The two contain nearly identical ingredients. It may be that one or the other uses higher-quality ingredients, but about the only differences are that HD uses cocoa butter in its chocolate versus soybean oil in Costco, HD fry the almonds in safflower oil versus cottonseed oil in Costco, and Costco adds Dutch pressed cocoa but no vanilla extract in the coating. The arguments about real vs. artificial ingredients are false. Häagen-Dazs: Cream, skim milk, sugar, egg yolks, vanilla extract. Milk chocolate (sugar, whole milk powder, chocolate, cocoa butter, soy lecithin, vanilla extract), almonds roasted in safflower oil, coconut oil. Costco: Cream, milk, nonfat milk, sugar, egg yolk, vanilla extract. Milk chocolate flavored coating (sugar, coconut oil, nonfat dry milk, unsweetened chocolate, soybean oil, unsweetened chocolate processed with alkali, soy lecithin), almonds roasted in cottonseed oil.
The häagen-dazs bars are so nostalgic for me because I only got them when my family visited my grandma who lived far away + years later my dad bought the Kirkland ones, but they just weren’t as good in my opinion
Haagen Dazs is an American brand founded by a dude in the Bronx. He named it that because it sounded fancy to trick customers into thinking it's better quality than it actually is.
With all the "dairy dessert" posing as ice cream at the stores these days, I cherish a quality ice cream like haagen daas. I don't eat ice cream often but when I do, I want it to be the BEST
Haagen dazs USA was sold a few years ago and experience a drop in quality. was a real bummer. their ice cream is still good but not what it used to be.
The biggest difference between Haagen Dazs and Costco is that Haagen Dazs has much fewer ingredients than Costco (and many other brands as well). Fewer ingredients usually means the product is going to be "healthier" than its competitors. "Healthier" ingredients are going to be more expensive to source, which explains the difference in price. Costco brand will have more artificial ingredients than Haagen Dazs.
😝 Its the same thing with Walmart Ice Cream Bars and Cones. They are like 2 dollars cheaper per box than "Drumstick" brand.. But after trying a few boxes of each...Now I pay the extra $2 because the quality and flavor is much better and does make the difference 😊
Yup, I'm sure other commenters got here first and already noted this: Haagen Daz is the only Ice Cream found in most mainstream stores that is made traditionally using only whole ingredients. Their Vanilla Ice Cream for example only has five ingredients; Milk, Cream, Sugar, vanilla, egg. If you check the label on their packaging you'll be amazed to discover the simplicity of the ingredient list. It's the closest you can get to homemade ice cream without making it yourself. Compare this to every other label at your supermarket, even Ben and Jerry's will boast ingredient lists up to thirty ingredients long. Most ice creams are made using stabilizers which increase the shelf life and prevent melting. You'll notice a Haagen day or freshly made ice cream will melt very rapidly when you serve them in a room temp bowl while many inexpensive brands stay unmelted for significantly longer. This is due to ingredients like xantham gum, and guar gum, to name a view. This also cuts back on the amount of expensive dairy and egg needed. Further a lot of brands are using artificial flavors, artificial vanilla extract and whole vanilla beans have a significant cost difference. Now I'm a fan of cheap ice cream as much as the next person. I consume quite a lot of gum stabilized, artificially flavored ice creams, and I love my budget boxes quite a lot, I even think the gum flavor and texture adds something unique and fun to the experience... yet, while it might not always be worth the cost to splurge on Haagen Daz, it is worth knowing and appreciating what goes into it, and I will splurge every so often because not only the taste and flavor, but also the texture and the mouth feel of a traditional whole ingredient ice cream is a truly wonderful thing to experience. And short of making it myself which I do from time to time... Haagen Daz is the only brand I can buy that will give me the same experience of eating a true, real, ice cream.
That used to be the Costco ice cream bar that you can buy for $1 and freshly dipped in chocolate & almonds at their food court🙌🏻🫶🏼 So glad Costco brought it back and even better, 18 count for $9.99😍🥳
I buy ice cream as a rare treat, so I don’t mind spending the extra money. That said, Costco is fantastic for the price, especially when buying for a household
Bro sounds like hes trying to give costco an advertisement by being like “buy at costco, more discount” i wouldnt be surprised if he wasnt a costco agent
Normally I’m all for the cheaper option, but I’ve had both and imo the Haagen dazs is worth it! I think it tastes significantly better and is my go-to ice cream bar
costco coating is a lot too sweet for me because the nuts seems caramelized. haagen coating taste is just perfect, not very sweet. and you dont get overwhelmed by the nuts clusters
Do the melt test. Leave them out over night and see which melts more naturally and which one keeps its form because it’s filled with chemicals and stabilizers
I’ve had them both and I have a sensitivity to certain sugar especially processed. Häagen-Dazs doesn’t dry my mouth out but the other brand definitely gives me a case of cottonmouth. Häagen-Dazs is the only brand that doesn’t do that.
Can't remember where I saw it but there was a comparison made between a few icecream brands from the expensive ones like Häagen-Dazs, mid-range like Bryers, & store brands. The result was the expensive ones were creamier & denser as they were made with a custard batter. Mid range were creamy but flavor was not as strong. Store brand flavor & texture was off putting as they're aerated to give it more volume & more prone to freezer burn. So I'd spend a little more money for good icecream.
Costco puts junk ingredients in their ice cream like gums and other ingredients to avoid putting higher amounts of cream only to save money. Hagen Daz never does this in any of their ice cream products. Also, Costco's so-called Super Premium Ice Cream has the same problem. These gums make the ice cream have a gluey consistency instead of a nice creamy texture like Haggen-Dazs. These gums are can cause gut issues too.
Haagen-Diaz ice cream tastes amazing. I’ve had those bars and I’m drooling right now just looking at them. I haven’t tasted anything comparable so if it’s just me at my house it’s Haagen-dazzle but if my house is full of a bunch of people including kids I’ll save and get Costco. I’m almost sorry I watched this. I didn’t need to be thinking of those bars I’m on a diet!
Should note that a lot of cheaper ice cream has ingredients in it that are not actually just cream. You can melt them in room temp and see what remains on the stick
If you look at the ingredients on the boxes (at least in Canada) Costco is basically identical to the Haagen-Dazs and the ice cream tastes the same. Costco seems to be buying their bars from the same company, just without the name. The main difference I can taste is that the Costco bars use dark chocolate, but Haagen-Dazs are milk chocolate.
As others pointed out let's not forget food quality. Sure, sometimes we want to save on some stuff but let it be an exception when it comes to health, priorities getting quality fuel for your body if you want it to last longer and feel comfortable at an older age.
dude it's crazy how you can get 18 full-sized ice creams for 10 dollars in the usa, and here in ireland 3 of those would be 7 euros (about 7.50 dollars), and you only hear about inflation in the us. We definitely need more costcos in Europe
I remember when Costco would make you fresh bars at the food court for $1. Man those days were so good! I wish they brought back the old smoothie that was also around $1 buck. Tasted sooooo much better than the crap they make now for $5 bucks.
