Better Health for All
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Costco has expanded its health-related services for members. In April 2025, the company partnered with Lumicera to offer specialty pharmacy services with transparent pricing and patient support
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. In April 2024, Costco expanded its partnership with Sesame to include a personalized weight loss program for $179
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, providing clinical consultations and access to medications like Ozempic and Wegovy
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. Additionally, in September 2023, Costco partnered with Sesame to offer discounted outpatient medical services
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, including virtual primary care for $29
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, health check-ups for $72
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, and virtual mental health therapy for $79
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.
Fair Money & Economic Opportunity
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Costco's core business is a membership-only warehouse club, not financial services, rendering most KPIs related to lending, fees, and financial product accessibility not applicable. Despite this, the company demonstrates initiatives supporting economic opportunity. The Costco Scholarship Fund has raised almost $96.7 million since 2000, supporting over 2,700 high-need and underserved students, with over $7.1 million raised in 2025.
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Costco committed $25 million to the Black Economic Development Fund, managed by LISC, to invest in Black-owned banks, minority businesses, affordable housing, and community initiatives.
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The company also operates a Supplier Inclusion program to expand its network of small and diverse suppliers.
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Total charitable contributions were $97 million in FY25.
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Fair Pay & Worker Respect
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Costco's employee turnover rate is approximately 7%, which is significantly lower than the retail industry average.
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The CEO to median employee pay ratio is 262:1
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, or 192:1 when considering only full-time workers.
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In March 2025, the company raised its minimum hourly wage to $20
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, with the average wage for U.S. and Canadian employees, including bonuses, exceeding $31 per hour.
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A new warehouse in Meiwa, Japan, opened in June 2024, offering a minimum wage of 1,500 yen per hour.
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Over 18,000 Costco workers voted to authorize a potential nationwide strike in January 2025
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, following the company's rejection of approximately 98% of the Teamsters' proposals related to seniority, paid leave, and workplace surveillance protections.
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The Teamsters union filed unfair labor practice charges in December 2024
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and February 2025
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, alleging restrictions on union material distribution, expulsion of representatives, harassment of workers in union attire, and interference with communications.
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Employees at a Norfolk, Virginia, store voted to unionize in January 2024.
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Costco offers comprehensive benefits, including health insurance, 401(k) plans, and paid vacations.
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The company's board rejected a proposal to study potential risks of DEI, stating that DEI practices enhance employee attraction and retention.
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Fair Trade & Ethical Sourcing
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Costco's Supplier Code of Conduct, implemented in November 2018, applies to all suppliers of merchandise, prohibiting forced labor, child labor, discrimination, and unsafe working conditions.
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For food manufacturers, Costco's audit program includes unannounced GMP audits and addendums to annual GFSI Certification audits.
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The company reserves the right to audit any facility with or without advance notice
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and can terminate relationships for non-compliance.
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Costco supports fair trade through its private label coffee program
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and has paid $41 million in premiums from Fair Trade Certified produce purchases since 2014.
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It also contributed over $50 million in premiums for Equitable Food Initiative (EFI) certified products,
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benefiting over 55,000 workers with $19 million in bonuses since 2017.
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In 2024, Costco was reported to be selling products from suppliers using prison labor,
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and U.S. lawmakers are scrutinizing alleged links between forced labor in China and products sold in Costco stores.
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Costco committed to conducting a pilot supply chain impact assessment by 2024, following a shareholder proposal requesting supply chain mapping.
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The company partners with organizations to enhance sustainable palm oil sourcing
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but faces challenges in providing comprehensive transparency.
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Costco has a program to work with qualified small and diverse suppliers.
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Honest & Fair Business
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No specific, concrete data points were found in the provided articles to assess Costco Wholesale Corp. against the KPIs for the 'Honest & Fair Business' ethical value. Information regarding regulatory fines, transparency index scores, whistle-blower policies, financial restatements, audit coverage percentages, ESG controversy scores, complaint resolution times, board conflict-free percentages, anti-corruption policies, or the extent of third-party verification of ethical claims was not available.
Kind to Animals
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Costco sources 72.9% of its global egg supply as cage-free.
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For poultry, broilers are cage-free in dedicated supplier chicken houses.
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, and Controlled Atmosphere Stunning (CAS) is used at its Lincoln Premium Poultry facility and dedicated organic supplier.
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The Lincoln Premium Poultry facility targets an operating density standard of 0.92 square feet per bird.
