A Costco shopper who thought their Babybel cheese tasted off decided to investigate, and ended up discovering the tiny red wheels weren’t exactly the same as the ones sold at other grocery stores.
After weighing Babybels purchased at Costco and Kroger, the Reddit user found the Costco version was slightly smaller and lacked the "Product of France" label found on the other package.
When u/ZestyCuke broke out the kitchen scale to investigate, they found that the Costco version of Babybel weighed 23.1 grams in contrast with a slightly larger Babybel from Kroger weighing 24.4 grams.
The Reddit user revealed their findings in a post to r/Costco on March 2, 2026.
"I thought I was going insane…" they wrote, “but I just did a taste test comparison of the Babybels I got from Costco vs ones from a regular grocery store, and there's a HUGE difference."
Social media users on the thread rushed to explain the discrepancy between the little waxy red wheels of cheese.
In the thread’s most upvoted comment, u/Prafe pointed out that Babybel has factories in the U.S., Canada, and France, and different manufacturing locations likely yield products with slight variations in taste, texture, and size.
u/ZestyCuke’s side-by-side taste test and weigh-in confirmed discrepancies between Babybels that come from France vs North America.
"The Babybels I got from the regular store (Kroger) say Product of France," OP confirmed in an update. "The Costco ones do not. So if you prefer your Babybels soft and creamy then be on the lookout for the Product of France distinction."
Quality and flavor variation in packaged foods is common in large-scale production. Depending on ingredients, processing, and manufacturing facility, product consistency varies—but don't think even the tiniest inconsistency will get past a Reddit user with a discerning palate.
The Reddit poster concluded the cheese manufactured in the US (and purchased at Costco) is not as good as the cheese imported from France.
"Big bummer, because now I have so many of the bad ones,” wrote ZestyCuke. "Lets be honest... the French really do know what they are doing when it comes to cheese."
Costco shoppers on the thread said u/ZestyCuke’s findings pointed to a wider trend at the wholesale retailer.
The store sources products according to price point, so products produced on a massive scale all over the world are often inconsistent from batch to batch. Commenters mentioned experiences with slight differences among other products sold by Costco, including Kewpie mayo, Melona ice cream bars, Pocky, Stacy's Pita Chips, Claussen pickles, Cheez-Its, and Tyson chicken nuggets.
Thankfully, Reddit did the legwork on this one, so shoppers can make sure they’re getting the tastiest Babybel.
u/TurtleSandwich joked on the thread, "It is only a babybel if it comes from the babybel region of France. Otherwise it is just sparkling wax cheese."
The internet is chaotic—but we’ll break it down for you in one daily email. Sign up for the Daily Dot’s newsletter here.
