12Kg of Mac & Cheese

Chazzozz on 21/07/2020 - 13:22

I wonder if this monstrosity will ever reach our fair shores?

The Chef's Banquet Macaroni & Cheese Storage Bucket being sold by Costco in the U.S. is a 26lb. 10oz. bucket filled with up to 180 serves of macaroni and cheese, for the modest sum of US$89.99 (plus applicable taxes). That makes it just a hair under 50¢ per serve!

I can see bachelors and students across the land rejoicing. Not only can they buy one of their staple food items in bulk, once the bucket is empty it'll have endless re-use potential. BBQ chair with an in-built ice chamber! A replacement table leg! Collect a bunch of them and build a fort! All you need is imagination (and a liking for mac & cheese, of course).

Food & Grocery

Comments

  • [Deactivated] on 21/07/2020 - 13:26
    -1

    No way would this cost $.50 a serve if you made it yourself.

    • AustriaBargain on 21/07/2020 - 14:06
      +12

      Also no way would a single serve be 50 cents. Who eats a tiny little bowl of tasty mac and cheese? You keep eating it until your belly hurts and that could be multiple "suggested servings".

    • ilikeradiohead on 22/07/2020 - 08:20
      +13

      I was wondering this so I did a little research.
      The nutritional label says that 1 serve is 44g of pasta. So 180*44 = 7920g ~8kg.
      I figured 'cheese sauce' would be a little hard to source on its own without the pasta attached, so I looked up a mac and cheese recipe.
      For US<->metric conversions I used this.
      The recipe uses 8oz of pasta ~228g -> 8000/228 =35.09 units

      Quantities (purchase quantities rounded up):

      Grand total (AUD): $226.14
      This yields around 140 'servings', $1.61/serving

      You do however have approximately 50kg of macaroni and cheese (25L milk, 11kg cheese, 3kg butter, 8kg pasta, 2.2kg bread, 0.6kg flour), which is around 4x what the instant meal has, so you could divide it by 4 for a total of $65.73 (you have to purchase different fractions of the quantity, so it's not exactly 1/4).

      This is probably a lot better tasting too.

      So, for the theory that it is less than $0.50/serve, Ozbusters says:

      [Plausible]

      I will now go back to doing something productive with my time.

      • SlickMick on 22/07/2020 - 13:01
        +1

        lol I just did my calcs too - cancelled my reply when I saw you'd already spelled it out.

        How is 44g of pasta a serve? What is that, a large spoon full?? A typical frozen meal is 400g and even that is light on.
        Their calcs seem to be just under 67g x 50c = $89.99.

        A 400g gram realistic serve is $3, which I'm not sure is really in the bargain realm. (I don't pay more than AUD$1/100g for pre-processed meals.)
        I wouldn't buy 12kg just to get that price - not even if I had 30 people to feed.

        … and then spent even more time retelling my findings anyway :(

  • GG57 on 21/07/2020 - 13:40
    +1

    It looks like a pretty standard food-grade bucket to me.

    And for anyone not interested in the link, the bucket is a container for individually-sized pouches of pasta, cheese sauce, etc., so it isn't one big bucket full of ready-to-eat mac-and-cheese.

    • djesr on 21/07/2020 - 14:23
      +6

      i am disappointed -_-

    • Bad Wolf on 21/07/2020 - 18:29

      It’s even worse, rather then 180 individual portions it’s odd 7.5/15 in each bag

      12 - 15 serving zip-sealed pouches of Cheddar Sauce
      24 - 7.5 serving zip-sealed pouches of Elbow Macaroni Pasta

  • TheOtherLeft on 21/07/2020 - 13:55

    OMG that's awesome. My kids love mac and cheese.

  • xuqi on 21/07/2020 - 14:00
    +7

    "Up to 20 years - if stored in a dry, cool environment"

    Perfect for any doomsday prepper.

    • TheAccountant on 21/07/2020 - 14:45

      That's what I thought after seeing the picture.

      Then I read the title and realised it's probably for restaurants.

    • TheOtherLeft on 21/07/2020 - 14:45

      Probably why it's under the category "Home Grocery, Household Essentials & Pet Emergency Food Supplies & Kits"

  • jimbobaus on 21/07/2020 - 14:21
    +1

    Basically this is the same as the Kraft one sold in aussie stores.
    Its plastic tasting, smorgasbord style stuff.

    have to be pretty desperate to need this much of it.

  • TheAccountant on 21/07/2020 - 14:46
    +1

    Perfect for this guy https://youtu.be/v1TWvXwgKr0

  • scrimshaw on 21/07/2020 - 14:50
    +3

    This gives me flashbacks of school cafeteria lunches. And not the rose tinted glasses kind, more of the 'back in 'Nam and hearing helicopter blades kind'

    • try2bhelpful on 21/07/2020 - 16:38

      Genuinely made me LOL. I grew up WASP in the ‘60s; I get those sort of food flashbacks all the time.

    • [Deactivated] on 21/07/2020 - 17:13
      +1

      If you listen closely, you can hear Fortunate Son playing in the background.

      • try2bhelpful on 21/07/2020 - 17:28
        +1

        I love the smell of Napalm in the morning it smells like Mac n Cheese.

  • Ocker on 21/07/2020 - 14:58
    +3

    Probably just the right size to feed an American family of 4

  • Chazzozz on 21/07/2020 - 15:02

    I'm curious what the cost would be here if they ever import it. I was also mildly disappointed that it wasn't something you could just open it and start spooning it out, but it certainly wouldn't last as long if that were the case. I realise it won't be to everyone's culinary standards, however starving Uni students would find it a welcome alternative to 2-minute noodles.

    • GG57 on 21/07/2020 - 15:12

      Starving uni students can buy the same stuff from Coles for $2.10 (105g - apparently serves 3) or single packs for $1.00 (80g), and they don't have to outlay USD90

  • life is suffering on 21/07/2020 - 15:31

    US dollars + 40% of US dollars

    • Magpye on 21/07/2020 - 21:01

      +10% GST

  • seraphim2017 on 21/07/2020 - 16:28
    +3

    People who buy this must be the people that legitimately need to bulk buy toilet roll!

  • try2bhelpful on 21/07/2020 - 16:45

    I love going to Costco. It is endlessly fascinating watching people buying trolley loads of stuff that is just plain weird. It looks like there is almost nothing that you can’t turn into jerky. The scratch and dent area is an absolute trap for bargain hunters.

  • franco cozzo on 22/07/2020 - 05:37
    +1

    236 meals in a bucket
    https://www.costco.com/easyprep-cook-in-bag-instant-entree-b…
    …makes meal planning & shopping a heck of a lot easier. order 12x and youre sorted for a year. game changer…?

    • Chazzozz on 22/07/2020 - 09:39
      +2

      LOL - that's amazing. I had a link in the Suggested Items section at the bottom of the page to the Chef's Banquet Food Storage Basics. If flavour and variety are not exactly high on your list of requirements then this is a helluva lot cheaper, and will still last as long when stored properly.

      I had to laugh at the text at the bottom of the description:

      Shelf-life - up to 25 years – if stored in a cool, dry environment
      Shipped in discreet packaging.

      For best taste and nutritional value, use product before:

      • 25 years of manufacturing date when stored at 60 F (16.6 C)
      • 10 years of manufacturing date when stored at 70 F (21.1 C)
  • Speckled Jim on 22/07/2020 - 10:47
    +1

    404
    Ozbargained!

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