A few weeks ago, there was a viral video trend involving the CEOs of fast food restaurants eating their company’s food. It started after McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski filmed himself taking a teeny bite of their new Big Arch burger. It was so awkward and cringey that Burger King trolled him with a video of their CEO taking a big bite of a Whopper. Soon, a whole bunch of CEOs started doing it. My favorites are KFC and Wendy’s.
This week, Costco CEO Ron Vachris finally joined in by eating a – you guessed it – Costco hot dog. Unlike most of the other videos that featured the bosses eating in their offices, he filmed his video on location in a Costco food court. He also made a pledge to customers that the price of their famous $1.50 hot dog and soda combo will not go up as long as he has anything to say about it.
With the cost of nearly everything climbing these days, it can feel rare to find something that hasn’t seen a price hike. One such item, the beloved $1.50 hot dog and soda combo at Costco warehouses, has long been top of mind for those still looking for a deal.
In recent years, Costco has repeatedly reassured consumers that it would not raise the price of its hot dog and soda combo, even as consumer prices rose, membership fees climbed, and two food court items became more expensive.
Costco even made a change to its food court soda fountains to keep the combo price at $1.50.
Richard Galanti, the now-former CFO for Costco, said in 2022 that the hot dog and soda combo would stay at $1.50 “forever.” But then, in early 2024, Galanti told Bloomberg that the $1.50 combo deal’s price might only be “probably safe for a while” after his departure.
It’s been just over a year since Galanti left the company, and in a video posted to Costco’s Instagram on Wednesday, CEO Ron Vachris shared a small but reassuring update on the hot dog and soda combo’s future.
In the video, Vachris eats a hot dog while sitting in a Costco food court (potentially in a nod to the fast food CEOs who have been eating burgers from their restaurants), fielding questions from someone behind the camera.
“$1.50, for this hot dog?” Vachris says before taking his first bite. After a beat, he gets the question, “Is the price of the hot dog going up?”
“The hot dog price will not change as long as I’m around,” he responded. Vachris was named CEO of Costco in January 2024 after serving as the president and COO for roughly two years (he kept the president role, too), in addition to the several decades he has spent with Costco.
“Amazing. Amazing quality. Amazing value,” Vachris said when asked to describe the quarter-pound all-beef hot dog. “That’s $1.50 well spent.
So rest assured that, at least for now, getting a hot dog and soda at your local Costco will only cost you $1.50 – as long as you’re a member.
I know it’s a small in the scheme of things, but I really appreciate Costco’s commitment to keeping the hot dog/soda combo price down. It would be very easy for them to have raised it over the last six years and blame it on inflation. Thus far, they’ve read the room correctly and have refused to f-ck up one of their most famous offerings.
Just like with how their board voted not to abandon DEI initiatives last year when so many other companies were bending the knee, Costco is loyal to their brand’s beliefs. They also just announced that they’re launching a program to offer deeply discounted fertility drugs to members. I always said that my ideal retirement job is the person who draws smiley faces when they check receipts, and I’m totally serious. Costco is a company that I wouldn’t mind working for.
Costco CEO Ron Vachris did the “CEO eats his own product” challenge by destroying a hot dog (and confirms the Costco hot dog combo is staying at $1.50 forever). Legend. pic.twitter.com/bMbkp5mDq5
— Trung Phan (@TrungTPhan) March 19, 2026
Photos are screenshots from a Wall Street Journal interview with Vachris and Instagram/Costco
Bengali (Bangladesh) · 
English (United States) ·