable takeaways that inspire and drive results.

Visit GrocerantGuru.com or FoodserviceSolutions.US Call 1-253-759-7869