Quality control is key to Costco’s produce success
Quality control is key to Costco’s produce success
The original strategy for Costco Wholesale when the chain was launched four decades ago was largely based on creating a very efficient model to pass on savings to their customers, giving them the lowest price point possible, but always striving for top quality.
Vice President of Produce Bob Huskey said the most effective way to make sure the members have a top-quality produce experience every time they set foot in the warehouse is to prevent off-quality merchandise from even being delivered to a Costco warehouse. He noted the key to achieving that starts with purchase specifications that focus on quality, combined with the quality control team in each of Costco’s many distribution centers.
A trip to the Costco Distribution Depot in Tracy, CA, which supplies 66 warehouses from the Oregon border to the center of California, illustrated how the facility operates. The facility is huge with multiple buildings, including the “chill” room from which the fresh food is shipped — including produce.
Dozens of forklift drivers whiz around the depot accomplishing their tasks in breakneck speed to an unfamiliar eye, but it is in fact a choreographed symphony featuring driver and unit.
In the middle of dozens of shipping lines of palletized produce are a half a dozen quality control stations, equipped with computers, testing equipment and very large video screens. At these various stations, the QC team of a dozen members or so are slicing into the lemons and limes, peeling back the lettuce leaves and testing a sampling of each produce lot with various aids to determine its worthiness for warehouse distribution. The big screens above the sampling stations are loaded with data and photos articulating and illustrating potential issues with whatever commodity is being inspected. The cut fruit goes into a compost bin while the carton or bag of fruit from which the sample is taken goes into a different bin for delivery to a charitable food bank. Every load that arrives at each of their 15 distribution complexes goes through a quality control check, and if Costco’s standards are not met, the product is not accepted.
“We believe that our QC process results in better quality product for our members, which is the ultimate goal,” said Huskey.
