A New York City bakery is refuting claims that it sold Costco-bought croissants at significantly marked-up prices. The accusation surfaced on TikTok, where a user named Sreenitya shared a video alleging she witnessed a delivery person bringing boxes with a Costco logo into Le Parisien Bakery in Manhattan.
In her video, Sreenitya expressed disbelief, stating she purchased a pistachio croissant for $12 and questioned its value. She presented footage of a delivery person carrying multiple boxes into the establishment, claiming one box bore a Costco label. The video quickly gained traction online, leading to accusations that the bakery was deceiving customers by presenting pre-made items as freshly baked goods.
However, a representative from Le Parisien Bakery told the Daily Mail that the establishment does not source any products from Costco. According to the employee, the bakery has a production site in Coney Island where their croissants are made fresh daily. They explained that the boxes seen in the video were simply reused by their delivery personnel during shipments from the production facility.
"We have a company [production site] in Coney Island, they bring [the croissants] to us every morning," the employee stated. "They just re-use the boxes. They're not Costco croissants."
Le Parisien Bakery's website emphasizes its commitment to quality, stating that each item is "meticulously crafted with care and expertise, using traditional recipes." The bakery claims to use "skilled artisans" and "the finest ingredients" to ensure an "authentic taste" of Paris.
Online, a 12-pack of croissants from Costco is listed for approximately $6.80, averaging about $0.57 per croissant. A plain croissant at Le Parisien Bakery is priced at $5.
This incident draws parallels to a recent viral event involving the California health food store Erewhon, which faced scrutiny for selling a $12 herbal tonic described as "sacred water."