Costco customers fume as highly popular item gets a new 'fatally flawed' packaging

Costco's rotisserie chickens are among the store's most beloved offerings - and have stayed at $4.99 for years despite inflation

But while the price has not changed, the packaging has. And customers - who buy 137 million of them a year - are not happy. 

Costco has started selling its ready-cooked chickens in soft plastic bags instead of the traditional hard-shelled plastic containers at its US locations. The roll-out began in US stores in March.

Shoppers are complaining about the new packaging's leak-prone design that causes a mess in trolley's, cars and fridges - as it allows meat juice to leak out.

On Reddit, customer Bozerks wrote: 'Chicken juice spilled all over the trunk of our car. These new bags leak!!'

Costco customers are complaining that the new soft plastic bags for rotisserie chickens allow grease to leak

Costco's cooked chickens were previously in hard plastic shells. These are still in many US stores while the new bags are rolled out

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Others commenting on the thread mostly agreed.

Among the 600 responses, another shopper said: 'The bags were slick with juice on the display so my hands were then covered in grease.

'Putting them on the belt for checkout got chicken grease on that, too.

'The staff gave it that “Ew, gross” look when they picked it up and said it was the second day of having them and everyone seemed to dislike them - including employees who kept having to clean the belts.' 

Another user, a deli worker, mentioned that the new bags make packing the chicken more time-consuming and messier.

The redesign uses 75 percent less plastic and cuts the use 17 million pounds of resin a year, according to Costco.

Shoppers have suggested solving the issue by double-bagging the chicken with additional plastic bags from the meat section - which, of course, undermines the eco-friendly intent of Costco's packaging switch.

The new packaging is still being rolled out - and is so far not in every US store.

Costco's $4.99 rotisserie chickens are popular but customers don't like the new soft plastic bags they come in

Experts say bosses are likely to resolve the design flaw, or even pause the rollout until they can.

The bags have been used at Costco locations in Canada for about a year without the same leakage issues.

One Canadian customer noted on Reddit: 'I've literally never seen any of the shelves with stains like this. So likely whatever the issue is can be fixed.'