Costco's exotic hit list: 6 weirdest items you can buy at bulk-shopper's nirvana
Not just cheesecake, but a cake whose layers are wheels of cheese
When people who have never visited Costco try to imagine it, they often picture a warehouse with super-sized portions of everything you might ever buy from a supermarket.
And there's plenty of that, from laundry detergent canisters that can handle 146 loads to five-packs of toothpaste and four-packs of hand lotion.
There's also quite a bit more. The mind-boggling quantities are coupled with high-end electronics and exotic eats and drinks that would appeal to even the hardest-hearted foodie.
Think six-gallon buckets of Mac & Cheese or 7-pound containers of Nutella spread. And those are on the lower end of the price spectrum. Here's a look at some of the unique items, according to the website Mashable:
6. 72-pound wheels of Parmigiano Reggiano
According to the Mashable, you can actually find some pretty expensive, if not weird, items at Costco. While most consumers shop at Costco to save money, shoppers can just as easily drop $900 on massive 72-pound wheels of Parmigiano Reggiano.
This kind of cheese is expensive enough to begin with, so scaling it up into a size a restaurant chef might welcome drives the price to about $900, Mashable reports.
COSTCO CFO SAYS THANKSGIVING OUTAGE HURT
Parmigiano Reggiano has been deemed “the king of cheeses” within the dairy industry, according to Forbes, and a “practically perfect food” by the BBC. Good thing you can buy enough of it to feed a whole castle.
5. $6,000 Doomsday kits
For the survivalist Costco shopper, there's a $6,000 Doomsday kit containing 600 cans of food, weighing in at a whopping 1,800 pounds.
It contains everything from dairy products and freeze-dried fruits and vegetables to grains and more, the majority of which have a shelf life of 25 to 30 years, according to Mashable. There's sufficient food to feed a family of four for a whole year, yours for just $6,000.
Mashable reports that the massive kit comes in and out of stock and can be sometimes difficult to find. According to the New York Times, Costco has actually been selling such kits since 2010.
4. 7-pound tub of Nutella
A lot of people love Nutella, the hazelnut-chocolate spread that took the U.S. by storm after establishing itself as a breakfast-time favorite in Europe and the U.K. in the mid-1960s.
If your household is among the fans, you don't have to make repeated trips to the supermarket to keep the peace, thanks to the 6.6-pound tub available at Costco. The price tag is just $22, according to Mashable.
While that may seem like a steal, Mashable calculated the price per ounce is 21 cents, matching the cost of the regular 33.5-ounce Nutella containers.
3. Giant lobster claws
Costco's volume-size products aren't limited to the man-made realm.
It also carries lobster claws 112 times the average size that cost about $50, according to Mashable.
The massive lobster claws, which appear to be sold only at Costco stores on the West Coast, lit up social media in March, when shoppers freaked out over their size, Today reported at the time.
2. $550 legs of Jamon de Bellota
Higher on the price ladder are 16.5-pound legs of Jamon de Bellota, which retail for $550. Mashable reports that each one comes with a knife.
Jamon de Bellota is not your average, everyday cut of ham. The pigs must be a specific breed and origin and fed a strict diet consisting mostly of acorns.
COSTCO TO SELL BEYOND MEAT BURGERS IN SELECT STATES
According to international Spanish Jamón chain Enrique Tomas, Jamon de Bellota will "melt slowly in your mouth when it comes into contact with the palate."
Sounds entirely too fancy for a place where you can also buy diapers.
1. Wedding cakes made entirely of cheese
Going the unconventional route with your marriage ceremony? Costco has just the thing: A wedding cake made entirely of cheese that can feed up to 150 people, from specialty produce curator and distributor Sid Wainer & Son. Price tag: Just under $440, according to Mashable.
Varieties include such delicacies as Red Leicester, Danish Blue, Murcia al Vino, Tuscan Sheep's Cheese, and White Angelique Triple Cream Brie, according to Costco's website.
The wedding cake itself does not come pre-assembled, so expect to do some work on the day of the ceremony