Costco dropped a bomb on the sports nutrition space last week, as after years of selling protein powders from several brands, many of those items being exclusive value sizes, the membership retailer came out with its own protein supplement under its Kirkland Signature line. The product is no push-over either, formula-wise, as it packs 25g of protein per serving from a whey isolate-first blend that also includes whey concentrate, 4g of carbohydrates, a gram of sugar, and a lean 130 calories.
The fact that the supplement features a blend of whey isolate and concentrate, and the former provides most of its protein, is impressive, as most cost-effective protein powders utilize only whey concentrate — cheaper than isolate — or a blend of isolate and concentrate that is mostly the latter. Either way, Costco’s Kirkland Signature Whey Protein is a solid entry in the saturated protein powder market, and at $47.99 for a bag of 70 servings, there aren’t many out there that can stand next to it.
We thought it was worth comparing the value of Costco and Kirkland Signature’s Whey Protein to more familiar protein powders to give you an idea of how tough under $50 for 5.4lbs of a lean nutrition profile and isolate-first formula is to beat. For example, GNC’s Pro Performance 100% Whey is $69.99 for a 5lb tub, and that has concentrate as its main source. Over at Vitamin Shoppe, RYSE’s Loaded Protein is $79.99, and while that is a blend-style protein powder with isolate as its primary source, that price tag is not only 40% higher, it is for less than the 5.4lbs at 4.7lbs.
Interestingly, Myprotein is incredibly well-known for its cost competitiveness, but even its all-whey concentrate supplement, Impact Whey Protein, has trouble getting close at its regular price of $99.99. If subscribe, you can save 50%, and that beats Kirkland Whey Protein’s price per gram of protein by 4%; however, it is all whey concentrate. The closest we know of is the similarly sized 5.6lb bag of Gold Standard Whey Protein from Optimum Nutrition, exclusive to Costco, featuring an isolate-first formula that’s just 4% pricier per gram of protein.
Again, the purpose of this was purely to point out how great the value of Costco’s own protein powder under its Kirkland Signature brand truly is. There are plenty of supplements that come close, and with the various deals and discounts companies run, they occasionally fall below Kirkland Whey Protein’s highly competitive $47.99 for 5.4lbs. Basically, if you’re on the hunt for a protein powder and this winds up being the one, it makes perfect sense with the quality formula, convenience, and price.
