A Restaurant Is Being Accused of Reselling Costco Frozen Pizza for a 700% Mark-Up
A South Carolina restaurant has been accused by customers of reselling frozen pizza from Costco and passing it off as homemade, according to a report in The Post and Courier.
According to the paper, Chip Grimalda, chef and owner of wine bar and restaurant Coquin in Charleston, was seen going from the store to an apartment nearby, then going out on a delivery run "with corrugated cardboard boxes that read, 'Fresh Pizza, Oven Baked.'" A reporter then found four-packs of Kirkland Signature Cheese Pizza with Breadcrumb Crusts, which are sold at Costco (not shown in the photo above) in the trash cans near the apartments.
A post shared by Coquin The Petite Cafe & Bar (@coquinchs) on Mar 25, 2020 at 4:04pm PDT
When confronted, Grimalda denied that it was frozen pizza.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. It’s definitely not Costco, and that’s all I have to say," he said, according to the report. He then said there were a "lot of Airbnbs in the neighborhood." Delish reached out to Coquin for additional comment but did not immediately hear back.
Like many restaurants, Coquin, which opened in October of last year, has transitioned to delivery or pick-up only in light of the COVID-19 outbreak. The restaurant began selling pizzas last weekend, which it describes as "gourmet Roman-style thin crust pizza, with house made marinara sauce and whole milk mozzarella.”
The pizzas are being sold for $18 for cheese and $20 for meat or vegetable toppings. This particular Kirkland pizza retails at Costco for around $10 for a four-pack, so if the report is true, this would mean the pizzas are being marked up about 700 percent.
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