Who makes Kirkland Signature Seasoned Rotisserie Chicken?
As of July 5, 2026, the manufacturer of Kirkland Signature Seasoned Rotisserie Chicken is Costco Wholesale (Lincoln Premium Poultry, Fremont, NE), per on-label, first-party, or executive statement evidence.
The common claim
What’s commonly claimed, and what the evidence supports
Top-ranking answers say Costco raises and processes its own rotisserie chickens through its Nebraska operation — true, but only partially: Lincoln Premium Poultry, the company Costco started in Fremont, Nebraska (opened 2019, ~2 million chickens a week), fulfills about 43% of rotisserie supply per The Hustle, and Costco does not publicly name who supplies the rest. Older answers stating the chickens all come from Foster Farms or Tyson are also unsupported today: the only documented third-party link is Foster Farms, via the 2013 recall of co-branded 'Kirkland Signature Foster Farms' rotisserie chickens.
Evidence & sources
Each source is graded on the six-tier evidence rubric, where tier 1 is strongest. Sources are archived, so a citation still works if the original page moves or goes behind a paywall.
Tier 4
Names the link directly: 'Lincoln Premium Poultry, the company started by Costco to build and manage the project' in Fremont, Nebraska; spokeswoman Jessica Kolterman: 'All of our barns in Nebraska and Iowa collectively will supply about 40 percent of Costco's needs.' Also documents scale: 2 million chickens per week at full capacity, against roughly 60 million rotisserie chickens Costco sold per year at the time. Upgrade path (registry corroboration, row does not name Costco/Kirkland): FSIS MPI row EST. P48304, 'Lincoln Premium Poultry', 1325 E. Cloverly Road, Fremont NE, grant 2019-10-23 (https://www.fsis.usda.gov/sites/default/files/media_file/documents/MPI_Directory_by_Establishment_Number.xlsx; archived https://web.archive.org/web/20250814021011/https://www.fsis.usda.gov/sites/default/files/media_file/documents/MPI_Directory_by_Establishment_Number.xlsx). A P-number read off retail packaging closes the loop to tier 3.
Tier 4
Post-opening confirmation with the rotisserie-specific share: 'In 2019, the company opened a $450m chicken facility in Nebraska that produces 2m chickens per week — enough to fulfill 43% of its rotisserie supply, and 33% of its raw chicken supply.' The key nuance: Costco's own operation covers less than half of rotisserie volume; the remainder comes from suppliers Costco does not publicly name.
Manufacturer history
An attribution goes out of date when a supplier changes. We date each change and keep the earlier source.
| Period | Manufacturer | What the record says | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Present | Costco Wholesale (Lincoln Premium Poultry, Fremont, NE)Current | Current attribution (confirmed). See the evidence above. | Evidence ↑ |
| … → unknown | Foster Farms | Foster Farms supplied the birds for Costco rotisserie chickens at least as of 2013, when the product label itself read 'Kirkland Signature Foster Farms' — documented in the CDC's record of the October 2013 salmonella Heidelberg recall at Costco's South San Francisco warehouse. No public source documents when the relationship began or whether it continues today; after Lincoln Premium Poultry opened in 2019 it covered roughly 43% of rotisserie supply, and Costco does not name who supplies the rest. | Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ↗ |
Frequently asked
Does Costco raise its own chickens for rotisserie chicken?
Is Costco rotisserie chicken Foster Farms?
Has Costco rotisserie chicken been recalled?
What is Lincoln Premium Poultry?
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