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Globally, 95.8% of Kirkland Signature fresh pork and cooler items were from Group Sow Housing in fiscal year 2025, though confinement still occurs during pregnancy confirmation for up to six weeks.
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Costco assesses animal welfare using the Five Domains framework, adopted in collaboration with Dr. Temple Grandin, for both farm and processing operations.
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The company does not support tail docking for dairy animals and requires veal to be a minimum of 20 weeks of age prior to slaughter.
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Costco has also committed to restricting the use of medically important antibiotics to therapeutic purposes only and plans to verify supplier compliance.
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No War, No Weapons
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Costco's adherence to humanitarian procurement standards shows occasional non-compliance. Despite having a Supplier Code of Conduct that includes ILO core principles and a Conflict Minerals Policy, the company faced allegations of importing products made with Uyghur forced labor from China's Xinjiang region in 2019, 2022, and 2026.
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In 2019, Costco also ceased sourcing melons from a supplier following a three-year campaign regarding human rights and labor abuses.
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Regarding alignment with UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, Costco published its first Human Rights Statement in fiscal year 2024, aligning with the UNGPs.
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However, there is no evidence that a board member or committee is specifically tasked with governance oversight of human rights.
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The company's core business does not involve defense or arms-related activities. In 2005, it fulfilled two minor purchase orders for the Department of Defense totaling $5,237 for non-military-specific items like office furniture and food.
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Planet-Friendly Business
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Costco's total Scope 1, 2, and 3 greenhouse gas emissions were 182.6 million metric tons of CO2e in FY24, comprising 2.6 million metric tons for Scope 1 and 2, and 180 million metric tons for Scope 3.
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Operational emissions (Scope 1 and 2) decreased by 7.2% from FY23 to FY24, and Scope 3 emissions intensity decreased by 13.5% in FY24.
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The company has not adopted Science Based Targets but considers the SBTi Corporate Net Zero Standard as a framework. As of the end of calendar year 2024, 28% of global electricity purchased was from clean energy sources.
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Water intensity was 65.87 m³ per $1 million revenue in FY25. Costco diverted 82.8% of waste from landfills in FY25.
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Regarding its supply chain, 36% of its top 500 US suppliers have started measuring or disclosing emissions.
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For deforestation, 100% of palm oil, soy, wood, pulp, and paper used in Kirkland Signature products are certified or not sourced from high-risk regions, and 99.9% of Kirkland Signature beef is not sourced from Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, or Paraguay.
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The company's FY25 Climate Risk Statement is TCFD aligned.
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Respect for Cultures & Communities
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Costco's Sassandra Cocoa Program supports 22 cooperatives, representing formal partnerships with local community groups.
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In FY25, the company donated $97 million in cash to local charitable organizations, which constitutes approximately 0.036% of its $269.9 billion net sales for that fiscal year.
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Safe & Smart Tech
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Costco experienced a minor data breach in November 2021 at one store location, impacting over 500 customers due to a payment card skimming device.
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The exposed data included cardholder name, card number, expiration date, and CVV.
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The company discovered the skimmer during a routine inspection, notified law enforcement, and offered affected customers identity theft protection services.
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As of October 2024, Costco stated it was not aware of any material cybersecurity incidents.
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The company evaluates cybersecurity risks using frameworks like NIST CSF, CIS 18 Critical Security Controls, and PCI DSS, and maintains cybersecurity insurance and a security operations center.
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Its vulnerability management practices include scanning, penetration tests, code scans, and internal/external audits.
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The Audit Committee of the Board reviews cybersecurity risks with management.
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Zero Waste & Sustainable Products
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Costco achieved an 82.8% waste diversion rate from landfills in fiscal year 2025.
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The company has implemented numerous waste reduction initiatives, including donating 223 million pounds of food in FY25
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and over 1 million tons of products in 2022,
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along with electronic, battery, light bulb recycling, and ethanol recovery programs.
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Costco conducts an Annual Global Waste Stream Report
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and maintains an environmental compliance program for hazardous waste management, with no reported waste disposal violations.
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For single-use plastic reduction, Costco achieved a 90% reduction in plastic foam protective packaging for its Kirkland Signature Driver, Putter and Wedge set.
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The company has a goal to divert 80% of waste from landfills.
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For customer education, 71% of Kirkland Signature products in the U.S. feature How2Recycle labeling.
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Costco also has comprehensive waste requirements for its top 500 U.S. suppliers.
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